Backdirt 2012 Annual Review of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at Ucla
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
backdirt 2012 annual review of the cotsen institute of archaeology at ucla The Puzzle of the Mayan Calendar backdirt annual review of the cotsen institute of archaeology at ucla Charles S. Stanish Director of the Institute Gregory E. Areshian Editor, Backdirt Astrid Virding Publications Manager, CIOA Press Brett Kaufman Assistant Editor, Backdirt Copyediting Louise Davison Design Sandy Bell For more information, or to request a subscription, please contact the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press at: 310-825-7411 or email [email protected] Read Backdirt online at: www.ioa.ucla.edu/publications/backdirt Front cover: Daykeeper Carlos Quiej performing a ceremony on the outskirts of Quetzaltenango, © 2012 UC Regents Guatemala, 22 July 2012. Photo: Rhonda Taube. ISSN 2325-4904 Back cover: Medieval memorial stela, Armenia. Photo: Patty Civalleri. special thanks Donors and Funders of Projects July 2011–June 2012 The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA expresses its deepest gratitude to LLOYD and MARGIT COTSEN for their commitment to the creation of knowledge and continuous support of the faculty, researchers, students, and other affiliates of the Institute. Our special thanks go also to the following supporters:1 Adelson, Harold E. and Anne The Coca Cola Company Magalousis, Nicholas Michael The Ahmanson Foundation Conger, Jay A. and Nadye Mendizabal, Tomas E. Anderson, Darlene Conte Productions, Inc. Miller, Felice The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Cooper, Helene and Edwin Moriarty, Phyllis endowment Apache Corporation Cotsen, Lloyd and Margit Morris, Sarah P., and John Arnold, Deborah, DAZ Systems Davis, John and Lorraine Brown Papadopoulos Arvey, Margaret C. Duque, Mercedes and James Muir, Arthur H., Jr. Aston, Clive Elster, Ernestine National Endowment for the Babian, Avo Falcon, Donna J. Humanities Bailey, Jeanne McKenzie Fowler, Eileen and Gary Jefferson National Geographic Society Bartley, Pamela J. Paul Getty Trust National Science Foundation Bass, Harris and Margaret Girey, Helle Nettleship, Patricia Beaudry-Corbett, Marilyn P. and Don Goodwin, Beverly Norris, Tania Corbett Gottesman, Sonia A. Orellana, Sandra L. Bendat, Millie Rosen and Julius Grancell, Norin Terry Orrange, William W. and Susan Bernard, Nancy S. Grancell, Sherman Esq. Ostroff, Anita J. Boochever, David and Kathlene Grossman, Debbie Peck, John and Suzanne Bost, Kurt W. Harris, Arlene Pine, Benjamin Lee and Rue Bretney, John C. The Harry & Ovsanna Chitjian Family Porcasi, Judith F. and Paul Brooks, Elizabeth J. Foundation Sanchez, Julia L. Brown, Lorraine Hector, Bruce Sherwood, Fran The Bruce Ford Brown Charitable Trust Henderson, David Michael Silton, Jill Cahill, Bill and Frances The Henry Luce Foundation Stanish, Charles Cary, Donick Holmes, Marilyn H. Steensland, Ronald E. Cascadden, Sharon Eileen and Neil Holz, John F. The Steinmetz Foundation Childers, Beverly B. Hull, Gordon Edwin Sweitzer, Noel L. Civalleri, Roger Vandalear and Patty Hullett, Katherine Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. Hume, Ivor Noel endowment Van Slyke, Noel E. Hurst, Mark Voytovich, Thomas E. Jacobson, Michelle Wake, David B. and Marvalee H. Joan Silsbee Revocable Trust The Waters Charitable Trust Lieberfarb, Gail Kamer Watson, Leroy and Lisa Lin, Agnes Wilken, Joan Giddens Lucas, Bill Lynton, Jamie MacCary, William Thomas (Toby) III, Esq. 1 Those listed provided $300 or more in support of the Institute. COTSEN INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY Cotsen Institute of Archaeology University of California, Los Angeles 405 Hilgard Avenue Box 951510 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1510 www.ioa.ucla.edu Message from the Director of the Institute John Papadopoulos), Peru (the Chincha Archaeological Project co-directed by Charles Stanish and Henry Tanta- leán), and Armenia (the Masis-Blur Archaeological Project co-directed by Gregory Areshian, Pavel Avetisyan, and Charles Stanish). The list of individual faculty members and students who were recognized this year is long and impressive. Professor Jeanne Arnold was elected Honorary Fellow of the Cali- fornia Academy of Sciences. National Geographic Radio interviewed Professor Monica Smith about her research at Sisupalgarh. In May, President Barack Obama’s office announced the appointment of Professor von Falkenhausen as a member of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee. am pleased to report that 2012 has been a banner year Jo Anne van Tilburg was featured on the cover of the Por- for the Cotsen Institute. As many of you know, I came tuguese Revista de Arqueologia, and she was commended by I on as Director more than ten years ago. I still remain the Archaeological Institute of America’s President, Eliza- amazed at the