About the Archaeology Centre
The Archaeology Centre is a community that brings archaeologists and people interested in archaeology together across the University of Toronto and beyond. We aim to provide a centralized hub of information about opportunities (e.g., field schools, scholarships, etc.) and events (e.g., lectures, interest groups, symposia, etc.) related to archaeology. We are not an academic unit at the university and do not offer courses for credit or degree programs. Please do not email the Archaeology Centre with questions about degree requirements. If you are interested in academically pursuing archaeology at the University of Toronto, please see the following departments for more information and contacts, as well as UofT’s Mediterranean Archaeology Collaborative Specialization (MACS):
- Department of Anthropology
- Department of Art History
- Department of Classics
- Department of Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations
- Department of Earth Sciences
🥂 🥳 Archaeology Centre Welcome Back and Debates Conference Party! 🥳 🥂
Join us as we welcome the new academic year with some drinks and good company on Friday, September 18th, at 6:30-8:30 pm at the Faculty Club (41 Willcocks St). See also poster attached. We hope to see many of you there!
September Talks – 7th Annual Debates in Archaeology Symposium
Event Title: THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL PERIODIZATION
Dates: September 18th-19th 2026
Location: AP 246 (Anthropology Boardroom) at 19 Ursula Franklin St (formerly, Russell St).
Description: Periodization is essential to the current practice of archaeology. Periods have their uses: they serve to organize material in time and help us construct largescale narratives about continuity or change in past societies. However, the operation of archaeological periodization is by no means neutral or scientifically objective. For one thing, archaeological periods are themselves artifacts. Many periodization schemes we use are the same ones created in the early years of the discipline in the 19th to early 20th century. While we continue to debate and have refined the temporal boundaries of our periods, the larger sequences they serve to articulate have remained largely stable for over a century. Even as new global societies attract increased archaeological attention in the later 20th century, the development of “new” taxonomies of time have depended on cross-application with established schemes. Thus, periodization as an archaeological method has remained largely capillary and diffusionist, rather than revisionary, and rarely subjected to theoretical scrutiny. The uncritical reliance on standard chronologies has not only hindered archaeological interpretations of historical processes but continues to impose implicit value judgements of earliness/lateness, transitionality, classicism, and so forth. While these concerns are not new, recent breakthroughs in radiocarbon dating they have thrown into sharp relief the limitations and deficiencies of periodization schemes employed in archaeology. Refined applications of Bayesian methods afford ever more precisely calibrated absolute dating. Given our current ability to situate material in time independent of periods, some archaeologists question whether the costs of periodization now outweigh its benefits. Does archaeological periodization remain desirable or even necessary to the interpretation of material culture in time? The 7th Annual Debates in Archaeology Symposium at the University of Toronto Archaeology Centre takes up this question of the usefulness of periodization to archaeological inquiry. The event will take place over two days with debate organized around three panels: first, periodization’s “Past,” its historical development and evolving implications from the 19th century to today; second, periodization’s “Present,” laying out the temporal capacity of current high resolution radiocarbon dating techniques, and their theoretical implications for the fixing of events and material in time; and finally, participants will discuss periodization’s “Future,” asking whether and how we might continue to use taxonomies of time in archaeological practice going forward.
References:
Griffiths, S. (2017). We’re all cultural historians now: Revolutions in understanding archaeological theory and scientific dating. Radiocarbon, 59(5), 1347-1357.
Griffiths, S., Carlin, N., Edwards, B., Overton, N., Johnston, P., & Thomas, J. (2023). Events, narrative and data: why new chronologies or ethically Bayesian approaches should change how we write archaeology. Journal of Social Archaeology, 23(2), 173-192.
Lucas, G., & Vésteinsson, O. (2024). The future of periodization. Dissecting the legacy of culture history. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 34(4), 637-652.
October Talks
The University of Toronto’s Office of the Vice President, the International (OVPI), the Arts & Science Tri-Council Bridge Funding Programme, the Archaeology Centre, the Department of Classics, and the University of Birmingham International Engagement Fund (BIEF) present:
Event Title: Resurrecting Ancient Rural Life and Landscapes: The Case of East Attica
Dates: October 2 (Friday) and October 3 (Saturday), 2026
Time: 9:30 AM–4:30 PM, both days
Location: The Friday morning session will be held in the Archaeology Centre Boardroom (AP 140 at 19 Ursula Franklin Street); all other sessions will be held in the Classics Department, LI 205 on the second floor of the Lillian Massey Building (125 Queen’s Park)
Description: Research in Mediterranean archaeology has often focused on elite, urban, civic, or religious centres, framing rural landscapes, on the other hand, as peripheral and transitional spaces to be exploited or passed through. This workshop concerns approaches that instead place rural spaces in the foreground, recognising these landscapes as places where most ancient people lived, worked, and interacted with their environments. We will discuss the effectiveness of such approaches in shedding new light on human/environment dynamics in the specific context of eastern Attica (Greece) based on the results of recent initiatives undertaken by the workshop participants. In addition to discussions of archaeological data, the workshop will include consideration of the methodological challenges involved in reconstructing rural landscapes that have been profoundly altered by modern development and industrial agriculture, and brainstorming about how to overcome related obstacles to engaging modern rural communities with local cultural heritage, as established farmers, seasonal residents with holiday homes, transient beachgoers, and itinerant workers all engage with the landscape in different ways.
