Grants Received
The National Endowment for the Arts has approved a Visiting Specialist grant to the University Museum for work in Maya hieroglyphs.
The Museum has received a grant from the Helen D. E. Beatty Trust as a contribution toward the cost of renovating and maintaining the Elkins Library to house University Museum archives.
The Fels Fund has authorized a grant to be used for augmenting the Kintner Film Library collection.
Museum Expeditions
The Director and Mrs. Birthe Kjolbye-Biddle have begun a season of excavation on the site of the medieval Chapter House of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Alban, Hertfordshire, England.
Mediterranean Section: Dr. Donald White has commenced his final season of excavation at the Sanctuary of Demeter in Cyrene, Libya. Dr. Keith De Vries has returned to Gordion, Turkey to study material obtained from earlier seasons of excavation.
European Archaeology: Dr. Bernard Wailes is currently working at Dun Ailinne, Ireland, which was a major regional ceremonial and assembly site during the Pagan Iron Age.
Near Eastern Section: An expedition is being undertaken at Tepe Malyan, near Shiraz, Iran by the University Museum and Ohio State University. It is co-directed by Dr. Robert Dyson of the University Museum and Dr. William Sumner of Ohio State. The major project will be the excavation of the ancient city of Anshan.
Egyptian Section: A joint expedition of the University Museum and the University of Toronto is working at Karnak in southern Egypt under the direction of Dr. Donald Redford of the University of Toronto. The current focus of activity is the site of the Temple of Akhenaten.
MASCA: Dr. Elizabeth K. Ralph continues work at Valley Forge National Historical Park. The pilot project is the testing of a “sensing” device that can locate antiquities beneath the earth’s surface without resorting to excavation.
Museum Exhibition
An exhibition “The Traditional Pottery of Guatemala” will open in Pepper Hall on September 13th and will continue until January 7th. Contemporary Guatemalan pottery vessels collected by Dr. Ruben Reina and Dr. Robert Hill for the Museum will be shown. Drs. Reina and Hill are the authors of a book of this same title which is being published by the Texas Press and will be available in the Museum Book Shop.
Appointment
Mr. Kirby F. Smith has been appointed Director of Public Information for the Museum. Before coming to the Museum, Mr. Smith was Director of Press and Public Relations for the Philadelphia Drama Guild. He recently was appointed to the Theater Advisory Panel of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.