The ancient objects we associate with the history of Brown University are physical manifestations of the veneration we feel about this place. Like sacred religious relics, the time-worn buildings and portraits and ceremonial artifacts we have enshrined are touchstones that enable our sense of connection to Brown.  In this talk University Curator and Senior Lecturer in American Studies Rob Emlen examines the history and the meanings for Brown of those objects we have chosen to venerate.  Sponsored by the Friends of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology and the Brown 250th Committee.

William Simmons, Professor of Anthropology and curator of this installation, will lead a tour of the Haffenreffer Museum's latest exhibit celebrating Brown's 250th anniversary.  The exhibit takes an anthropological look at The Symbols and Ceremonies of Brown University and features archives and objects, such as the President's robe, cap, and chain, that are not typically available for close viewing.

Traditionally, the archaeologists have the vast Amazon region of South America to be a cultural backwater compared to the better-known civilizations that developed in the Americas. Scholars stress the limitations of tropical environments and lack of critical technological innovations to sustain civilizations. In recent years, the documentation of raised field agriculture, black earth, managed forests, hydraulic engineering, and large settlements in the Amazon has questioned traditional assumptions. Dr. Erickson, University of Pennsylvania, Department of Anthropology, has documented fascinating monumental earthworks called ring ditches or geoglyphs that encircle areas of several acres to nearly a square mile. Some earthworks are precisely constructed in geometric patterns that suggest a concern for landscape design, appearance, and aesthetics. Deep ditches imply that huge volumes of earth moved. Various hypotheses are presented for the functions of earthworks. The existence of earthworks of such magnitude and density throughout Western Amazonia shows the ability of native peoples to transform their landscapes at a massive scale.  Sponsored by donors to the Shepard Krech III Lecture Fund and the Friends of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology.

Photo credit:  Construction of a palisade of wood inside a ring ditch (Artwork by Danny Brashear).

Join Dr. Kevin McBride, Director of Research at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center and Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Connecticut, as he discusses the King Philip's War Nipsachuck battlefield survey focused on identifying and documenting the location and boundaries of the movements, sites and actions associated with Second Battle of Nipsachuck. The battle began one hour after sunrise when a force of 300 Connecticut dragoons and 100 Pequot and Mohegan conducted a successful surprise attack on a Narragansett camp of at least 170 people situated in Mattity Swamp. The battle was a well-planned and coordinated attack and the only horse mounted attack of the war. The attack appears to be part of a larger effort by Connecticut to claim disputed areas of Rhode island by Right of Conquest.  Sponsored by the Friends of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology.

In the Viking Age society there has been a need for a wide variety of textiles; textiles for clothing, sails etc. There is no doubt that textiles and production had an important economic and social impact on society which also can be confirmed via archaeological studies. However, which textiles were considered as valuable? Who was the producer and how was the production was organized? In this presentation, textile production in two Scandinavian ports of trade Birka and Hedeby, will be discussed.  Sponsored by the Friends of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology. 

Photo credit:  Model of Birka � Ambrosiani and Eriksson 1992