Speakers: Eleni Andrikou (Ephorate of Antiquities of East Attica), Henry Chapman (University of Birmingham), Kerasia Douni (Ephorate of Antiquities of East Attica), Michelle Farrell (Coventry University), Yorgos Iliopoulos (Patras University), Maeve McHugh (University of Birmingham), Sarah Murray (University of Toronto), Nikolas Papadimitriou (Paul and Alexandra Canellopoulos Museum), Francesco Ripanti (University of Birmingham), Elpida Skerlou (Ephorate of Antiquities of East Attica), and John Traill (University of Toronto)
Please also find attached the event poster with preliminary program attached (RARLL-Workshop).
November Talks
The Royal Ontario Museum and the Archaeology Centre present:
Event Title: Lasting impressions: exploring the iconography, symbolism, and meaning of relief friezes on storage vessels from Late Bronze Age Cyprus, by Artemis Georgiou (Assistant Research Professor, Archaeological Research Unit, University of Cyprus).
Date(s): Monday, November 2nd, 2026
Time: 4:00 – 6:00 pm
Location: AP130 (Anthropology Building, 19 Ursula Franklin St, Ground floor).
Description: A small number of storage vessels from the late 13th to 12th centuries BC in Cyprus bear pictorial depictions in relief, produced by rolling a carved cylinder across the vessel’s surface before firing. This relatively small assemblage of impressed scenes includes some of the most masterfully executed and imaginative pictorial compositions in Late Cypriot iconography, with elaborate scenes, such as chariot hunting, animals fighting, and combats between warriors, lions, and griffins. In this talk, I present my ongoing research on this exceptional class of Late Cypriot storage vessels, beginning with the technical aspects of their production before turning to the themes depicted. In addressing the regional distribution of impressed pithoi, I further aim to contribute to the discussion of social, political, and economic structures in Cyprus at the close of the Late Bronze Age. Finally, drawing on a comprehensive examination of comparable iconography in other media within and beyond the island, this talk seeks to disentangle the powerful messages conveyed by these depictions, messages that were clear and eloquent to their ancient viewers, but remain elusive to us today.
Regular Interest Groups
The Faunal Interest Group
The group has convened by-weekly (times TBA; in the Archaeology Centre boardroom AP140 at 19 Ursula Franklin Street) since September 2007. The group discusses new and old issues of zoo archaeological method and theory. For more information, please contact Moses Akogun at moses.akogun@mail.utoronto.ca.
Next meeting: TBD
The Collections Interest Group
Join the Collections Interest Group and discuss a wide array of topics regarding the care, preservation, and public education of artifacts and histories in a collections setting. Whether you are interested in a career in the museum world, plan on interacting with collections in some capacity, or simply find an interest in the curation and preservation of histories, this group is for you. Topics of discussion look to explore the relationship between ‘the institution’ which houses objects and the communities which interact with its stories, the role of ever-evolving technology in a collections/museum setting, and sustainable collections management that serves present, past, and future generations. Interested? Please contact Savanna for more information (s.buehlmanbarbeau@mail.utoronto.ca).
Next meeting: Thursday April 2nd, 4:00-5:00 pm, in AP140. More information to follow.
NEW – Archaeobotany & Environmental Archaeology Interest Group
Archaeobotany & Environmental Archaeology Interest Group
Are you interested in how people in the past engaged with plants, landscapes, and climate? Join the new Archaeobotany & Environmental Archaeology Interest Group at U of T!
This graduate-led group provides a space for discussion, collaboration, and curiosity-driven exploration of the intersections between plants, foodways, people, and environments in the past. We’ll focus on themes such as:
- Human–environment interactions in deep time
- Climate change and resilience in past societies
- Cuisine, diet, and the cultural significance of plants
- Methods and theories in environmental archaeology
Whether your background is in archaeology, anthropology, ecology, history, or related fields, this is a chance to share ideas, workshop projects, and build connections with others who care about reconstructing the lived experiences of past communities through their relationships with plants and landscapes. Come be part of shaping a vibrant intellectual community where we put people back into the past by exploring their environmental choices and legacies. Please email Lachlan Kyle-Robinson (lachlan.kylerobinson@mail.utoronto.ca) with any questions.
Next Meeting: TBD
