Archaeology Lectures, Fall 2024

With the support of our academic partners at the University of Louisville and University of Kentucky, we look forward to presenting a series of talks in which internationally-recognized scholars discuss their latest research on a variety of archaeological topics. 

ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE of AMERICA

                                         KENTUCKY SOCIETY

​​​​1177 BC and After:

The Collapse and Survival of Civilizations 

Dr. Eric Cline (George Washington University)

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​​​​​​​​​Thursday, October 24, 2024 • 6:00 PM EST ​
Strickland Auditorium
L.A. Brown Science Center
Transylvania University
339 N. Upper Street
Lexington, KY 40507​

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For more than three hundred years during the Late Bronze Age, from about 1500 BC to 1200 BC, the Mediterranean region played host to a complex international world in which Egyptians, Mycenaeans, Minoans, Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Cypriots, and Canaanites all interacted, creating a cosmopolitan and globalized world-system such as has only rarely been seen before the current day. It may have been this very internationalism that contributed to the apocalyptic disaster that ended the Bronze Age. When the end came, as it did after centuries of cultural and technological evolution, the civilized and international world of the Mediterranean regions came to a dramatic halt in a vast area stretching from Greece and Italy in the west to Egypt, Canaan, and Mesopotamia in the east. Large empires and small kingdoms, that had taken centuries to evolve, collapsed rapidly.

While the centuries following the Late Bronze Age Collapse in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean were a time of catastrophe, they were also a time of rebirth and resilience — it was less of a Dark Age and more of a reboot for many of the societies which were affected. While there are examples of failure to thrive or even to survive in some cases, others managed to adapt and transform. In effect, we have eight case studies of what to do (and what not to do) in the event of a systems collapse, ranging from the Assyrians to the Egyptians to the Mycenaeans and others in between. We will focus on the people and places that emerged from the ashes, highlighting some of the events and developments that took place in Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and the Levant. We will also consider whether there are any relevant lessons to be learned from this dramatic story of resurgence and revival, especially considering what is going on in our world today.​  

​​Eric H. Cline is Professor of Classics, History, and Anthropology and the current Director of the Capitol Archaeological Institute at George Washington University, in Washington DC. He is a Kershaw Lecturer for the Archaeological Institute of America in 2024-25. Learn more about his work here.

This event is presented by the Kentucky Society of the Archaeological Institute of America and the Transylvania University Departments of Classics and History.