Media releases

• Brock prof pens new book exploring old brothels

  Monday, June 20, 2016 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: R00127 – 16 June 2016

  Many studies of the ancient Greek city-state haven’t included a key feature of the urban landscape — brothels.

  Brock University classics professor Allison Glazebrook pondered this information gap while on sabbatical in Athens.

  After discussing the issue with colleagues, she began to examine the minute differences in archaeological digs to differentiate between conventional homes and other semi-private dwellings, including taverns, inns and brothels. This examination snowballed into a book about the subject, which she coedited with Barbara Tsakirgis of Vanderbilt Univeristy, called Houses of Ill Repute: The Archaeology of Brothels, Houses, and Taverns in the Greek World.

  Glazebrook, a historian, was drawn to the study of brothels in ancient Greece through her exploration of women, gender and sexuality in the ancient world.

  “There was more diversity within the sex trade than had been previously explored,” she says. “To discover this, I needed to examine the brothels.”

  She collaborated with archaeologists who wrote articles for the volume and helped her see ancient brothels from a new perspective.

  “I raised questions and they were able to approach the data in a very different way than I could,” she says. “I was interested in the bigger picture and they were talking about first-hand experience.” 

  Glazebrook stressed the importance of identifying semi-private spaces and differentiating them from conventional homes.

  “We know they are there and we need to be looking for them,” she says. “We need to be open to how we are interpreting the data. It points to a varied landscape.”

  This varied landscape paints a more complete picture of ancient Greek life. 

  “Most people think of the theatre or temples. Maybe now they will think of the other spaces,” says Glazebrook. “Citizen life was complex, individuals sought out modes of entertainment such as playing games and going to bars and brothels.”

  The idea of being an entertainment venue highlights the differences between modern brothels and those of ancient Greece.

  “The ancient brothels look like they may have been social spaces that also involved prostitution. It was not strictly a sexual encounter,” she says.

  Houses of Ill Repute is available on Amazon.ca or through Penn Press at upenn.edu/pennpress/book/15503.html     

  Classics professor Allison Glazebrook is available directly at aglazebrook@brocku.ca

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:
  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases

• Weakening permafrost yields prehistoric remains: Brock University hydrologist

  Monday, June 20, 2016 | By Brock University

  EXPERT ADVISORY: R00126 – 15 June 2016

  Duck hunter Robert Kyikavichik’s discovery of a woolly mammoth bone sticking out of the Crow River in Northern Yukon may become a more frequent occurrence as warmer temperatures continue to weaken northern permafrost, says a Brock University hydrologist.

  Kevin Turner, assistant professor in Brock’s Department of Geography, studies the impact of climate change in a lake-rich area of the Yukon called Old Crow Flats, the traditional territory of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation.

  He notes that in Northern Canada, increasing temperatures and fluctuating precipitation are more pronounced than other parts of the country.

  This has caused some lakes to shrink, others to expand, and river shorelines to erode.

  “The permafrost holds everything together and shoreline erosion allows for it to slide into the river, unlocking whatever has been stored within it. Increasing temperatures in the Canadian north can weaken the permafrost and lead to more erosion,” says Turner.

  In fact, Turner himself found a woolly mammoth bone a few years ago during his research in Old Crow Flats.

  “It is a regular occurrence for members of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, whose traditional territory this is, to find newly exposed bones along the river bank. This region (Beringia) has been a refuge for animals for many thousands of years and the evidence has not been cleared away by glaciers.”

  Turner is now studying how climate change-induced landscape changes in Old Crow Flats are affecting the area’s water balance and chemistry.

  He is particularly interested in the movement of carbon, a chemical element that, when bonded with oxygen, produces carbon dioxide.

  Humans’ massive burning of oil, coal and other fossil fuels has greatly increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which is warming the earth’s temperature.
  “It is important to identify the movement of carbon from other sources, including degrading permafrost,” he says.

  “As carbon-rich material is unlocked from the frozen shorelines and exported into the river system, the dissolved carbon can either remain within the waterways or become mobile in the atmosphere, which may perpetuate climate change.”

  For interviews with Kevin Turner, assistant professor in Brock’s Department of Geography, contact: kturner2@brocku.ca
   

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:
  * Cathy Majtenyi, Research Communications/Media Relations Specialist, cmajtenyi@brocku.ca, 905-321-0566
  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases