A field archaeologist who helps lead the Middle Eastern anthropology project called Follow the Pots will lecture at the University of Louisville Feb. 25 about the looting of Early Bronze Age artifacts in Jordan.
Morag Kersel, DePaul University assistant professor of anthropology, will discuss “The (W)Hole Picture: The Intersection of Pots, People and Planes” at 5 p.m. in Chao Auditorium, Ekstrom Library.
The College of Arts and Sciences’ anthropology department and Middle East and Islamic studies program are sponsoring her free, public talk.
Kersel will talk about the demand for early objects that has led to decades of looting from archaeological sites along the Dead Sea Plain. Co-director of the Follow the Pots multiyear research initiative, she will discuss how a holistic approach combining evidence from pots, archival documents, interviews and aerial surveys using drones is providing clues about the Fifa, Jordan, sites’ past and present.
Kersel also is co-director of DePaul’s Galilee Prehistory Project. Her work combines archaeological, archival and oral history research in examining whether cultural heritage laws protect from looting. She has a master’s degree in historic preservation from University of Georgia and a doctorate in archaeology from University of Cambridge.