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2/631MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR

The nations research universities anxiously awaited the publication of the

once-in-a-decade doctoral program rankings by the National Research

Council. For academics this is the equivalent of the Superbowl, World

Cup, and Academy Awards combined. Equally important is that this is the

first time that archaeology was ranked independent of allied disciplines

such as Anthropology and Classics. We are pleased to inform you that the

Archaeology Program at UCLA effectively ranked number one in the US by

most objective readings of the data.

The NRC, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences, ranks doctoral

programs about every decade. The last rankings were in and this

report was long overdue. Unlike previous years, the NRC decided to have

a much more complex ranking system involving two methods. Each

method is not an ordinal ranking like the and earlier lists, but is a

statistical probability using criteria ranging from publications per

faculty to graduate student diversity. One system, the S or survey

ranking, places UCLA as the undisputed number one doctoral program

in the US, even with the statistical ranges presented for our peers.

The R or regression ranking that involves some complex statistical

manipulations, places us in the top tier of all programs, effectively tied

with several others for the highest spot.

What is important is that this is the first time that archaeology has

been measured by the NRC rankings, and the Archaeology Program at

UCLA ranks as one of the worlds best. Of course, we always suspected

that we were outstanding, but it is nice to have the NRC confirm our

own intuitions. We were delighted last year, for instance, when four

archaeology students at UCLA won the most prestigious National Science

Foundation Graduate student awards. We were the only program in the

US to have so many in archaeology. The outstanding work of our staff

and the excellent academic scholarship produced by our faculty, affiliated

researchers and graduate students is cornerstone for this success, and as

Director I promise to continue to support everyone who contributes to the

Program and the Institute.

We look forward to another great year at the Cotsen Institute. Please

read and enjoy our latest edition of Backdirt and please find time to

attend some of our many public programs in the near future.

Charles Stanish

Director, UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR

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BACKDIRTDirector

Charles S. Stanish

Assistant Director

Gregory E. Areshian

Publications Coordinator

Eric Gardner

Editors

Carol Leyba

Shauna K. Mecartea

Eric Gardner

Design

Eric Gardner

For more information or to request a subscription, please

contact the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press at:

-- or email ioapubs@ucla.edu.

Read Backdirt online at:

www.ioa.ucla.edu/publications/backdirt

Copyright UC Regents

Annual Review of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA

Cover Photo: The Sustainable Preservation Initiative helps local com-

munities benefit from archaeological site preservation. Full story on

page . Photo by Charles Stanish.

Special Thanks to

Shauna K. MecarteaAssistant Director, CIOA, -

8/14/2019 2010 Backdirt

4/633CONTENTS

CONTENTSFEATURES

REFLECTIONS ON RESEARCH

INSTITUTE NEWS

Institute wins Governors Award

A Year of Advanced Seminars

Buddhist Cave Temples of the Kucha Kingdom

CIOA Hosts Distinguished Visiting Scholar

Institute Sends Undergrads to the Field

DYNAMICS IN COLONIALERA BEAD MAKING ON CALIFORNIAS CHANNEL ISLANDS

Jeanne E. Arnold

ARCHAEOLOGICAL LANDSCAPES OF THE LU CITY: OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FIELD

Li Min

TEACHING ARCHAEOLOGY IN & OUT OF THE CLASSROOM

Monica Smith

Core Faculty Bios

Public Programs in Review

Events Calendar

Remembering Elsie Sandefur

Elsie Sandefurs work in Andean Archaeology

Donor List

New titles from the Cotsen Institute press

Archaeology Program Students

Conservation Program Students

Conservation Program student exhibition

Interview with Liz Mullane

CIOA Students win AIA Poster Award

The Lond Survey Project

ArcGIS in Conservation

Language-learning in Tajikistan

Prehistoric Pottery from Lond, Albania

Field School Reflections

SAVING SITES BYTRANSFORMING LIVES

Charles Stanish & Lawrence Coben John (Mac) Marston Hadley W. Jensen

RISK AND AGRICULTUREIN ANCIENT ANATOLIA

THE LIFE AND TIMES OFH.B. NICHOLSON

10 1418

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The Cotsen Institute, along with

La Seora Research Institute

and the Geophysical Archae-

ometry Laboratory, have won a

prestigious statewide award for high-tech

mapping efforts at a local private cemetery

that dates to Californias Rancho era in the

mid-1800s.

Using ground-penetrating radar (GPR),the team has identified 15 possible grave

sites, as well as a potential mass burial pit,

at the Pascual Marquez Family Cemetery in

Santa Monica Canyon, where the original

wooden grave markers have disintegrated.

Project participants, who include In-

stitute Research Associates Hans Barnard

and Brian Damiata, received the Governors

Historic Preservation Award on January 20,

2010, at a formal ceremony in Sacramento,

along with 11 other award winners statewide.

Roberta Deering, who served on the

awards jury, described the Cotsen Institute

research as one of the most innovative, in-

tegrative and educationalin the broadest

sense of the termprojects Ive come across

in my 30-plus years in hi storic preserva-

tion.

The results are being used by Marquezdescendants to develop a restoration plan

for the site, which was declared a historic-

cultural monument in 2000 by the city of

Los Angeles.

Were really excited, said Shauna

Mecartea, Assistant Director of the Cotsen

Institute. This project vividly demonstrates

the value that UCLA provides to the com-

munity. It also illustrates what archaeology

can mean for the present.

INSTITUTE WINS GOVERNORS AWARDFOR MAPPING HISTORIC CEMETERY IN

LOS ANGELES

By MegSullivan &Shauna K.Mecartea

Above: Projectparticipants at theaward ceremonyin Sacramento.

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6/635INSTITUTE NEWS

Radar imaging from

the ground survey atthe Marquez familycemetery.

The team was led by Dean Goodman, an

Institute Research Associate who specializes

in archaeological remote-sensing technol-

ogy and runs a private geoarchaeological lab

called the Geophysical Archaeometry Lab inWoodland Hills.

In 50 years, nobody is going to remember

us, but theyll know about the people in the

cemetery and the people who lived there and

what life was like for them, Goodman said.

The real winner here is the public.

In the late 1840s, Francisco Marquez,

the Mexican co-holder of the Rancho Boca

de Santa Monica land grant given by his

government, is thought to have established

a burial ground on the canyons wide-open

upper mesa. The cemetery contains the

remains of his youngest son, Pascual, and

perhaps 30 other family members, American

Indian servants, and friendsincluding 10

of 13 guests who died of botulism after eat-

ing home-canned peaches at a New Years

Eve gathering.

Ive devoted half my life to trying to pre-

serve this site, and its great to have recogni-

tion after all this time, said Ernest Marquez,

Pascuals 85-year-old grandson and a retired

commercial artist who lives in West Hills.

Joseph Peyton, a descendant of the

Marquez family, and Tish Nettleship, direc-

tor of the Santa Monicabased La Seora

Research Institute, nominated the Cotsen

Institute and Goodman. La Seora, which is

dedicated to preserving the cultural heritage

of Rancho Boca de Santa Monica, has been

instrumental in the Marquez familys quest

to preserve the cemetery.

We really wanted to thank everyone for

all the great things coming out of this rela-

tionship, Nettleship said.

This Governors Award is the second to

go to a Cotsen-affiliated project in the past

decade. In 2001, the Rock Art Archive re-

ceived the award for its efforts to document

pictographs in the Mojave Desert under the

direction of Institute Research Associate Jo

Anne Van Tilburg.

First given in 1986, the Governors

Historic Preservation Awardsare presented

annually under the sponsorship of the State

Office of Historic Preservation and Califor-

nia State Parks to organizations or public

agencies whose contributions demonstrate

notable achievements in preserving the

heritage of California.

Media attention around the mapping

activities at the Marquez cemetery inspired

numerous descendants to reconnect with

the family. In addition, the activities served

as a learning experience for both UCLA and

USC undergraduate and graduate students

and students at nearby Canyon Elementary

School.

The accolade came at a key point for thecemetery. December 31, 2009, was the 100th

anniversary of the botulism deaths.

Meg Sullivan is Senior Media Relations Repre-

sentative for UCLA. Shauna Mecartea served

as the Cotsen Institute's Assistant Director

through July 2010.

