Archaeological Institute of America

10/22/2026

𝙁𝙞𝙚𝙡𝙙 𝙉𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙨: 𝘿𝙞𝙜 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝘼𝙄𝘼 𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙨

American School for Prehistoric Research (ASPR) scholar Karter Mingze Hanley traveled to Çadır Höyük in Turkey. There, he gained hands-on experience in both excavation and laboratory work, while immersing himself in daily life in a small agricultural village.

“Coming from a life spent almost entirely in New England, my day-to-day life in the village of Peyniryemez was unlike anything I had ever experienced,” Karter reflects.

Located on the central Anatolian Plateau, Çadır Höyük has been continuously occupied from at least 5200 BCE through the 13th century CE.

From early morning shifts to picking up Turkish words for “break” and “hot,” Karter rotated through a new trench assignment each week, investigating different periods of the site’s long history and excavating features such as pits, middens, silos, walls, and floors.

🎁 Field school scholarships like these allow students like Karter to take their learning beyond the classroom. Thank you to the donors who make these opportunities possible!

📸 Boğazkale, Çorum, Turkey, Karter Hanley and Renata Mills visiting the ancient Hittite capital Hattuşa. Credit unknown.



Peyniryemez, Yozgat, Turkey, Late Chalcolithic ceramics drawings in-progress. Credit: Karter Mingze Hanley.

Peyniryemez, Yozgat, Turkey, Karter Hanley and Ash Best on top of baulk. Credit Karter Mingze Hanley.

Peyniryemez, Yozgat, Turkey, Dr. Laurel Hackley and Karter Hanley mapping a planview. Credit Karter Mingze Hanley.

10/22/2026

We're pleased to welcome Dr. Jane M. Tully as the new Book Reviews Editor for the American Journal of Archaeology! Dr. Tully is an archaeologist informed by the environmental history of the Mediterranean, with a focus on agriculture and natural resource management in the Greek world of the first millennium BCE. She holds an M.A. in Archaeology from Cornell University and Ph.D. in Classics from the University of Texas at Austin. Her work has been published in Classical Antiquity and an edited volume by Routledge, and she has participated in archaeological surveys, excavations, and archaeobotanical research in Italy and Greece. She joins the AJA having most recently been Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics at Sewanee: The University of the South.
You can reach Dr. Tully at [email protected].

10/21/2026

(Re)Building Ancient Fires: A Living Lab in Western Anatolia 🔥

We know fire was one of humanity’s most transformative discoveries, but how did Bronze Age communities use it to cook meals, fire pottery, and support daily life?

With support from the Richard C. MacDonald Iliad Endowment, Catherine Scott and her team recreated fire installations using techniques based on archaeological evidence from Kaymakçı and Troy.

The team built three structures: a domed oven, a hearth, and an updraft kiln.

Across eleven experiments, they baked bread, cooked stews, and fired ceramics at temperatures reaching approximately 800°C!

Who knows? Perhaps a Bronze Age recipe book is on the horizon!

Read more about it at archaeological.org/news



Shaping mudbricks

Mudbricks drying in the sun

Baking bread

Ceramic firing

Kiln during firing

Hearth cooking stew

10/21/2026

Applications are open for Princeton University’s 2027 Visual Resources Research Award. The award supports scholars researching the department’s archaeological and archival collections, covering round-trip travel to Princeton, one week of accommodation, and meals.

📅 Apply by November 1, 2026, by submitting a CV and letter of interest to [email protected].

🔗 Learn more:

The Princeton University Department of Art & Archaeology Visual Resources division provides materials that support the Department’s curriculum, and provides support for research undertaken by students, faculty, and staff of the Department and the University. Visual Resources also manages the depar...

10/20/2026

⏰ November 1 deadlines are fast approaching! Apply for AIA fellowships, research and publication grants, and the Site Preservation Grant, including the NEW Thomas H. Carpenter and Lynne C. Lancaster Traveling Fellowships and The Mikko Luke Immonen Memorial Fellowship in African Archaeology.

🔗 Explore opportunities at https://buff.ly/bmA6Eyz

10/20/2026

The truth about the paleo diet goes far beyond today’s food trends. Join us TOMORROW evening for a special lecture with Briana Pobiner to find out more!

📅 October 21, 2026 | Briana Pobiner
⏰ 8pm ET | 7pm CT | 6pm MT | 5pm PT
Register: https://buff.ly/PnnFhyG

In "What Was the REAL Paleodiet?" Briana will draw on evidence from fossils, stone tools, genetics, and studies of modern humans and chimpanzees to explore prehistoric diets and what makes human meat-eating unique. We hope to see you there!

Can't make it? No worries, all registrants will receive a link to the recording after the webinar!

📸 Briana Pobiner studying modern predator-chewed animal bones at Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya. Credit: Kris Kovarovic.

10/20/2026

Editor’s Note: This article includes a reference to infant death and may be distressing to some readers. International Archaeology Day is this weekend, and

10/19/2026

Voting is officially OPEN for the 2026 Build Your Own Monument Contest! Our youngest builders have been hard at work bringing iconic monuments to life.

🧱 Youth (Ages 10 & Under) Entries:

1. Stonehenge by Ripley, Age 8
2. The Arch of Palmyra, Syria by Jacob, Age 7
3. Stonehenge by Sahrah and Harleen, Age 10
4. The Pantheon & Piazza della Rotonda, Rome, Italy by Nathan, Age 6
5. The Pyramid at Giza and the Shop with Everything on Top by Clinton Public Library Tinker Thursday Club, Ages 5–11
6. The Eiffel Tower by Theo, Age 8
7. A Section of the Great Wall of China by Julian, Age 10
8. Easter Island by Devon Taibi, Age 10
9. Baalbek, Lebanon by Emerson Bowens and Kaedyn Jackson, Ages 9 and 8
10. The Great Sphinx of Giza and Pyramid by Charlotte, Age 7
11. Roman Thermopolium by Amelia and Noah, Ages 8 and 6
12. Chichén Itzá, Mexico by Mika Robertie and Desmond Ritchey, Ages 6 and 8

🔗 Cast your vote: https://www.archaeological.org/youth-10-and-under-vote-build-your-own-monument/

10/19/2026

Voting is officially OPEN for the 2026 Build Your Own Monument Contest!

It’s time to explore this year’s entries and help choose the winners in each of our three age categories.

The top entry in each category will win a one-year AIA gift membership!

⏰ Voting is open NOW through October 30 at 12:00 PM ET.

Adult Entries:
1. Stonehenge by Sarah J.
2. The Palace of Knossos by Sarah
3. The Great Sphinx by Patrick Combes
4. Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple by Gloria J.
5. Hadrian’s Wall by Andrew Roberts
6. A Tabletop Model of a Megalithic Temple of Malta by Linda Eneix

🔗 Cast your vote: https://www.archaeological.org/adult-vote-build-your-own-monument/

10/19/2026

Voting is officially OPEN for the 2026 Build Your Own Monument Contest!

It’s time to explore this year’s Youth (11-17) entries and help choose the winners in each of our three age categories.

The top entry in each category will win a one-year AIA gift membership!

⏰ Voting is open NOW through October 30 at 12:00 PM ET.

Youth (Ages 11–17) Entries:

1. The Pyramid of Giza by Lizzie (Age 14)
2. The Parthenon by Gibson (Age 16)

🔗 Cast your vote: https://www.archaeological.org/youth-11-17-vote-build-your-own-monument/