Press
The University of Pennsylvania and Penn Museum Join Philadelphia Cultural Organizations to Present A YEAR OF EVOLUTION
Full Year of Public Programs Kicks Off with Opening of Penn Museum’s New Exhibition: “Surviving: The Body of Evidence”
17 MARCH 2008, PHILADELPHIA, PA—The 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, originator of the modern theory of evolution, is just months away. Now, the University of Pennsylvania, in conjunction with Penn Museum and major Philadelphia cultural organizations, launches an ambitious YEAR OF EVOLUTION of public programs and events, from late April 2008 through May 2009.
Penn Museum’s 26th ANNUAL MAYA WEEKEND Focuses on “The Future of the Maya World”
13 MARCH 2008, PHILADELPHIA, PA—The preservation of ancient Maya sites, efforts to sustain modern Maya cultural traditions, and the need to conserve vanishing tropical forests and coastal environments—all are on the agenda 11-13 April 2008, when the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology collaborates with the Nature Conservancy to present its 26th annual Maya Weekend. This year’s theme: “The Future of the Maya World.”
Highlight speakers for this year’s event, which annually brings together hundreds of Maya enthusiasts, include keynote speaker Marie Claire Paiz, director of the Nature Conservancy’s Southern Mexico Program, and Maya banquet speaker Robert K. Whitman, Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Senior Investigator for the National Arts Crime Team.
Read more: Penn Museum’s 26th ANNUAL MAYA WEEKEND Focuses on “The Future of the Maya World”
HELLO INDIA!
03 MARCH 2008, PHILADELPHIA, PA—The art and culture, “Bollywood” films, diverse spiritual practices, and spicy foods of India are captivating the interests and palates of a rapidly growing international audience. India, in all its complexity and diversity, is the focus of a day-long celebration Saturday, 29 March 2008 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., as the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology presents Hello India! The special day features traditional music and dance presentations and workshops, theater, foods, yoga, history and cultural talks, films, craft activities, games and more. Hello India! is FREE with Penn Museum admission donation ($8 general admission; $5 students and seniors; free for children under 6, Penn Museum members and PENNcard holders).
Hello India! is co-sponsored by the Consulate of India in New York, University of Pennsylvania’s South Asia Center and South Asian Society; the Wharton India Club; Camden County College; the Bharatiya Cultural Center of Montgomeryville, Pa; and the Indian Association of South Jersey.
19th Annual Beer Dinner and Tasting, Michael Jackson: The Man and His Legacy
18 FEBRUARY 2008, PHILADELPHIA, PA—The 19th annual Beer Dinner and Beer Tastings at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology pay tribute to Michael Jackson, The Beer Hunter®, who passed away in August 2007. Mr. Jackson, an internationally-renowned beer expert who is credited with fuelling the craft beer movement, presided over Penn Museum’s annual Beer Dinner and Tasting for almost 20 years. This year, Penn Museum honors Mr. Jackson’s life and work with a Gala Tribute and Tasting Friday, March 14th from 6:30 to 10:00 p.m. and the day-long Beer Tastings, Saturday, March 15th, 1:00, 3:30 and 6:00 p.m. at the University of Pennsylvania Museum.
Read more: 19th Annual Beer Dinner and Tasting, Michael Jackson: The Man and His Legacy
Counterpoint: Anthropology and Photography in New Guinea
06 FEBRUARY 2008, PHILADELPHIA, PA—Austin Supers vivid color photographs feature Papua New Guinea natives as the subjects in Counterpoint: Anthropology and Photography in New Guinea. Accompanying written commentary by anthropologist Stuart Kirsch offers insights into the island’s many cultures and invites the viewer to consider how what is photographed tells us something about our own search for the “exotic.” Counterpoint opens Saturday, February 23 and runs through August 11, 2008 at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
Read more: Counterpoint: Anthropology and Photography in New Guinea
Women's Committee Presents $100,000 Check to University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
22 JANUARY 2008, PHILADELPHIA, PA—It was certainly hefty! On Friday, 18 January 2008, Penn Museum's all-volunteer Women's Committee presented a giant-sized check for $100,000 to Penn Museum Director Richard Hodges at their monthly meeting, in support of the Museum’s educational and outreach programs. Women’s Committee Chair is Marguerite Goff.
New Discoveries at the Ash Altar of Zeus, Mt. Lykaion, Offer Insights into Early Origins of Ancient Greece's Most Powerful God
Mt. Lykaion Excavation and Survey Project Finds Early Activity Atop Arcadia’s Famous Mountain
22 JANUARY 2008, PHILADELPHIA, PA—The Greek traveler, Pausanias, living in the second century, CE, would probably recognize the spectacular site of the Sanctuary of Zeus at Mt. Lykaion, and particularly the altar of Zeus. At 4,500 feet above sea level, atop the altar provides a breathtaking, panoramic vista of Arcadia.