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A Year of Advanced Seminars

This past year, the Cotsen Institute hosted

two Cotsen Advanced Seminars at UCLA.The first conference, entitled The Con-

struction of Value in the Ancient World,

was held on November 1315, 2009. Co-orga-

nized by Gary Urton (Dumbarton Oaks Pro-

fessor of Pre-Columbian Studies, Harvard

University) and John Papadopoulos (UCLA

Professor of Classics), this event brought

together an interdisciplinary and cross-

cultural group of scholars in the humani-

ties and social sciences (anthropologists,

archaeologists, art historians, economic

historians, historians, linguists, philologists,

and sociologists) to investigate the mean-

ing and construction of value in the ancient

world. In addition to the co-organizers,

participants included Lord Professor Colin

Renfrew, Charles Stanish (Director of the

Cotsen Institute), Susan Alcock (Professor

of Classics, Brown University), Christopher

B. Donnan (Professor Emeritus of Anthro-

pology), among other top scholars. This

conference will result in a manuscript to

be submitted for publication at the Cotsen

Institute of Archaeology Press in the Cotsen

Advanced Seminar series.

The second conference was organized

by Lothar von Falkenhausen, Professor of

By Staff

By Lothar von Falkenhausen

During the first millennium AD, the oasiskingdom of Kucha in present-day Xinjiang

(China) was a center of Buddhist learning

in Central Asia. The Kucha ruling lite

sponsored the construction of several Bud-

dhist cave temple complexes, which, though

ravaged by destruction, can still be seen

today and rank among the most evocative

art-historical monuments along the Silk

Routes. In summer 2009, Professor von

Falkenhausen participated in a research trip

to Xinjiang organized under the auspices

Art History and Associate Director of the

Cotsen Instiute, and was held on November2122, 2009. Entitled Beyond the Surface:

Bronze Mirrrors from the Lloyd Cotsen

Collection, the symposium was co-spon-

sored by the Cotsen Corporation and

focused on the analysis and synthesis

of Lloyd Cotsens mirror collection,

which consists of 97 mirrors, all but

five of them made in China. All the

mirrors in the collection are of cast

bronzesome with elaborate designs

and others with inlaid, lacquered,

or painted decoration. The mirrors

in the Cotsen Collection exemplify

the mastery of bronze casting and

surface decoration achieved by the

artists of early China. Top scholars

from around the world participated

in this conference, including David

Scott (UCLA Professor of Art History

and Chair of the Conservation Program),

Zhou Ya of the Shanghai Museum, and

Mimi Hal l Yiengpruksawan from Yale

University, among others. This conference

will result in a two-volume set co-published

by the Cotsen Institute Press and the Cotsen

Occasional Press, which is run by the Cotsen

Corporation.

of Yale University with funding from theDepartment of Education. The participants

were approached by the director of the Kizil

Academy, which is now in charge of these

important monuments, with the request to

launch an international project that would

involve scholars from all over the world to

participate in conservation and research

there. This afternoon-long mini-sympo-

sium, organized by Professor von Falken-

hausen with support from the Central Asia

Initiative of UCLAs Asia Institute and the

Cotsen Institute, brought together localcolleagues from various institutions and

disciplines, as well as several distinguished

out-of-area visitors, in order to sound out

how to respond to this ouverture. Twelve

short papers were presented, generating

lively discussion.

Lothar von Falkenhausen is Professor of Art

History at UCLA and the Associate Director of

the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology.

Buddhist Cave Temples of the Kucha Kingdom:An Afternoon of Presentations and Discussion

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A bronze mirrorfrom Lloyd Cotsen'sCollection.

Beginning this year, three select undergradu-

ate students will have the opportunity to

attend a field school with all expenses paid,

thanks to the newly established Cotsen

Undergraduate Research Fellowships

() program.

The program provides funds

to three academic units on campus

to send an undergraduate of their

choice to a field school offered by our

UCLA Archaeology Field Program or

another field school.

For the summer of 2010, commit-

tees were formed in the Anthropol-

ogy department, the Afro-American

Studies Program, and the Center for

American Indian Research and Educa-

tion. Each committee selected one

student to send to the field.

The program, which is generously

supported by an endowment provided by

This past winter UCLA was fortunate to have

professor Ronny Reich from the Department of

Archaeology at Haifa University spend his sabbatica l in Los An-

geles. Professor Reich is also the Senior Archaeologist with the Israel

Antiquities Department, and the co-director for the excavations in

the oldest part of Jerusalem, the City of David.

While at UCLA, Professor Reich gave a series of lectures on recent

archaeological work conducted in Jerusalem. His first lecture discussed

the Canaanite (ca. 1800-1600 BCE) water system of Jerusalem includ-ing a massive rock-cut pool that was filled by the waters of the Gihon

Spring, Jerusalems only water source. This pool was protected by two

recently discovered massive towers dispelling earlier theories that Jeru-

salems inhabitants had to go outside of the city to draw water.

The next lecture shared new Iron Age (9th-8th centuries BCE)

inscriptions and archaeobotanical remains from the City of David,

many coming from the reused rock-cut pool. The archaeobotanical

finds included a large amount of fish bonesa strange phenomenon

for a city located in the mountainswhich led Professor Reich to

discuss the citys long-distance trade network.

Dr. Reichs third lecture focused on the recent excavations at the

monumental Second Temple Period Pool of Siloam (ca. 200 BCE-70

CE), a structure that is mentioned in both Jewish and early Christian

sources. This pool collected the waters from the Gihon Spring after

they flowed through the Iron Age channel referred to as Hezekiahs

Tunnel.

The fourth lecture dealt with death and burial in Iron Age Jeru-

salem (1200-587 BCE) as i lluminated by Professor Reichs work at the

tombs in the Mamilla neighborhood, located just northwest of the

City of David.In addition to these public lectures Professor Reich also taught

a seminar for graduate and undergraduate students on daily life in

the Second Temple Period. Further, he continues to be involved with

two UCLA projects: the Jaffa Cultural Heritage Project, which is a

joint project between UCLA and the Israel Antiquities Department

co-directed by Aaron Burke and Martin Peilstocker, and the virtual

model of Jerusalems Second Temple.

Kyle Keimer is a graduate student in UCLAs Near Eastern Languages and

Cultures department (NELC).

Institute Funds SendUndergraduates to the Field

CIOA Hosts Distinguished Visiting Scholar

By Shauna K. Mecartea

By Kyle Keimer

Mr. Lloyd Cotsen to foster undergraduate

research, is intended to provide opportuni-

ties for underrepresented undergraduates to

participate in an active research project by

attending an archaeological field school.

Students are selected based on merit and

need. Selected students are called Cotsen

Undergraduate Research Fellows and receive

full scholarships, with a minimum award

of $5,000, to attend any of our field schools.

The award covers field school tuition, health

insurance, and airfare. This exciting new

program is one more way that the UCLA

Archaeology Field Program stands apart

and supports excellence in archaeological

research and teaching.

To find out more about our field schools,

visit www.archaeology.ucla.edu.

Shauna Mecartea served as the Assistant

Director of the Cotsen Institute until July 2010

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NEW TITLES FROM THE COTSENINSTITUTE PRESS 20092010

THE CHANKA: ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH

IN ANDAHUAYLAS APURIMAC, PERU

By Brian S. Bauer, Lucas C. Kellett, And Miriam Aroz Silva

ISBN: 978-1-931745-59-8 (cloth), 978-1-931745-60-4 (paper)

Publication Date: June

Series: Monograph

Price: US cloth, paper

In AD 1438 a battle took place outside the city of Cuzco that changed the course of South American

history. The Chanka, a powerful ethnic group from the Andahuaylas region, had begun an aggressive

program of expansion. Conquering a host of smaller polities, their army had advanced well inside the

territory of their traditional rival, the Inca. In a series of unusual maneuvers, the Inca defeated the

invading Chanka forces and became the most powerful people in the Andes. Many scholars believe that

the defeat of the Chanka represents a defining moment in the history of South America as the Inca then

continued to expand and establish the largest empire of the Americas.

Despite its critical position in South American history, until recently the Chanka heartland remained

unexplored and the cultural processes that led to their rapid development and subsequent defeat by the

Inca had not been investigated. From 2001 to 2004, Brian Bauer conducted an archaeological survey

of the Andahuaylas region. This project represents an unparalleled opportunity to examine theoretical

issues concerning the history and cultural development of late-prehistoric societies in this area of the

Andes. The resulting book includes an archaeological analysis on the development of the Chanka and

examines their ultimate defeat by the Inca.

