Talk: “Building up the Round Tower: Near Eastern Archaeology between peace and war, What it means that the Past belongs to each of us as Human Beings, and the case of Jericho” by Lorenzo Nigro

• Event Date: Sunday, April 17, 2016
• Time: 3:00 pm (CDT)
• Location: Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL
• Cost: Free Admission

• Talk

Part of the Archaeological Institute of America Lecture Series

18 years (1997–2015) of archaeological activities in Palestine at Jericho, a site which epitomizes humankind’s conquests and defeats over ten millennia, also provides a valid example of cooperation in the field of archaeology. Nigro suggests it as a model of how to build up peace in a very complicated international scenario: What is the Past and to whom does it belong? Can archaeology help promote the respect due to objects of scientific investigations and relics of the human past? Do archaeological discoveries strengthen appreciation of the material heritage of humankind, and how? What is the relationship between ancient peoples and us? Our experience in Palestine may suggest how to re-start a global conceptualization of cultural heritage and—especially—the field of archaeology in the light of respect for a shared memory of diverse pasts. As part of this lecture, an overall summary of the finds in ancient Jericho and their historical interpretation will be offered to the audience.