19th Annual Celebration of African Cultures Offers Music Dance, Storytelling, Talks, Games, and More
18 JANUARY 2008, PHILADELPHIA, PA—Music and dance of Africa and the African diaspora, storytelling,arts and crafts, timely talks, culture and cuisine—it all comes together at the 19th annual Celebration of African Cultures Saturday, 16 February from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. throughout the galleries of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The event, an annual extravaganza, is FREE with Museum admission donation ($8 for adults; $5 students and senior citizens; free for Museum members, children under 6, and PENNcard holders).University of Pennsylvania Museum Offers Second Annual Free Darwin Day and Evolution Teach-in
Museum Part of International “Darwin Day” Birthday Celebration Activities Leading Up to 200th Anniversary of the Evolution Theorist’s Birth in 200909 FEBRUARY 2008, PHILADELPHIA, PA—Sunday, 10 February 2008, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology offers it’s second annual Darwin Day and Evolution Teach In, a free event held in honor of the 199th birthday of Charles Robert Darwin, the world-renowned author of On the Origin of Species—and the originator of the modern theory of evolution.
Penn Museum Welcomes the Year of the Rat at the 27th Annual Chinese New Year Celebration
19 DECEMBER 2007, PHILADELPHIA, PA—If you’re a rat, this is your year! The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology celebrates the Year of the Rat, Saturday, 26 January 2008, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with its 27th annual Chinese New Year Celebration! Music and dance performances, food and martial arts demonstrations, games, workshops, arts, crafts, children's activities and much more - topped off with the traditional Chinese Lion Dance grand finale - are all part of the spectacular day-long celebration, FREE with Museum admission donation ($8 general admission; $5 students and seniors; free for children under 6, Museum members and PENNcard holders).
Read more: Penn Museum Welcomes the Year of the Rat at the 27th Annual Chinese New Year Celebration
Surviving: The Body of Evidence Opens at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
New National Science Foundation Funded Traveling Exhibition Focuses on the Process of Human Evolution and Its Outcomes
04 DECEMBER 2007, PHILADELPHIA, PA—Surviving: The Body of Evidence, a new, interactive exhibition that explores the process of evolution and its profound impact on humans, opens at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Philadelphia 19 April 2008 through 03 May 2009, before beginning a multi-city, national tour. The innovative exhibition, three years in the planning, is made possible in large part by a nearly two million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation, with additional support from individual, corporate, and foundation donors.
Lewis and Clark Revisited: A Trail in Modern Day
29 NOVEMBER 2007, PHILADELPHIA, PA—Lewis and Clark Revisited: A Trail in Modern Day, a traveling exhibition of 60 black and white photographs taken by professional photographer Greg Mac Gregor while he retraced Lewis and Clark’s legendary journey, opens at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology 15 December 2007 through 10 February 2008.
In 1804, Thomas Jefferson commissioned Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, with a small brigade, to explore the land obtained by the Louisiana Purchase and to find a passageway to the Pacific Ocean. Referred to as the Corps of Discovery, Lewis and Clark’s unprecedented overland expedition across North America and back pioneered the western exploration and expansion of the United States.
500,000 Visitors See Penn Museum Mesopotamian Collection on Loan in China
29 NOVEMBER 2007, PHILADELPHIA, PA—In September 2006, Penn Museum sent out a major, two-year loan of Mesopotamian artifacts--complete with a catalog written by Dr. Richard Zettler, Associate Curator of the Mesopotamian section--to the Beijing World Art Museum, Beijing, China, to be a part of their long-awaited, long-term exhibition, “The Great Civilizations.” Artifacts from Penn Museum's exceptional Mesopotamian section collection constitutes the entire Mesopotamian section of "The Great Civilizations" exhibition.
Read more: 500,000 Visitors See Penn Museum Mesopotamian Collection on Loan in China
The Earliest Chocolate Drink of the New World
New Chemical Analyses Take Confirmation Back 500 Years and Reveal that the Impetus for Cacao Cultivation was an Alcoholic Beverage
13 NOVEMBER 2007, PHILADELPHIA, PA—–The earliest known use of cacao––the source of our modern day chocolate––has been pushed back more than 500 years, to somewhere between 1400 and 1100 B.C.E., thanks to new chemical analyses of residues extracted from pottery excavated at an archaeological site at Puerto Escondido in Honduras. The new evidence also indicates that, long before the flavor of the cacao seed (or bean) became popular, it was the sweet pulp of the chocolate fruit, used in making a fermented (5% alcohol) beverage, which first drew attention to the plant in the Americas.