GALLINAZO: AN EARLY CULTURAL TRADITIONON THE PERUVIAN NORTH COAST

Edited By Jean-Franois Millaire With Magali Morlion

ISBN: 978-1-931745-74-1 (cloth), 978-1-931745-78-8 (paper)

Publication Date:

Series: Monograph

Price: US cloth, paper

Over the last decades, considerable effort has been directed towards the study of early complex

societies of northern Peru, and in recent years archaeologists have expressed a strong interest in the

art and archaeology of the Moche, Lambayeque and Chim societies. Yet, comparatively little attention

has been paid to the earlier cultural foundations of north coast civilization: the Gallinazo. In the recentyears, however, the work of a number of north coast specialists brought about a large quantity of data on

the Gallinazo occupation of the coast, but a coherent framework for studying this culture had yet to be

defined. The present volume is the result of a round table, which gathered some thirty scholars from Eu-

rope and North and South America to discuss the Gallinazo phenomenon. In fourteen chapters, authors

with different perspectives and backgrounds re-consider the nature of the Gallinazo culture and its posi-

tion within north coast cultural history, while addressing wider issues about the development of complex

societies in this area and within the Andean region in general. The contributions reveal a diversity of

perspectives on north coast archaeology, something that is likely to stimulate methodological and theo-

retical debates among Andeanists, pre-Columbian specialists and New World archaeologists in general.

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SETTLEMENT AND SUBSISTENCE IN EARLY FORMATIVE SOCONUSCO:

EL VARAL THE PROBLEM OF INTERSITE ASSEMBLAGE VARIATION

By Richard Lesure, Editor And Principal Author

ISBN: 978-1-931745-78-9 (cloth), 978-1-931745-79-6 (paper)

Publication Date:

Series: Monograph

Price: US cloth, paper

The Soconusco region, a narrow strip of the Pacific coast of Mexico and Guatemala, is the location

of some of the earliest pottery-using villages of ancient Mesoamerica. Mobile early inhabitants of the

area harvested marsh clams in the estuaries, leaving behind vast mounds of shell. With the introduction

of pottery and the establishment of permanent villages (from 1900 ), use of the resource-rich estu-

ary changed. The archaeological manifestation of that new estuary adaptation is a dramatic pattern

of inter-site variability in pottery vessel forms. Vessels at sites within the estuary were about seventy

percent neckless jars -- "tecomates" -- while vessels at contemporaneous sites a few kilometers inland

were seventy percent open dishes. The pattern is well-known, but the the settlement arrangements or

subsistence practices that produced it have remained unclear.

Archaeological investigations at El Varal, a special-purpose estuar y site of the later Early Formative

(1250-1000 ) expand possibilities for an anthropological understanding of the archaeological patterns.

The goal of this volume is to describe excavations and finds at the site and to propose, based on a variety

of analyses, a new understanding of Early Formative assemblage variability.

INCA RITUALS AND SACRED MOUNTAINS:A STUDY OF THE WORLDS HIGHEST ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES

By Johan Reinhard and Maria Constanza Ceruti

ISBN: 978-1-931745-76-5 (cloth), 978-1-931745-79-6 (paper)

Publication Date:

Series: Monograph

Price: US cloth, paper

The Incas carried out some of the most dramatic ceremonies known to us from ancient times. Groups

of people walked hundreds of miles across arid and mountainous terrain to perform them on mountains

over 20,000 feet high. The most important offerings made during these pilgrimages involved human sac-

rifices (capacochas). Although Spanish chroniclers wrote about these offerings and the state sponsoredprocessions of which they were a part, their accounts were based on second-hand sources, and the only

direct evidence we have of the capacocha sacrifices comes to us from archaeological excavations.

Some of the most thoroughly documented of these were undertaken on high mountain summits,

here the material evidence has been exceptionally well preserved. In this study we describe the results

of research undertaken on Mount Llullaillaco (6,739 m/22,109 feet), which has the worlds highest

archaeological site. The types of ruins and artifact assemblages recovered are described and analyzed.

By comparing the archaeological evidence with the chroniclers accounts and with findings from other

mountaintop sites, common patterns are demonstrated; while at the same time previously little known

elements contribute to our understanding of key aspects of Inca religion. This study illustrates the im-

portance of archaeological sites being placed within the broader context of physical and sacred features

of the natural landscape.

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The Sustainable Preservation Initiative (SPI) seeks to save and preserve the

worlds cultural heritage by providing transformative and sustainable economic

opportunities to poor communities in which cultural heritage sites are located.

The SPI mantra is Saving Sites by Transforming Lives.

SAVING SITESTRANSFORMING LIVESBYThe Sustainable Preservation Initiative

By Lawrence Coben & Charles S. Stanish

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12/6311FEATURE

according to University of Pennsylvania archaeolo-

gist Larry Coben, SPIs Executive Director, we need to

provide an alternative to other potential economic uses

of archaeological sites, such as looting, agriculture, graz-

ing, residential and commercial uses. That enables us to

help people better their lives and gives them a powerful

economic incentive to preserve our shared heritage .

SPI was incubated at the Archaeological Institute

of America and the Cotsen Inst itute of Archaeology at

UCLA as a response to the rapidly accelerating destruc-

tion of the worlds global heritage. War, looting, climate

change, neglect and increases in extreme tourism are

all contributing to the massive damage to archaeologi-cal sites. Particularly in poorer communities, there is

no funding for site preservation, and alternatives to

archaeology are the best economic uses of sites. The

problem of economically superior uses is prevalent in

both more and less developed countries, from histori-

cally significant buildings in major cites razed to build

condominiums to sites looted to sell artifacts by poor

local residents. The current economic crisis only exac-

erbates this problem.

Existing preservation paradigms have proved inade-

quate and unsustainable, primarily due to the absence of

an economic reason for local communities to continue

preserving sites after the departure of archaeologists and

conservators. How can someone tell a poor person not to

economically exploit a site, even if destructive, without

providing a viable economic opportunity that provides

income to that person while simultaneously preserving

cultural heritage? SPI seeks to create a new paradigm to

solve this problem.

The explosion of extreme tourism and globalization

create enormous potential for locally based tourism and

artisan businesses. Even small local economic benefits

can compete successfully with looting and alternativeuses of sites. And the creation of local businesses with a

vested interest in the preservation and maintenance of a

site provides an ongoing and long-term source of incen-

tive and funding for site

preservation, as well as

all of the benefits nor-

mally associated with

economic development

in poor communities.

PEOPLE CANT EAT THEIR HISTORY,

Even small local economic benefits

can compete successfully with looti

and alternative uses of sites.

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SPIs goal is the creation of this new preservation

paradigm. Working with community and governmen-

tal leaders, local business people, archaeologists and

preservationists, SPI will develop plans for projects and

businesses that will be locally owned and that maxi-

mize spending in the communities surrounding the

sites. Through microlenders, charitable organizations

and other sources of funding, SPI will provide grants to

existing or start up businesses such as tourism, guides,

restaurants, hostels, transportation, artisans and site

museums and other rapidly implementable projects.

Continued economic support will be tied to successful

sustainable business and preservation efforts. Through

this combination of local involvement, decision mak-

ing and ownership, sustainable economic benefits and

value will be related to and conditioned upon continued

site preservation. These businesses will also provide an

ongoing revenue stream to meet preservation and other

local needs. This paradigm provides two for the price of

oneevery dollar spent on economic development and

the improvement of local peoples lives will also serve to

preserve the worlds cultural heritage.Of course, mere successful implementation of a few

projects will not stem the destruction of the worlds

global heritage. Rather, SPI will publicize, publish and

educate with respect to its successes and failures, as well

as create an online network of experts who can consult

with archaeologists and local communities to assist

them in the implementation of local economically sus-

tainable projects. Many archaeologists desire strongly

to assist their local communities in this way, but are not

trained to do so. SPI will be a resource for them to call

Working with community and governmental

leaders, local business people, archaeologists

and preservationists, SPI will develop plans

for projects and businesses that will be locally

owned and that maximize spending in the

communities surrounding the sites.

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14/6313FEATURE

upon to meet this goal and preserve their sites. SPI will

also provide course material for inclusion in archaeo-

logical curricula.

SPI is presently active in Peru and Armenia, and ex-

pects to announce projects prior to year-end in Jordan.

SPIs strongest supporters include the AIA, the Cot-

sen Institute and the members of its outstanding board

of directors, which includes a broad cross section of

archaeologists, business people, international develop-

ment experts and diplomats, all of whom are dedicated

to the successful implementation of SPIs new preserva-

tion paradigm.

Lawrence Coben is Executive Director of the SPI.

Charles Stanish is Director of the Cotsen Institute of

Archaeology.

SUPPORT THE SPI

The Sustainable Preservation Initiative is

looking for donors who share its vision of

community-based heritage preservation. To

find out more about supporting the project,

please visit: www.ioa.ucla.edu/support.

For more information about the Sustainable

Preservation Initiative, visit :

www.sustainablepreservation.org.

