Lecture marks debut of archaeology major

The archaeology department is kicking off the first year of its undergraduate major with a lecture today about a 9,000-year-old village.

Ian Hodder, anthropology professor at Stanford and globally recognized British archaeologist, is lecturing on “Çatalhöyük, Turkey: New Discoveries and Community Stakeholders at a 9,000-year-old Town” today from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Gerrard Hall.

Hodder is also the excavation director of the Çatalhöyük project, which is uncovering the ancient civilization known to be the first town that existed in the Mediterranean area.

For the past three years, the Research Laboratories of Archaeology, the Curriculum in Archaeology and the Faculty Working Group on Early Mediterranean Societies have sponsored an annual lecture as a way to bring the archaeology staff together.

“This year is special because it is celebrating the inauguration of the establishment of the new undergraduate archaeology major,” said Donald Haggis, a professor in the classics department.

UNC started offering an archaeology minor about five years ago, but with growing interest and available resources, the establishment of an archaeology major was possible, said Vin Steponaitis, professor of anthropology.

“In American universities there are usually no departments on archaeology, and the people trained to be archeologists are scattered around the campus,” he said. “When we are scattered, it’s hard to coordinate and hard for students to see all the pieces put together.”

The University has 18 archeologists in six departments: anthropology, art, classics, religious studies, women’s studies and the Research Laboratories of Archaeology.

“We had a situation where we had archeologists and people doing archaeology-related research in several departments,” said Patricia McAnany, Kenan Professor in anthropology.

“So the archaeology curriculum allows us to knit together courses in this department so that students can have an undergraduate major in archaeology.”

Because the major is new this year, the number of students declaring archaeology majors is not concrete.

“We anticipate that it will be three to four years for ramping up the enrollment,” McAnany said.

News of the major’s availability has passed around by word of mouth, mainly through advisers talking to students.

Steponaitis said that many students have come to the department with interest in the major.

“We are very excited about both,” Steponaitis said of the lecture and new major. “We have a prominent speaker talking about one of the very first cities in the world, and it provides a lot of opportunities for student that are interested in archaeology.”



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