Trent University Oshawa Thornton Road Campus Welcomes Royal Ontario Museum Curator

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, January 19, 2011, Oshawa

Trent University Oshawa Thornton Road Campus is pleased to welcome the public to a free lecture, “Civilization before the State”, by Dr. Justin Jennings, a curator from the Royal Ontario Museum, on Monday, January 24, 2011 at 1:00 p.m. at 55 Thornton Road South, Room 125.

"Dr. Jenning's talk opens up a new perspective on what we are really looking at in the archaeological record and how we should be interpreting the material," said lecture series organizer Helen Haines, an anthropology professor at Trent University Oshawa Thornton Road Campus.

Since the beginning of academic anthropology, the spread of civilization has been linked to the expansion of the first states. Using examples from around the world, this talk argues instead that what we think of as "civilizations" were often the unintended consequences of chaotic first decades of urban life.

Professor Jennings is an associate curator for the Department of World Cultures at the Royal Ontario Museum.  His current research centers on state expansion and consolidation in the Ancient Andes.  Over the last seven years, the focus of his fieldwork has been on the impact of the Wari (AD 600 - 1000) and Inca (AD 1430 - 1532) states in the Cotahuasi Valley of southern Peru. He is currently directing excavations of burial and domestic contexts at the Wari-influenced site of Collota.

Upcoming lectures at Trent University Oshawa Thornton Road Campus will include "Tutankhamun's DNA: Lying or Telling the Truth?" by Dr. Eldon Molto, professor of Anthropology from the University of Western Ontario on February 7; Dr.  Richard B. Lee, professor emeritus from the University of Toronto, to give his talk “From Foragers to First Peoples: The African Ju/’hoansi in the 21st Century” on March 7; and on April 4, Dr. Jennifer P. Moore, associate professor and chair of the Department of Ancient History and Classics at Trent University will deliver “Burying People in Pots in Roman North Africa”.

The Trent Oshawa Anthropology Lecture Series, made possible through the assistance of the T.E.W. Nind Endowment Fund, is one of many free events offered to the public at Trent University Oshawa Thornton Road Campus. Visit trentu.ca/oshawa.

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For more information, please contact: Helen Haines, Assistant Professor, Anthropology, Trent University Oshawa Thornton Road Campus (905) 435-5100, helenhaines@trentu.ca