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By John (Mac) Marston

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NYONEHOLDINGA401(K)OVERTHELASTFEWYEARSHASLEARNED

the true definition of economic risk: returns from eco-

nomic activity are variable. Risk is ubiquitous for people

participating in any economy, from foragers to Wall Street

bankers. Food-producing societies must devise successful

strategies to manage agricultural risks to ensure a stable

food supply. Investigating how and when farmers employ

these strategies is key to understanding human behavioral responses to environ-

mental variation in the past and the present.

Risk-management strategies can be divided

into two broad categories: diversifica-

tion and intensification. Diversification is

aimed at reducing the variability in y ield

from a particular subsistence activity, just

as diversified mutual funds produce more

stable and predictable yields than individual

stocks. Intensification ignores variance and

simply aims to raise the mean level of food

production, yielding a surplus in good years

and just enough food in bad years. One com-

mon method for intensification is irrigation,

which can boost agricultural produce dra-

matically in certain environments (Marcus

and Stanish 2006).

The ancient city of Gordion, which lies

in the semi-arid steppe of central Anato-

lia (modern Turkey) and was home to the

legendary King Midas and the Gordian

Knot, provides an excellent case study for

Gordions agricultural system endured for

millennia, the result of successful strategies

for managing long-term subsistence risk.

A field of bread wheatgrowing at Yasshyk,the modern village nearGordion, with the so-called Midas Tumulus,now thought to hold theremains of King Midasfather, in the distance.

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If ancient inhabitants of Gordion were

successful in managing long-term agricul-

tural ri sk, what implications does knowl-

edge of this system have for modern farmers

in central Turkey? Farmers today have

become increasingly specialized, producing

fields of onions or sugar beets for export

to Europe. This lack of diversity increaseseconomic risks to farmers; in some years

onions are worth less than the cost of

transporting them to market and are left to

rot in the fields. Globalization has exposed

Turkish farmers to the same risk of booms

and busts as American investors; perhaps

both groups could benefit from further

study of our risk-averse ancestors from the

agricultural past.

References:Grsan-Salzmann, Aye

2005 Ethnographic Lessons for Past Agro-Pastoral Systems

in the Sakarya-Porsuk Valleys. In The Archaeology of Midas and

the Phrygians: Recent Work at Gordion, edited by L. Kealhofer, pp.

172190. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and

Anthropology, Philadelphia.

Marcus, Joyce, and Charles Stanish (editors)2006 Agricultural Strategies. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology,

University of California, Los Angeles.

Miller, Naomi F.

2010 Botanical Aspects of Environment and Economy at Gordion,

Turkey. University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia.

Miller, Naomi F., Melinda A. Zeder, and Susan R. Arter

2009 From Food and Fuel to Farms and Flocks: The Integration of

Plant and Animal Remains in the Study of the Agropastoral Economy

at Gordion, Turkey. Current Anthropology 50:915924.

Watson, Andrew M.1983 Agricultural Innovation in the Early Islamic World: The Dif-

fusion of Crops and Farming Techniques, 7001100. Cambridge

University Press, Cambridge.

Zeder, Melinda A., and Susan R. Arter

1994 Changing Patterns of Animal Utilization at Ancient Gordion.

Palorient 22(2):105118.

Mac Marston recieved his PhD from the

Archaeology Program in 2010. He is currently a

Post-Doctoral Fellow at Brown University.

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erhaps it was this sentiment that also captured the heart of Henry

(Nick) Nicholson, Professor of Anthropology at UCLA and scholar

of Aztec iconography. Described as a veritable encyclopedia of all

things historical, Nicholson had an impressive career in Meso-

american archaeology; he had an enduring love for art history,

stone sculpture, and the codices of the Aztecs, which contributed

to his success and expertise in this field. His reputation as a bril-

liant scholar and passionate historian defined his professional life, but as his son eloquently

articulated after his death:

My fathers heart was enormous. What many people dont know is that he was an extremely tal-

ented cartoonist, a person who absolutely revered and adored Shakespeare, a doting husband and

father, a person who lived for museums, a man who was truly in love with the Aztecs, a gracious

person who possessed a sarcastic wit.1

A native of southern Cal ifornia , Nicholson was always proud to have been born by the

Pacific Ocean and held a lifelong affinity for La Jolla. He loved to snorkel in La Jolla Cove, and

his fascination with archaeology first blossomed during his childhood visits to the San Diego

Museum of Man. Shortly after enrolling at UC Berkeley in 1943, Nicholson enlisted in the

army and was a member of the Blackhawk Division of San Diego. After service in both Ger-

many and the Philippines, he was discharged in 1945 and returned to Berkeley to resume his

studies in anthropology. It was not long before he met Margaret, his future wife, with whom

he moved to Cambridge to pursue a PhD in Archaeology at Harvard University.

HENRY B. NICHOLSONTHE LIFE & TIMES

OF

By Hadley W. Jensen

I have also seen the objects they have brought to the king from the new golden land:

a sun of solid gold that measures a full fathom; also a moon of pure silver, equal in

size; also two halls filled with curious armaments, all kinds of weapons, armour,

artillery, extraordinary shields, odd garments, breastplates and an endless numberof strange objects of multiple uses that are even more beautiful to the eye for being

the curiosities they are. In all my life I have never seen anything that has so delighted

my heart as did these objects; for there I saw strange works of art and have been left

amazed by the subtle inventiveness of the men of far off lands.

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palaces, and gardens. 2Tragically, the beauty

and brilliance of this Indian capital was

destroyed during the Spanish Conquest of

1521, led by Hernando Cortes and his small

army of invaders. A new European-style city

was soon erected upon the ruins of the old;

the new capital displayed strikingly different

aesthetic ideals, and the remnants of Aztec

civilization lay buried for centuries.

It was Nicholsons hope to significantlyadvance the study of Aztec iconography by

providing researchers with new and perhaps

previously undocumented material. In an

effort to do so, he created the Aztec Ar-

chive, which documented Aztec sculpture

and related artifacts in public and private

collections throughout the Unites States,

Europe, and Mexico. Comprised of thou-

sands of photographs, slides, and drawings,

Nick and Margaret first traveled to

Mexico City in the early 1950s in an old

Ford. They quickly became enamored with

the city, returning to live there after Nick

received a Doherty Fellowship. Following the

birth of their first child, he was interviewed

for a position at UCLA, which led to a 35-year

career in the Anthropology Department at

the university. It was here that Nicholsons

interest in Aztec culture turned to passion.

Sometime around 1250 , the Aztecs

journeyed into the Valley of Mexico where

they transformed their community, Mexico-

Tenochtitlan, into an unrivaled political

capital and cultural center, forming what

was arguably the most

powerful nation in

Mesoamerica between

13251521.

Aztec art, with itsgrand architecture

and monumental

sculpture, became a

tangible expression of

their achievements and a testament to their

ingenuity. As Nicholson describes, Tenoch-

titlan was once the glittering capital of a

great empire, a New World Venice interlaced

with canals and studded with temples,

It was Nicholsons hope to significantly

advance the study of Aztec iconography by

providing researchers with new and perhaps

previously undocumented material.

Previous page: Seated pulque(octli) deity. Proyecto TemploMayor, Mexico City. This uniquepolychrome statue was originallypart of an offertory cache andwas found in near the well-known Coyolxauhqui stone relief.

Opposite page: Yollotlicue mono-lith (She of the Skirt of Hearts), Mexico City. This photo depictsthe excavation of the TemploMayor area. Known as the ritualheart of the ancient Aztec capital,Tenochtitlan, it lay buried forcenturies beneath what is nowMexico City. The stone monolithin the center is a stunning exampleof Aztec monumental sculpture.

Above: Necklace of Skulls,Dumbarton Oaks, Washington,

DC. This intricately craftednecklace is composed of eighteenminiature gold skulls separatedby turquoise beads. It is attrib-uted to southwest Chiapas andprovides a playful representationof the macabre skull, a populartheme in ancient Mexican art.

All photos by H.B. Nicholson,digitized by H. Jensen.

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his collection is unsurpassed in its breadth and variety,

providing what may be the first comprehensive database

of ethnographic photographs available to Aztec scholars.

I had the pleasure of getting to know Nick through

his work, specifically the Aztec Archive. It has been an

unusual experienceseeing the inner workings of a true

academics mind, experiencing the passion that inspired

him, and becoming familiar with his research, without

ever having met or spoken with him. My work began

six months ago, a delicate picking-through of drawersand drawers of black-and-white photographs, negatives,

drawings and notes. Realizing that careful d iligence

needed to be coupled with an ambitious approach, I

began to make progress with a system of organization.

In keeping with Nicks general structure, I separated

materials by the museum or collection from which they

were taken, creating a kind of experiential snapshot of

each place he visited.