The Middle Mekong Archaological Project, Joint Effort of Penn Museum and Department of Museums and Archaeology in Laos, Completes Survey and Test Excavation Seasons
International Partnership Project Seeks to Fill in the Blanks of Southeast Asian Prehistory
19 OCTOBER 2007, PHILADELPHIA, PA—As archaeologists in the last half century have set about reconstructing the prehistory of Southeast Asia, data from one country—centrally located Laos—was conspicuously missing. Little archaeology has occurred in Laos since before World War II, and beginning in the mid-1970s, Laos shut its doors completely to outside researchers. International scholars had to content themselves with information from excavation and survey work mostly from neighboring Thailand.
Witches and Wizards Extravaganza!
Penn Museum Presents a Special Afternoon Program with “Fan”fare:
HARRY POTTER AND THE MAGICAL MUGGLE MUSEUM
Sunday, 11 November 12:30 to 4:45 p.m.
Hold on to your hats (wizard hats, that is)!
06 OCTOBER 2007, PHILADELPHIA, PA—Sunday, 11 November 2007, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology opens at 12:30 p.m.—half an hour early—to fit in all the magic, as the Museum presents HARRY POTTER AND THE MAGICAL MUGGLE MUSEUM. Designed for Harry Potter aficionados and novices of all ages, the afternoon, free with Museum admission donation, includes a potions class, a sorting hat, lectures by Hogwarts (and University of Pennsylvania) professors, a game of Wizard Chess with real people, Diagon Alley and Ollivander’s wand making shop, a tour of magical muggle objects on display in the Museum, grand finale concert appearances by “The Moaning Myrtles” and “The Whomping Willows”—and in between, much more.
"Amarna, Ancient Egypt's Place in the Sun" Extended Indefinitely
Penn Museum's Popular New Exhibition, Developed to Complement the Blockbuster "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" Exhibition at The Franklin Institute, To Remain Open
02 OCTOBER 2007, PHILADELPHIA, PA—Amarna, Ancient Egypt's Place in the Sun, the University of Pennsylvania Museum's popular new exhibition about the city of Amarna, Tutankhamun's childhood home, will remain open as a long-term exhibition, adding to the Museum's suite of ancient Egyptian galleries that offer the public a year-round opportunity to explore more than 5,000 years of ancient Egyptian culture, art, and history.
Read more: "Amarna, Ancient Egypt's Place in the Sun" Extended Indefinitely
Exploring Iran: The Photography of Erich F. Schmidt, 1930-1940 Opens at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
Exploring Iran: The Photography of Erich F. Schmidt, 1930-1940, a new exhibition of more than 50 archival photographs from Iran, complemented by a representative sampling of ancient artifacts, including painted pottery, alabaster and copper/bronze figurines from the archaeological excavations at the Bronze Age site Tepe Hissar, opens at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology October 2nd through December 9th, 2007.
In 1931, the University of Pennsylvania Museum launched the first American archaeological expedition to Iran, in conjunction with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, to excavate at the Bronze Age site of Tepe Hissar. Erich F. Schmidt, a young German archaeologist trained at Columbia University, was chosen to lead the groundbreaking expedition, which yielded surprising new evidence of a sophisticated Bronze Age culture and society that dates to about 4500 B.C.E. (Before the Common Era), or 6,600 years ago.
Unique Reception at University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology Welcomes International Students to the Delaware Valley
25 SEPTEMBER 2007, PHILADELPHIA, PA—Last year, 1,100 guests from 107 countries, including Turkey, Anguilla, Myanmar, Maldives, Iran, Azerbaijan, Benin, Rwanda, China, Albania, India, Colombia, and Australia, met and mingled at the annual International Students Reception at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
International students, scholars and professionals new to the Delaware Valley are invited to attend, in their ethnic best dress, if they wish, this year’s annual welcoming reception Friday, 12 October from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. The event is held in the majestic Chinese Rotunda at Penn Museum, 3260 South Street on the University of Pennsylvania campus.
Celebrate Japan at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
12 SEPTEMBER 2009, PHILADELPHIA, PA—The many sounds, sights, tastes, arts and traditions of Japan come together on Saturday, 29 September from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., when the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology offers Celebrate Japan!
Co-sponsored by the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia, the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Friends of the Japanese House and Garden (Shofuso), this spectacular, family-friendly event features the mesmerizing beats of Taiko drumming, a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, and an Aikido demonstration. The day also includes presentations on sushi preparation, flower arrangement, and calligraphy, Japanese anime (cartoons), a kimono display and dressing lecture, Japanese games, kabuki face painting, a display of traditional dolls—even a chance to experience Shiatsu massage and a Reiki healing treatment—and more! Celebrate Japan! is FREE with Museum admission donation ($8 general admission; $5 students and seniors; free for children under 6, Museum members and PENNcard holders).
Read more: Celebrate Japan at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
