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. If you are interested in academically pursuing archaeology at the University of Toronto, please see the following departments for more information and contacts:
- Department of Anthropology
- Department of Art History
- Department of Classics
- Department of Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations
- Department of Earth Sciences
Regular Interest Groups
The Faunal Interest Group
The group has convened by-weekly (Fridays from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm 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 Alicia Hawkins at alicia.hawkins@utoronto.ca.
Upcoming Talks and Events
April Talks
The Canadian Institute for Mediterranean Studies presents: “From the Ground up: Construction Practices in Cyprus’ First Cities,” by Caroline Barnes (doctoral student, University of British Columbia). Thursday, April 4th at 7:00 pm online via zoom. The Late Bronze Age Mediterranean was a time of interconnectivity, trade, and – in Cyprus – the island’s first cities. The construction of monumental buildings was both a catalyst and consequence of burgeoning urbanism in Cyprus. The method of ‘architectural energetics’ deduces the time and effort invested in each phase of a building’s creation. This discussion is part of an ongoing collaborative project in Cyprus which records and analyzes monumental ashlar stone buildings.
April Workshop
Mediterranean Archaeology IDC workshop (UofT and UCL Institute of Archaeology). Thursday and Friday April 4th-5th from 9:00 am – 2:00 pm EST (both days) in the Art History Common Room (Sidney Smith Hall, 100 St George St., 6th floor), and online. Please scan the QR code below, or visit the Art History Events page for a full schedule and Zoom registration info.
April Talks
The Archaeology Centre presents: “Exploring Monumental Walls, Sovereignty, and Values in Pharaonic Egypt,” by Dr. Oren Siegel (NMC, University of Toronto). Friday, April 12th at 3:00 pm in AP140 (Anthropology Building, 19 Ursula Franklin St.). Large walling projects are among the most visible features in the archaeological record. However, enclosure walls remain relatively under-theorized relative to other monumental buildings. In an attempt to move beyond simple explanations that analyse walls solely as defensive features or symbols, I link monumental walls to notions of sovereign power and action-oriented theories of value(s). Using examples from Pharaonic Egypt, I argue that monumental enclosure walls were attempts to define and realize particular social totalities, whether these were a temple complex, a royal tomb or an urban centre. If all efforts at border-making are also an exercise in power, walls have the potential to illuminate some of the goals and values of those ordering their construction. By analysing changes and continuities related to which structures required the protection of a monumental enclosure wall over time, it is possible to shed light on the fluid priorities of the most important political actors in Pharaonic society. Yet the very presence of a wall implies potential dissent and alternative practices— otherwise a wall’s construction would not have been deemed necessary.
Archaeology Centre Debates Conference 2024
2024 Theme: “Sacred Flames: The Place of Fire in Ritual, Religion, and Cosmology,” sponsored by Michael Chazan. This is the Fifth Annual Debateds in Archaeology conference hosted at the Archaeology Centre of the University of Toronto. September 20th – 21st, 2024.
Use of fire is a human universal. Most evolutionary research on fire privileges its role in adaptations, particularly the importance of cooking within the hominin lineage. However, human engagements with fire were complex and multiple, and it played an especially important role in ritual, religion, and cosmology. A venerated source of power, creation, life, destruction, and divination, fire secured center stage in many religious traditions, ranging from Vedic rites and Zoroastrianism to Shang pyromancy (oracle bones) and the early fire temples of the Andean preceramic period. Fire also commonly mediated relationships between divine powers and dependent mortals as demonstrated by rites of cremation and the burning of incense documented across cultures. The ubiquity of world myths on the “theft of fire,” exemplified by the legend of Prometheus, further reveals the ambivalent status of fire as a bridge linking ontological others.
In this workshop, we will explore the intersection of fire and the sacred drawing on archaeological, historical, and ethnographic insights. Among the questions we will pose: were singular meanings attached to fire across cultures and time periods? How do the sensory aspects of fire, such as heat and the liberating smells in incense, factor in the use of fire in ritual? Are their tendencies across religious systems to contain and channel the power of fire? Why is fire (immolation) a cross‐cultural vehicle of sacrifice and offering? As one of the primal elements, how does fire relate to other aspects of the environment such as water, air, the sun, and the earth itself? How did the sacrality of fire differently condition its quotidian uses, such as cooking, keeping warm, and diverse technological processes? How can archaeologists interpret the diverse symbolism and ritual meanings of fire from the archaeological record? How is fire associated with the eternal, the soul, and with life?
We will address these interrelated themes in light of the climate crisis that has forced a renewed consideration of fire and how we can adapt the role it plays in our world.