The months slipped by, and before I knew it I was

uncovering photos of rare Aztec sculptures that might

never have been published or seen by

many in the academic community.

Of particular significance was

a series of four black-and-white images depicting the

1940 excavation of the Templo Mayor area. Known as the

ritual heart of Tenochtitlan, the ancient Aztec capital,

the Templo Mayor lay for centuries beneath what is now

Mexico City. Presently in the collections of the INAHs

Fototeca Nacional in Pachuca, these photographs illus-

trate the important moment when the Yollotlicue (She

of the Skirt of Hearts) monolith was discovered during

the demolition of the seminary at Guatemala and Ar-

gentina Streets. This piece, almost identical to another,more famous piece of Mexica monumental sculpture,

has received less recognition due to the destroyed up-

per portion of the body. Nevertheless, it is a stunning

example of Aztec craftsmanship.

Another noteworthy discovery was the National Gal-

lery of Art catalog (with original 810 inch photographs

from the 198384 exhibit entitled the Art of Aztec

Mexico: Treasures of Tenochtitlan. A joint project of

the National Gallery and the pre-Columbian depart-

ment of Dumbarton Oaks, it was the first of its kind in

the United States and displayed many archaeologi-

cal treasures. Nick was one of the principal

curators, as well as co-author of the catalog,

helping to give life to and spread knowledge

about one of the greatest Mesoameri-

can cultures. The show also included

important pieces from the Sala Mexica,

the Aztec hal l of the Museo Nacional de

Antropologa in Mexico City, which fea-

tured recent discoveries from a Templo

Mayor excavation in the early 1980s.

This project quickly became a larger

undertaking than I initially expected, as

I discovered more and more material

hundreds of books from Nicks personal

library, dusty boxes filled to the brim with his

published papers, yellowing manuscripts, hand-

written notes, and miscellaneous correspondence.

He kept nearly every airplane ticket to every museum

he visited, city maps and brochures, countless postcards

of Aztec relics, and most importantly, thousands of

photographs, which were to compose his beloved Aztec

Archive.

However, it is important to make a distinction about

what this archive is and what it is not. Nick spent the

latter part of his life traveling around the world to docu

ment and share what he loved. After immersing himself

in the collections of the Muse de lHomme in Paris, theMuseums fur Volkerkunde in Basel, Berlin, and Vienna,

the Met and American Museum of Natural History

in the United States, the Museo Nacional de Antrop-

ologa in Mexico, as well as innumerable university and

private collections, he documented both renowned and

obscure Aztec sculptures. But this collections vastness

can be obscured by its d isorganization. For one who has

specific research interests and background knowledge

of the subject matter, his archive is an exciting resource

but making use of it requires effort and intent. Some

may find it slightly daunting to navigate, especially

Ceramic Eagle

Warrior, Proyecto

Templo Mayor, Mexico

City.Excavated inthe Templo Mayorprecinct in theearly s, this

impressive ceramicstatue is life-size,representing amale figure wearingthe costume of aneagle. It was oncepart of a pair thatflanked the doorwayto a room beneaththe Platform ofthe Eagles. As Dr.Nicholson notes,no other Aztecanthropomorphicimages of this size

had been discoveredat the time.

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24/6323FEATURE

because a comprehensive guide or inventory has yet to

be completed.

Nicholsons archive also brings to light interesting

questions about how these sorts of collections should

be handled, what should be done with them, and who

should have access to them. At a time when museums

are lacking financial resources and institutions are

struggling for funding, how do we get creative with what

we have? Is there a space for this kind of collection in

contemporary academia? The Aztec Archive is certainlya testament to the hidden gems that museums may have

in their back pockets. It seems worth the time and effort

to find ways of preserving and displaying such things, so

that a wider audience can access them.

What is certain is that Henry Nicholson succeeded

in leaving behind a permanent imprint on the field he

loved. This was Nicks own personal world, one in which

history came alive and tremendous beauty and power

could be found in the relics of the past. He was an adven-

turer in the truest senseexplorer meets academicand

it is rare to find such a person who also possesses great

heart. I have enjoyed getting to know Nick through the

gift hes given us, and I hope that it continues to inspire

those who are interested.

1 Bruce Nicholson, address, funera l of Henry B. Nich-

olson, 2007.

2 Henry B. Nicholson, inArt of Aztec Mexico: Treasures

of Tenochtitlan, Catalogue of an Exhibition at the National

Gallery of Art, by H. B. Nicholson with Eloise QuionesKeber (National Gallery of Art, 1983), p. 17.

Hadley Jensen received her B.A. in Comparative Religion

and is pursuing graduate study in Archaeology and Art

History. Her work with the Nicholson Archive was a special

project for the Fowler Museum at UCLA.

Stone of the

Death Monsters,

Museo Nacional de

Antropologia, Mexico

City. Discoveredin in MexicoCity, this exquisitelycarved monumentis a testament toAztec craftsmanship.Depicted in relief on

each side face are fourcreatures: owl, spider,bat, and scorpion,which are generallyassociated withdarkness and death.

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HANNAH LAUgrew up in San Fran-

cisco and received her B.A. in An-

thropology and History, with a minor

in Modern Middle Eastern Studies,

at the University of Pennsylvania.

She has participated in fieldwork in

Israel, at Tell es-Safi/Gath; in Kenya,

as part of the Laikipia Regional

Survey Project; and at Oglanqala

in Naxivan, Azerbaijan. For her

graduate studies, Hannah will work

with Elizabeth Carter (Professor and

Chair of Near Eastern Languages and

Cultures). She is primarily interested

in the study of faunal remains in the

Near East and its implications for re-

constructing political economy and

historical ecology, and in landscape

archaeology in the Near East.

CLAIRE ALIKI COLLINSis a first year

PhD student in Archaeology. Her

research interests lie in the Black

Sea, Greek colonization, ancient

urban landscapes, human sacrifice,

archeological ethics, textual analy-

sis, and ceramics. She received her

B.A. in Classical and Near Eastern

Archaeology at Bryn Mawr College.

She comes from a Masters program

in Nautical Archaeology in the De-

partment of Anthropology at Texas

A&M University, with a masters

thesis focused on the amphora graf-

fiti of a th century A.D shipwreck

off the coast of Crimea, Ukraine in

the Black Sea.

KEVIN HILLgrew up in Moorpark,

California. He attended Harvard

University where he received his

B.A. in Anthropology with a focus

in Archaeology and Biological An-

thropology. As an undergraduate,

he participated in fieldwork in the

American Southwest. His under-

graduate thesis focused on defensive

architecture in the Mesa Verde area

of Colorado and Utah. Kevin has also

done fieldwork in the Titicaca Basin

of Peru, where he plans to conduct

his graduate research. At UCLA,

Kevin will be working with Charles

Stanish (Professor of Anthropol-

ogy and Cotsen Institute Director).

His research interests include state

formation during the Inca period,

economic specialization, landscape

archaeology, and the interplay

between power and identity in the

past.

KANIKA KALRA comes with a

masters degree in History from the

University of Delhi, India. Her previ-

ous field experience includes survey

at the historical site of Harnol, exca-

vations at Sanauli (a late Harappan

site) and Kadebakale (a megalithic

site), all in India. Her interest lies in

using archaeology to explore social

and economic issues in early medi-

eval India. While at UCLA, she plans

to focus on ceramic analysis, survey,

and GIS techniques as part of her

approach. She will be working under

Monica Smith, Associate Professor

of Anthropology.

CIOA ARCHAEOLOGY PROGRAM WELCOMESNEW GRADUATE STUDENTS ( )

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26/6325STUDENT NEWS

ELIZABETH DROLETgraduated

from Boston University in with

a bachelors degree in Archaeology.

After graduation, she worked for

a cultural resource management

firm based in Atlanta, conducting

archaeological fieldwork and labora-

tory analysis at sites throughout the

Southeastern United States. This

inspired her interest in archaeo-

logical conservation, and she spent

the last two years working at the

American Museum of Natural His-

tory in New York, in both the North

American Archaeology and Objects

Conservation laboratories. During

her time there, she was able to treat

a wide variety of materials, includ-

ing ceramics, stone, basketry, and

shell objects. She has also worked

at the University of Maines Hudson

Museum, and Columbia Universitys

Rare Book and Manuscript Library.Her current research interests are

the deterioration of archaeological

materials, early ceramic technology,

and the conservation of organics in

the archaeological record.

NEW STUDENTS ENROLL IN UCLAGETTYCONSERVATION PROGRAM

CINDY LEE SCOTTcompleted both

an undergraduate degree in Classical

Archaeology in , and an MA in

Greek Bronze Age Archaeology in

from Brock University, Canada.

