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Secrets of 'old bones' to be revealed in public lecture

March 02, 2006

IDavidson.thumb.jpgThe University of New England’s annual public lecture series honouring the founder of the University’s Museum of Antiquities, Dr Maurice Kelly, is celebrating its tenth anniversary this month.

Iain Davidson, Professor of Archaeology and Palaeoanthropology at UNE, will present the Tenth Maurice Kelly Lecture on Tuesday 14 March. It will be in UNE’s Education Building (Lecture Theatre 111) at 5.30 pm.

In his lecture, titled “Getting Power from Old Bones”, Professor Davidson (pictured here) will talk about his introduction to archaeological analysis in the Stratigraphic Museum at Knossos, Crete, and in the Prehistory Museum in Valencia, Spain.

"Both museums hold (or held) large collections of animal bones," Professor Davidson said. "The bones from Knossos allow comparison between the myths about animals at Knossos, the Linear B texts about animals, and the reality of animals in everyday life." The Spanish bones, he said, allowed him "to construct arguments about the emergence of hunting in Ice-Age Spain". "In combination with the study of art from the same cave (at Parpallo)," he continued, "I have been able to investigate the emergence of socially defined power – and changes in the symbolic construction of identity – before the introduction of agriculture to Western Europe."

Professor Davidson, who has a long-standing interest in the archaeological prehistory of the Iberian Peninsula, is also a specialist in the archaeology and ethnography of north-west Queensland, Australian rock art, archaeology and heritage, and language origins. He has held major grants from the Australian Government for the investigation of Aboriginal archaeology, rock art, and resource use, and has worked as a volunteer at archaeological sites in England, France, Jordan, Crete, Turkey, and other parts of the east Mediterranean. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities, and the foundation Director of UNE’s Heritage Futures Research Centre.

The Museum of Antiquities Committee established the Maurice Kelly Lecture series in 1997. Each year the Committee invites a distinguished speaker to deliver a lecture that relates to some aspect of museum work – whether research, conservation, or its role in education. The lectures are published.

Dr Maurice Kelly came to UNE in 1954 as a lecturer in Classics, and established the Museum of Antiquities in 1959. Dr and Mrs Kelly live in Armidale.

Inquiries about the Maurice Kelly Lecture should be directed to Professor Greg Horsley on (02) 6773 2390 or (02) 6773 2555.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at March 2, 2006 04:31 PM