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In 2012 we launched the Cornell Institute of Archaeology and Material Studies (CIAMS), a unique initiative that links archaeology and material studies through multidisciplinary collaboration among a wide range of departments and units. The new Institute grows out of Cornell’s long-standing Archaeology Program. Founded in 1967, the Archaeology Program is one of the few entities in the United States to offer both an undergraduate major and master’s degree in archaeology. We seek to combine theory and method, practice and analysis.
Archaeology has always depended on private and public philanthropy. You can support a variety of excavations, student research, and Cornell archaeology generally, with your tax deductible, charitable donation. Whether you’re a philanthropist, charity, parent or just concerned individual who wants to invest in the future of education and research while discovering the past, giving is easy by following this link:
The Cornell Tree-Ring Laboratory identified the likeliest timeline of the Hellenistic-era ship's sinking as between 296-271 BCE, with a strong probability it occurred between 286-272 BCE.
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As part of Saturday’s festival on June 15th, Cornell’s Institute for Archaeology and Material Studies (CIAMS) and St. James AME Zion Church organized an artifact washing activity for kids next to the church.
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Coming from the University of Toronto, where he is the director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, Loewen begins his five-year appointment as the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Aug. 1.
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Milan Taylor is an anthropology & archaeology major.
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Afghan visual artist Elja Sharifi, currently a visiting scholar at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, sees her escape from the Taliban as a call to action. She will enter Cornell’s PhD program in art history next fall.
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The collection “Households in Context: Dwelling in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt” shifts the archaeological perspective from public and elite spaces such as temples, tombs and palaces to everyday dwellings and interactions of families.
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As a new faculty fellow in the Milstein Program in Technology & Humanity, Adam T. Smith co-developed the new course this spring.
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Congratulations to former CIAMS M.A. student Samuel Disotell (M.A. '21), who successfully defended his master's thesis this past December. Sam's thesis is titled, "An Analysis of Faunal Materials From the White Springs Site, a 17th-18th Century Seneca Town in Upstate New York." Sam's research interests are in zooarchaeology; ritual, ceremony and feasting; inequality; and Neolithic Europe. Sam was also a founding member of the Archaeological Science Group at Cornell, one of two graduate groups affiliated with CIAMS.
Click here to explore profiles of our current CIAMS graduate students, and here to view a list of our CIAMS alumni and their thesis and dissertation titles.