During hertime at Brock University, I

have worked on archaeological proj-

ects in Greece, Crete, Cyprus, and

France. Her pre-program internships

included the INSTAP - SCEC (Institute

for Aegaen Prehistory Study Centre

for East Crete) Summer Internship

in Conservation in Pachia Ammos,

Crete in and . She also

served as assistant conservator at

the Nemea Valley Archaeological

Project - Ayia Sotira excavation, also

in the summers of and .

During the summer of , she

completed a week internship at Te

Papa Tongerawa - The National Mu-

seum of New Zealand, in Wellington,

NZ. Her research interests are in theconservation of ceramics, solvent

gels and enzyme cleaning, as well as

in the ethics of conservation when

dealing with ethnographic objects.

Her current projects involve ongoing

research in the removal of shellac

and lac dye from porous substrates.

LILY DOANis from Southern

California and received her BA in

Anthropology from CSULB. She is

interested in the conservation of

a wide range of objects, from ar-

chaeological to contemporary. Her

research at UCLA will examine how

interviews with artists may inform

the technical analysis and conserva-

tion of their artwork in an ethno-

graphic collection.

DAWN LOHNASoriginally attended

UCLA as an undergraduate, majoring

in studio art with a minor in anthro-

pology. Her interest in archaeologi-

cal conservation began when she

participated on a dig through the

UCLA Archaeology Field Program in

the Tarapaca Valley in Chile in .

This summer she worked at the

National Museum of the American

Indian, preparing ancient and mod-

ern objects from across the Western

Hemisphere for exhibition. In the

spring, Dawn worked with Christian

Fischer on developing a technique

using Ultraviolet/Visible Near-

Infrared Spectroscopy to identify

pigments with different binders. This

project focused on the identification

of paints in two Balinese paintings

from the Fowler Museum collec-

tion. For her thesis project, Dawn

will be testing consolidants for useon painted earthen architectural

surfaces.

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TESSA DE ALARCNreceived her

B.A. from Carleton College in Min-

nesota with a major in studio art and

a minor in archaeology. She spent a

year doing a pre-program internship

at a museum and archaeological site

in Antigua Guatemala, Casa Santo

Domingo, where she worked on

Spanish colonial ceramics and late

post classic Mayan ceramics. Tessa

did a second pre-program intern-

ship at the Denver Art Museum

where she worked on a range of

materials. Currently, Tessa is doing

research on the use of corrosion

inhibitors on copper alloys based

on her treatment experience this

summer at Kaman Kalehyk,

Turkey, and investigating alteration

products on copper sulfide minerals

at the Natural History Museum,

Los Angeles County. In addition,

she has begun preliminary researchfor her MA thesis on improving the

methodology for the use of im-

munofluorescence microscopy for

the identification of organic binding

media in paint cross-sections.

ROBIN OHERNgrew up in Honolulu,

Hawaii and attended Swarthmore

College where she majored in

Religious Studies and Minored

in Chemistry. She then attended

Harvard Divinity School where she

earned a Masters in Theological

Studies with a focus on material

culture. Her current research project

involves studying the surface

encrustation on African Komo masks

and the ethical issues of treating

these sacred objects.

NICOLE LEDOUXgrew up in the

Boston area and received a BA in An-

thropology from Harvard University

in . After graduation, she spent

a summer conserving outdoor stone

monuments at Mount Auburn Cem-

etery in Cambridge, Massachusetts

and worked for two years as a pre-

program intern in the conservation

lab of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum

of Anthropology at UC Berkeley. Ni-

cole is broadly interested in the con-

servation of cultural objects from

archaeological and historic contexts,

particularly those made from

organic materials. Nicole is currently

finishing the treatment and technical

study of an early th century Plains

beaded hide and beginning a thesis

project on loss compensation treat-

ment methods for coiled basketry.

Fall Conservation Students

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CONSERVATION PROGRAM TEAMS UPWITH LIBRARY FOR EXHIBITIONBy Ellen Pearlstein

Above: An ornatebasket from theACCM partiallyreconstructed bySiska Genbrugge.

From May 10 to July 8, 2009, indigenous objects

along with technical and cultural di scover-

ies made by students in the UCLA/Getty

Conservation Program were

shared with a wide audience through

an exhibition on the first

floor of the Young

Research Library (YRL).

Students researched,

treated, and docu-

mented cultural objects

from the Agua Caliente

Cultural Museum (ACCM)

in Palm Springs, California,

as part of their coursework

during winter quarters 2007 and

2009. This course (Conservation of

Archaeological and Ethnographic Ma-

terials [CAEM] 222) brought in tribal and

museum instructors to engage students in

consultation about preservation practices.

The exhibition in the library used a built-in

display case with sliding glass doors and internal

lighting that had never before been used for museum

objects. Museum standards for security, temperature,

relative humidity, and illumination had to be met. For-

tunately, the case has a secure locking system, and the

temperature in YRL remains stable and moderate year

round. The light and ultraviolet levels were considered

acceptable for cultural materials. Our biggest challenge

was raising the relative humidity above the ambient

levels that reflect moisture conditions outdoors. We ac-

complished this by sealing perimeter gaps on the slidingglass doors, installing about 90 pounds of silica gel in

the case (borrowed from our friends at the UCLA Fowler

and the Getty Villa Museums), and running humidifiers

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inside the case for weeks before the installation. Our

stacked trays of silica gel adsorbed moisture, buffered

the case to a stable relative humidity, and caused Univer-

sity Librarian Gary Strong to ponder on his blog about

when our seedlings were going to sprout!

UCLA/Getty students meanwhile characterized

plant fibers and animal materials found in the museum

objects, explored complex manufacture methods, and

used traditional and innovative materials to stabilize

deterioration and replicate missing elements, all while

the case achieved a stable 45% relative humidity and

we refined the appearance of our case seals. Six of the

objects displayed were Cahuilla baskets from southern

California. Non-Cahuilla objects included baskets from

Southwest cultures including Tohono Oodam and

Apache, recent donations of Eskimo ivory and wood

carvings, and a nonindigenous collectible doll depicting

an American Indian.

Students used visual and analytical methods and

consulted with native and museum experts and with

Professor Ellen Pearlstein in order to characterize mate-

rials and help to establish provenience for inadequately

documented objects. Lauren Horelicks identification of

walrus ivory contributed to the Eskimo attribution for

an undocumented figure, and Jiafang Liangs identifica-

tion of palm leaf as a fiber in an unusual double basket

supported an attribution to Mary Kintana of the Torres-

Martinez Desert Cahuilla. The construction of this

virtuoso basket, consisting of two coiled bowls progress-

ing from a single base, was explained and diagrammed

by Liang in exhibit text, while Linda Lin described themany different approaches to stitching a coiled basket

which result in different appearances and preservation.

Siska Genbrugge explained the decision-making process

for choosing a material for reconstructing large sections

of an ornate willow (Salix spp.) and devils claw (Probos-

cidea spp.) basket rim; decisions were influenced by na-

An unusual double basket attributed to Mary

Kintana of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla

Indians with the help of Jiafang Liang.

Collectable Skookum doll from the s,

dated with the help of Suzanne Morris.

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Lauren Horelick identified this undocumented

figure as being made from walrus ivory.

tive beliefs, material properties, and object preservation.

Suzanne Morris used material characterization to assist

museum curators in dating the collectible doll to the

1920s, documented evidence of a previous infestation,

and identified the dolls original manufacture as one of a

pair of Skookum twin dolls.

The ACCM received a digital copy of all the stu-

dents labels so they could be used at the museum. The

Conservation IDP thanks the Cotsen Institute for the

opening reception, ACCM Registrar Christie Burton, Jo

Hill at the Fowler, and Jerry Podany at the Getty Villa,

and especially UCLA library staff Dawn Setzer, Ellen

Watanabe, and Octavio Olvera. ACCM Program Direc-

tor and Curator Ginger Ridgway declared of the outcome

that the interaction between students and Native arti-

sans produces conservators not only with special skills

in treating Native materials, but with the awareness of

cultural needs and sensitivity to tribal requests for non-

standard methods. The recognition of tribal peoples

expertise is greatly appreciated and promotes continued

consultation.

Ellen Pearlstein is Associate Professor of Information Stud-

ies and the UCLA/Getty Masters Program in the Conserva-

tion of Archaeological and Ethnographic Materials.

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oped organically during the campaign. They organized

themselves and networked between themselves, and

I found myself thinking about them archaeologically.

