Sarah P. Morris of UCLA
"Artemis of Ephesus: A Greek Goddess in Anatolia"
This lecture explores and illustrates the cult and image of Artemis Ephesia in Western Asia Minor. Worshiped for nearly 1,000 years, this deity has roots in Anatolian prehistory, and evolves to become the Great Goddess of Western Asia Minor. Hittite sources and excavated artifacts illustrate the background to her cult, and help dismantle the notion that she is a "fertility" or "Mother Goddess" figure.

Larry Conrad of Western Illinois University
"Further Investigations at the Town at the Edge of the World:
Excavations at the Middle/Upper Mississippian Interface"

An overview of the 2001 excavations and finds at the Ildemeyer Site near Peoria sponsored by Western Illinois University, Spoon River College and the Upper Mississippi Valley Archaeological Research Foundation and a discussion of their impact on our understanding of the site and the culture which it represents.

John Dobbins of the University of Virginia
"Pompeii, Cicero, and the Birth of a Roman Town"
Sleuthing on site in Pompeii and in Cicero’s Pro Sulla 60-62 brings into clearer focus the political tensions and urban developments attendant upon the planting of the Roman colony at Pompeii in 90 B.C. Before its defeat in the Social War (89 B.C.), Pompeii was a Hellenized Samnite town. The arrival of the Romans transformed Pompeii into a Roman city. The critical question is "What was transformed?" To answer this accurately is to be present at the birth of a Roman town. On the one hand, we know that the Pompeii Vesuvius gave us in A.D. 79 was very different from the Samnite town the Romans inherited in 89 B.C. because many buildings throughout the city can be dated to the Roman period. But on the other hand, within the forum (the vital center of a Roman city) archaeologists share no consensus on what the Romans contributed to the remaking of Samnite Pompeii. This question constitutes one of the greatest uncertainties in our understanding of Pompeii. The Pompeii Forum Project considers that the Romans contributed far more to the forum than is usually recognized. It was the Romans who monumentalized the forum by building the colonnade of Popidius (the tufa colonnade), and major buildings, such as the Basilica. As this hypothesis is revolutionary, the lecture will offer some surprises. (The speaker is the Director of the Pompeii Forum Project.)

Dominic Fontana, University of Portsmouth
"What Sank the King's Favourite Ship? The Sinking of King Henry VIII's Warship the Mary Rose: Examining a Tudor Naval Engagement with GIS Technology"
The sinking of the Mary Rose on the 19th of July 1545 in the Solent on the south coast of England was an event of national importance. The vice-flagship of the King's fleet sank quickly and with tremendous loss of life in full view of King Henry VIII himself. Although the loss of an important ship was undoubtedly a tragedy, the action itself was considered to be a success, the attacking French fleet being prevented from taking the town of Portsmouth. In common with most important military engagements, the events of that day were recorded for posterity in a painting. The picture was painted shortly after the event took place and filled a panel on a wall of the dining room at Cowdray House in Midhurst, West Sussex. This image shows a pictorial representation of the whole battle scene at the time of the sinking. By using GIS technology it has been possible to extract the relative positions of the opposing fleets from the image and then in turn use this data to create a digital GIS map of the action. The GIS enables the fleet locations to be examined in conjunction with bathymetric data, mapping the seabed topography, this illuminates some of the major constraints on the potential movements of the opposing fleets such as sandbars and shoals. The GIS has thereby assisted a team of researchers in developing their understanding of the possible tactics of the action and therefore this has improved the understanding of the reasons for the sinking of the Mary Rose. For more information on the Mary Rose, see http://www.maryrose.org/.

M. Jane Borelli, Augustana College
"From Backebo to Old Corinth by Way of Augustana College: The Career of Oscar Broneer"
In his long life, nearly 98 years, the man who located and described the Temple of Poseidon at Isthmia and other notable ancient shrines and artifacts saw many changes in the archaeologist’s discipline. In his unpublished memoirs Oscar Broneer tells how he became an archaeologist, and the way in which he preferred to do archaeology.