Ancient World Studies

The Ancient World Studies program integrates shared and overlapping periods in the development of cultures and societies around the Mediterranean basin, in the Middle East, including the Gulf, and across Central Asia and China to the Pacific Ocean. We research critical issues including cross-cultural connectivity and exchange, ancient technology, and the foundations of urbanism. Ancient World Studies necessarily interfaces with multiple disciplines.

Archaeologists engage with material cultures and processes of the past, using foundational scientific approaches from biology, physics, and chemistry. GIS, drones, and 3D-imaging are critical in our fieldwork; and we incorporate humanistic approaches, including anthropology, art history and linguistics. Ancient historians explore records, artifacts, and monuments to reconstruct the narratives of human experience.

The program currently hosts archaeological projects in Uzbekistan, Oman and Egypt, and offers opportunities for hands-on field and lab-based research.