How would an archaeologist determine whether these

networks ever existed? Youd find stickers and promo-

tional materials for Obama, for example does that

mean that there was a leader sending these materials

all over the country in a centralized way, or would you

realize that these efforts were autonomous, grassroots

institutions that networked amongst themselves? I think

things like this happen throughout human history,

where charismatic leaders inspire autonomous processes

that they dont control.

I often use the analogy of a termite mound when I

talk about self-organizing systems theory. If you threw a

bunch of termites in a Petri dish with some dirt, at first

youd watch them just moving the dirt around without

any clear pattern. But there comes a point, and it cant

really be predicted, when there is slightly more dirt in

one spot than in the others, and so the termites start to

preferentially put more dirt there, and suddenly you have

a termite mound. Biology looks at many of the social

insects this way: the termites use neighbor-neighbor

interaction. There is no leader, they modify their

behavior by watching the other termites around them, as

well as from environmental cues. I think humans oper-

ate in a similar way at times, there doesnt always have to

be a leader telling everyone what to do.

Elizabeth Mullane received her PhD from the UCLA Interde-

partmental Archaeology Program in . She is currently

an Postodoctoral fellow at Stanford University.

Congratulations! Seth Pevnick and Esmeralda Agolli, graduate

students in the Archaeology Program, won the best student poster

award at the Archaeological Institute of Americas (AIA) annual

meeting in Philadelphia earlier this month. Their poster, Prehistoric

Pottery from Loend, Albania: From Bronze to Iron Age in the Balkans,

is now on display at the Cotsen Institute.

Read more about their research on Page !

CIOA Graduate Students win AIA Poster Award!

Above: Esmeralda Agolli, Lynne Schepartz (physical anthropologistat Lond and Associate Professor of Anthropology at Florida StateUniversity) and Seth Pevnick at the AIA Annual Meeting at Philadelphia.

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I

n 2008, the was initiated in the valley of the Gjanica River

in central Albania as an adjunct to the excavation of the tumulus at Lond, directed

by John K. Papadopoulos, Lorenc Bejko, and Sarah P. Morris under the auspices of the

Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA and the Institute of Archaeology, Academy of

Sciences, Tirana, with the International Center for Albanian Archaeology. Intensive surface

survey was undertaken in two seasons: a short season in the summer of 2007, with the assis-

tance of two Albanian students and one volunteer, and a full season in the summer of 2008,

with the assistance of four American and two Albanian students. The project identified six

prehistoric and historic archaeological sites

within a little over 5 km2near the modern

village of Ngranija and also visited two

other known sites in the nearby villages of

Belishov and Mashkullor.

The prehistoric sites discovered during

this sur vey contribute new information

about the Balkan paleolithic. The sites likely

correspond to important resources in thearea. One site found near the valley floor

contained a diffuse scatter of tools. This

likely represents a short-term occupation

that made use of the river both as a source

of water and as a lure for animals. Up in

the hills north of the river, two sites appear

to correspond to heavy concentrations of

natural chert cobbles in the soil; these were

most likely raw material collection and

preparation sites.

Above: Albanian

student Ergys Hasaand Albanian-American studentEugen Ruzi encountera cow and a donkeywhile walking a tract.Photo by J. Aprile.

By Jamie D. Aprile

Below: Jamie Apriledirects the surveyteam while a cowlooks on. Photo by S.Martin-McAuliffe.

THE LOFKND SURVEY PROJECT

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Top: The team walking a tract.

Participants include Albanianstudents Ergys Hasa and LavdoshJaupaj and American studentsShauna Kullmann, Alison Adams,and Serena Vartazarian. Photo byI. Coyle.

Bottom: Jamie Aprile reviews findswith the team at the end of a tract.Photo by I. Coyle

The historic sites located by the survey

represent the long-term use of the area as

an agricultural and religious landscape.

The majority of the survey area was largely

empty of historic period remains, in contrast

to survey results from the well-studied

Greek colonial cities near the Albanian

coast. This suggests that this area has always

been somewhat sparsely populated and waslikely used for agricultural purposes, as

there are numerous local springs and fertile

soil. A Hellenistic or Roman period burial

site at the northeastern end of the survey

area had been known to locals for some

time and had been illicitly excavated prior to

our arrival. Another site to the west of the

graves is thought to date to the Byzantine

period based on preliminary analysis of

the pottery, yet was also known to locals as

the location of a church as recently as the

1920s. In the modern village of Ngranija,

the abandoned village school was found

to contain architectural elements from an

earlier stone building, while uphill from that

structure (sharing the location of one of the

prehistoric sites) another Late Roman site

was discovered. In the center of the survey

area, a more recent ruin was encountered;

it included modern window glass, imported

Chinese ceramics, and concrete. Locals

informed us that the site had been a teqe, or

place of worship, for the local Bektashi Mus-

lim community. In the twentieth-century, a

Communist regime destroyed this structure

and rebuilt it as a stable; but upon the fall of

that authority, the stable too was destroyed.

Nearby, another destroyed religious monu-

ment, a tyrbe, or shrine for a Bektashi priests

tomb, was in the process of reconstruction.

These more recent historical sites evoca-

tively show how archaeology can be used in

conjunction with oral tradition to record the

constant negotiation between landscape, po-

litical authority, and the local community.

One of the purposes of this survey was

to seek a Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age

settlement near the Lond tumulus, butthe project failed in this regard, leaving us

with more questions than answers. We still

do not know where the people who interred

their family members in the tumulus lived

and worked, but at least we have ruled out

the immediate vicinity. Despite the lack

of Bronze or Iron Age remains, the survey

recorded important new information about

settlement patterns in both the paleolithic

and Roman to Medieval periods.

While fieldwork for this project is com-

plete, full study and publication of the finds

must await further work. And althoughthe conclusions regarding site function are

preliminary, they suggest that the sur vey

has produced interesting and important new

information regarding the landscape history

of the central Albanian hinterland.

Jamie Aprile is a PhD Candidate at the Cotsen

Institute of Archaeology.

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As a student in the Conservation Program, I am

working on an MA thesis project focused on

a specific problem that occurred on a single

object: a Ptolemaic mummy cartonnage mask

owned by the Robert V. Fullerton Art Museum at CSU

San Bernardino. The object had been displayed conform-

ing to the highest museum conservation standards: it had

been placed on a stable mount made of inert materials

and enclosed in an airtight display case with controlled

temperature, humidity, and light levels. And yet some

painted areas were actively flaking.

In October 2008, the mask arrived at the UCLA/

Getty Villa conservation laboratory, and a preliminary

inspection of the mask confirmed that only a dull

yellow-brown paint was flaking. These flaking areas of

paint were visually difficult to distinguish from other

painted areas with the same yellow-brown appearance. A

majority of the research was aimed at determining why

these select areas were preferentially flaking. To answer

this research question, a variety of analytical techniques

commonly employed by conservators were used. These

included X-ray fluorescence (XRF), polarized light mi-

croscopy (PLM), and gas chromatography-mass spectros-

copy (GCMS) performed by Michael Schilling and Joy

Mazurek at the Getty Conservation Institute, combined

with the use of a nontraditional tool, but one that is

commonly employed by archaeologists, a geographic

information system (GIS).

Elemental analysis of sample areas with a portable

XRF revealed that the flaking yellow-brown paint con-

tained a high amount of arsenic, while the non-flaking

areas contained a lower amount or even no arsenic.

There are two main pigment groups that contain

arsenic: yellow orpiment (As2S

3) and orange-red col-

ored realgar (As4S

4). None of the literature I consulted

mentioned flaking as a common type of deterioration of

paint layers containing those pigments. The dispersion

samples were made from areas of flaking paint that XRF

revealed as being arsenic-containing, and were analyzed

with PLM. The high power magnification afforded by

PLM revealed a brown amorphous mass with sparsely

dispersed pigment particles which could be identified

as orpiment and deterioration products of orpiment.

The brown mass was identified with GCMS as de-

graded gum arabic, but the gum could be ruled out

as the cause of flaking because the same degraded

gum arabic was found in the other painted areas

that were not flaking.

With the famous quote of Marcel Proust in

mindThe only real voyage of discovery con-

sists not in seeking new landscapes, but in hav-ing new eyes, in seeing the universe through the

eyes of another (The Captive, 1923)I started a

search for new ways to look at the cartonnage.

A course on GIS in archaeology given by Mi-

chael Harrower was the perfect opportunity

to explore a new way of looking at objects.

GIS can provide a condition assessment

that cannot be created by regular visual

condition reports made using Photoshop.

The main advantage of ArcGIS software for

condition-assessment purposes is the programs

ARCGIS AS A NEW TOOL FOR ASSESSINGCONSERVATION CONDITIONBy Siska Genbrugge

Resulting D image madewith PhotoModeler. Thisimage could not be importedinto ArcGIS without theloss of the surface texture;unfortunately, a conditionassessment requires that thesurface texture be visible.