growth of the Institute over these years thanks beth Bartman, in Archaeology magazine. Professors Richard to our faculty, researchers, students, and awesome staff. I Lesure and Aaron Burke won two out of only five long-term have occasionally mentioned that recently we were ranked research grants awarded in archaeology by the National best in the country among graduate programs in archaeology Endowment for the Humanities for next year. Three out of by the gold standard of such rankings, the National Research eleven seed grants created by the Office of the Vice Chan- Council, a ranking that is done once every ten years. We cellor for Research “to provide resources for new transdis- now have one of the best archaeological presses in the world ciplinary research and scholarship” were awarded in the thanks to the leadership of Willeke Wendrich and Gregory spring of 2012 to the faculty, researchers, and graduate stu- Areshian. I am pleased to announce that we have just hired dents of the Cotsen Institute, followed by two more awarded a new Publications Manager, Astrid Virding, who has an in the fall. And, finally, our recently graduated Ph.D. student outstanding professional track record, and we have signed a Abigail Levine and I had our research named one of the top new distribution contract for our books with the University ten discoveries last year by Archaeology magazine. of New Mexico Press. We became an award-winning press Our lecture series continues to be vibrant and popular, when Lothar von Falkenhausen’s book on ancient China thanks to Helle Girey and Jill Silton. We believe that archae- received the Best Book of the Year Award from the Society ology should be both intellectually exciting and a lot of fun, for American Archaeology. Soon after Martin Peilstöcker and these events that reach a large public are central to and Aaron Burke’s History and Archaeology of Jaffa was that goal. awarded the 2011 G. Ernest Wright Publication Award by the Finally, we are deeply grateful for the generous support American Schools of Oriental Research. We publish about of so many of our friends, which enables us to maintain our ten books a year and look forward to expanding this in the standing as a leader in our field at one of the most presti- future. One of the recently published books, Life at Home in gious research universities in the world. I extend my best the Twenty-First Century by Jeanne Arnold, Anthony Graesch, wishes for the new year, and I hope to see you at one of our Enzo Ragazzini, and Elinor Ochs, has become a mini sensa- many upcoming events. tion outside the academic community. We have ambitious plans for digital and hybrid publications in the future as well. The year 2012 saw substantial expansion of fieldwork. The Institute initiated or co-sponsored three new projects, including new excavations and field studies of previously Charles Stanish excavated materials, in Greece (Ancient Methone Archaeo- Director, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology logical Project lead by Manthos Bessios, Sarah Morris, and Professor of Anthropology, UCLA backdirt 2012 | 1 contents backdirt 2012 p. 144 FEATURES Ancient Maya Calendrics, Cosmology, and Creation: 2012 and Beyond . 10 Karl Taube Coffin Reuse in the Twenty-First Dynasty: The Demands of Ritual Transformation . 22 Kathlyn M. Cooney Surveying Landscapes: Some Thoughts on the State of Survey Archaeology in Anatolia . 118 Owen Doonan Conflict and Cooperation in the Northern Titcaca Basin . 137 Abigail R. Levine Little Lake Rock Art . 155 Jo Anne Van Tilburg REFLECTIONS ON PAST ACHIEVEMENTS Adam’s Ancestors, Louis Leakey, and African Archaeology’s Quest for Validation . 34 Merrick Posnansky ALSO IN THIS ISSUE . director’s message, Charles Stanish . 1 from the editor How Archaeology is Made: The Backdirt Perspective, Gregory E. Areshian . 4 the institute in the news, Brett Kaufman . 5 Presidential Appointment of Lothar von Falkenhausen Archaeology Magazine Ranks Charles Stanish’s Excavations among the “Top Ten Discoveries of 2011” Inaugural Triennial International Competition for the Lloyd Cotsen Prize for Lifetime Achievement in World Archaeology Aaron A. Burke Receives G. Ernest Wright Award for Best Archaeological Publication Jo Anne Van Tilburg Appears in Multiple News Outlets for Her Continued Work on Easter Island Richard Lesure and Aaron A. Burke Awarded National Endowment for the Humanities Grants Cotsen Institute Leads UCLA in Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Research Grants Awarded to the UCLA/Getty Masters Degree Program in the Conservation of Archaeological and Ethnographic Materials Jeanne E. Arnold Elected Honorary Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences archaeology & conservation graduate programs . 44 Message from John K. Papadopoulos, Chair, Archaeology Interdepartmental Graduate Program New Graduate Student Profiles, Archaeology Message from Ioanna Kakoulli, Chair, UCLA/Getty