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Flaking Degree vs Arsenic Count

A combination layer of flaking

degree and arsenic amount.

Flaking indicates no flaking,

and flaking means severeflaking. As means no arsenic

detected, while As means

there is a high amount of

arsenic detected with XRF.

most basic function: the mapping and layering of infor-

mation on a picture of the object. For example, using

the software, one layer can be created with information

about flaking degree, a second layer with information

about surface coatings, and so forth. For each layer, a

color code can be applied to categorize information. For

example, four categories of paint condition were created

whereby bright blue represents areas with non-flaking

paint, and dark blue is the complete loss of the paint.

The advantage of ArcGIS software is that nonvisual

information can be attached to a layer, such as the exact

amount of arsenic obtained with XRF analysis from

the different areas and the degree of flaking observed.

One can quickly create a new layer that combines the

information of two layers, thereby connecting analytica l

results to visual observations, which allows for a power-

ful visual interface that has the potential to confirm or

deny relations between sets of data.

The main drawback of ArcGIS is that the program

is designed for mapping sites in 2D or 2.5D and not

for small-scale 3D objects like the mummy mask. As a

consequence, most of the problems were encountered

when attempting to import an image of the object intothe program. A 3D image made of the object with Pho-

toModeler 6 software could not be imported; instead, a

flattened image had to be used. For this project, only a

part of the object, the checkerboard patterned head-

dress, was analyzed. XRF measurements were taken

from every square of the checkerboard pattern and

although portable XRF data are not precisely quantita-

tive, they allowed to compare relative concentrations of

elements. The data were imported onto the ArcGIS file

and the results confirmed that where the XRF measured

a higher peak of arsenic, the flaking was heavier.

Even though the cause(s) of the paint flaking couldnt

be retrieved, the object was stabilized successfully. The

treatment performed consisted of reducing the glossy

appearance of a previously used consolidant, Paraloid

B-72. This same consolidant was used in a lower concen-

tration to stabilize flaking paint.

The innovative aspect of this project was the way in

which existing techniques were applied and combined to

assess the condition of a unique object of cultural heri-

tage. XRF was applied as a semi-quantitative technique,

and GIS, a tool not used by object conservators, was used

to aid in the assessment of the condition of an object.

The author would like to thank the UCLA/Getty Con-

servation Program, in particular Prof. Ellen Pearlstein

and Vanessa Muros for their help and support.

Siska Genbrugge is a 3rd-year student in the UCLA/Getty

Conservation Program.

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When people think of archae-

ology, the first image that

usually comes to mind is

either Harrison Ford in his

Indiana Jones garb battling enemies with

extraordinary stunt moves and weapons,

or someone toiling away and digging in

a trench in a remote corner of the world.

However, archaeological research is more

than just fieldwork and adventures in exotic

places around the globe. Archaeology is in-

herently interdisciplinary, embracing meth-

odologies from social sciences, humanities,

and physical sciences, and it embraces a

wide range of

fields such as art

history, his-

tory, linguistics,

materials science,

chemistry, and

biology. Indeed,

the interpretation

of archaeologi-

cal materials involves expertise in all of the

abovementioned fields.

Since the majority of us work in areas

where English is not the primary spoken

language, nor is English the sole and main

language used in scholarly literature related

to our research, it is imperative that archae-

ologists become proficient in languages

related to their research interests. While the

importance of language is always acknowl-

edged by scholars, becoming proficient

in a foreign language is no easy task, as it

requires a great deal of time, patience, and

dedication. As someone whose research

focuses on the ancient Silk Routes, where

people from different cultures speaking

different languages interacted extensively in

antiquity, language learning has become an

important part of my graduate curriculum.

I spent the summers of 2008 and 2009 in

Tajikistan, participating in a State Depart-

mentsponsored language program (Critical

Language Scholarship) in Farsi and Tajiki.

Farsi is the language spoken in Iran, and

Tajiki is the official language of Tajikistan.

Together with Dari, which is spoken in Af-

ghanistan, they constitute the three dialects

of the Persian language family. They are very

similar in terms of grammatical structure

and vocabulary, and speakers of the dialects

usually do not have too many difficulties in

understanding one another. The scholarship

program provided a unique opportunity to

study Farsi and Tajiki in an immersion en-vironment, which allowed students to maxi-

mize the benefit of being able to practice the

target languages with native speakers on a

daily basis.

The Farsi and Tajiki instructors person-

alized each students curriculum based on

LANGUAGELEARNING IN TAJIKISTANBy Susanna Lam

As someone whose research focuses on theancient Silk Routes, where people from dif-ferent cultures speaking different languagesinteracted extensively in antiquity, languagelearning has become an important part of mygraduate curriculum.

Below: Ruins of theacropolis at the Sogdiansite Panjikent, Tajikistan.

Above Right: SusannaLam (right) at class inTajikistan.

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the interests of the student. In my case, I

received daily private tutoring in the reading

of archaeological literature in both Farsi and

Tajiki, a skill that is indispensable to my re-

search. The intensive nature of the programallowed me to achieve remarkable progress

in language proficiency in reading, writing,

speaking, and listening.

While in Tajikistan, I was able to travel

around the country, visiting areas such as

the Pamirs and Ferghana Valley, as well as a

number of important archaeological sites.

Because of Tajikistans strategic location,

the region was very significant during the

history of Silk Routes trade. Commodi-

ties, religions, and ideas traveled through

this area to the east and west. States such

as Sogdiana played an important role in

facilitating exchanges, as attested in the

magnificent Sogdian site of Panjikant in

northwestern Tajikistan. Following its

independence from the Soviet Union and

a civil war that lasted for five years in the

1990s (19921997), Tajikistan remains one

of the poorest nations in Central Asia, and

only a very small number of archaeological

excavations are being carried out there, ei-

ther by local Tajik or Russian archaeologists.

Many sites are in dire need of preservation.

However, the current economic and political

infrastructures of the country render such

conservation work difficult. Hopefully the

increasing attention on Central Asia by the

archaeological community in the West will

bring about new directions and momentum

in archaeological research in Tajikistan.

Susanna Lam is a PhD Candidate at the

Cotsen Institute of Archaeology.

Right: View ofTajikistans WakhanValley overlookingAfgahanistan.

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PREHISTORIC POTTERY FROM LOFKND,ALBANIA: FROM BRONZE TO IRON AGEIN THE BALKANSBy Esmeralda Agolli & Seth Pevnick

In January of 2009, our poster on the prehistoric

pottery from the tumulus of Lond, Albania was

judged the Best Graduate Student Poster at the

Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute

of America held in Philadelphia, PA. Having worked for

several years on this project, we were extremely pleased

not only with this award but also with the progress that

we have made in understanding the material. Our work

on the poster also pushed us to finish a draft, in the

summer of 2009, of the Lond pottery catalog, typol-

ogy, and commentary. We hope that this will be included

in the Lond monograph to be co-edited by the three

directors of the Lond Tumulus ProjectUCLA Pro-

fessors John Papadopoulos and Sarah Morris, together

with Associate Professor Lorenc Bejko of the University

of Tiran (Albania).

Although of a limited quantity, the ceramic assem-

blage from Lond has proved crucial to developing

a better understanding of the cultural interactions

between different regions of Albania. Based on distinc-

tions in fabric, vessel shape, and surface decoration in

all of the prehistoric pottery encountered at Lond, we

developed a typology on which future discoveries in the

region can build. Most important for this typology were

the complete and nearly complete vessels deposited as

kterismata (funerary offerings) within graves. In addi-

Fine Dark FabricBiconical Kantharos(Lond FD Type )

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tion, the sherds collected in the tumulus fill and topsoil

provided a great deal of information, particularly for

incomplete types not encountered within grave fill.

We identified four main fabrics at Lond: fine

light, fine dark, semi-coarse and coarse. The first twoare the most common, not only at Lond, but also at

many contemporaneous sites in the region. The division

between fine light and fine dark fabric is also matched

by a division in decorative technique (although many

pieces in both of these fabric groups are undecorated).

Where decoration is encountered on vessels of fine light

fabric, it consists of matt-painted motifs, sometimes

combined with the application of three to four plastic

projections on the front of the vessel. On vessels of

fine dark fabric, on the other hand, decoration consists

of burnishing, sometimes combined with kanellur,

another technique of plastic decoration that consists of

parallel ribbing. Because the former type of fabric and

decoration is comparable to material usually found to

the south of Lond, and the latter to that found to the

north, Lond appears to have served as a sort of meet-

ing point of materi