Tickets are now available through Eventbrite for the screening of “Socrates on Death Row” in the Dome of the Science Museum of Virginia on October 18.

Our first event of the 2018-2019 academic year will be the presentation and discussion of “Socrates on Death Row,” an immersive reenactment of the trial, imprisonment, and execution of Socrates in 399 BCE, based on the archaeological remains of the Athenian Agora and the writings of Plato. This remarkable program was designed for the Ho Tung Planetarium at Colgate University by Professor Robert Garland and Joseph Eakin and their colleagues and students. Robert Garland is The Roy D. and Margaret B. Wooster Professor of the Classics, and Joseph Eakin is the Technical Director and Designer of the Ho Tung Visualization Lab/Planetarium, and both will give short talks and respond to questions. The event will be free and open to the public, but tickets will be required – details about reserving tickets will be posted here soon.

Thursday, October 18, 6:00 p.m

The Dome of the Science Museum of Virginia

2500 W. Broad Street, Richmond, VA

Join us next Thursday evening (November 9) for a special lecture and performance by musician and archaeological researcher Nikolaos Xanthoulis. “The Musician’s Life” will offer an interpretation of an ancient Greek painting found inside a cave near Corinth and will be followed by a live lyre performance.

The event is free and open to the public and will begin at 6 pm in Jepson Hall, room 118, on the campus of the University of Richmond. For directions and parking information, click here. Jepson Hall is #17 on the campus map. Visitor parking is available after 5 pm in all lots. For Google Map or GPS directions, use 37.578540, -77.537278.

Black-figure cup (c. 510 B.C.) showing a traveler on horseback with dog. Photo: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Today’s Wall Street Journal has a great review of “The Horse in Ancient Greek Art”, an exhibition curated by one of our own AIA Richmond Society board members, Dr. Peter Schertz. It is now showing at the National Sporting Library and Museum in Middleburg and will come to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in February. Our May 10 banquet event will begin with a special tour, given by the curator. Mark your calendars!

Sunday, October 1, 2017, 1-4 pm – Celebrate International Archaeology Day at the VMFA Art Education Center, with hands-on activities for kids provided by UR and VCU students

Thursday, October 12, 2017, 6 pm – Lecture by Jeffrey Spiltstoser (George Washington University), “Unravelling the Wari World: How Colorfully Wrapped Wari-style Khipus are Informing Us Today about the South America’s First Empire”

Thursday, November 9, 2017, 6 pm – Lecture by Nikolaos Xanthoulis (National Archaeological Museum, Athens), “The Musician’s Life,” interpretation of an ancient Greek painting found inside a cave near Corinth, with live lyre performance

Thursday, February 1, 2018, 6 pm – Lecture by Allison Miller (Southwestern University), “Terracotta Warriors after the First Emperor: Re-evaluating the Qin Legacy in the Han”

Thursday, March 8, 2018, 6 pm – Lecture by Tane Casserley (NOAA, Monitor National Marine Sanctuary), “The Monitor Excavations”

Thursday, April 12, 2018, 6 pm – Lecture by Bridget Buxton (University of Rhode Island), “Underwater Excavations at Caesarea”

Thursday, May 10, 2018 – Guided tour of “The Horse in Ancient Greek Art” exhibition at the VMFA, by Peter Schertz (Jack and Mary Ann Frable Curator of Ancient Art and AIA Richmond Society member), followed by dinner at Amuse restaurant

(Unless otherwise noted, all lectures are held on the campus of the University of Richmond, Jepson Hall 118. For directions and more information, see the ‘About‘ page.)

The archaeology of Richmond is showcased in a special exhibit running through August 4 at UR Downtown, UncoveRVA: Achaeology for Our Past, Present, and Future. Curated by UR students in Derek Miller’s anthropology seminar this spring, the exhibit explores Richmond’s hidden histories and what the city and its residents can gain by engaging responsibly and thoughtfully with the past. For more information: http://downtown.richmond.edu/gallery/uncoverva.html.

Fragments recovered from salvage excavation of the DuVal Pottery factory during construction of the Farm Fresh grocery store, 2002

On Thursday, May 18 we will hold our spring banquet and lecture in honor of Gertrude Murrell duPont Howland, who passed away in August at the age of 106. Mrs. Howland was a member of the Archaeological Institute of America for over fifty years, serving as AIA trustee, Society Trustee, chair of the Tours Committee, and member of the Development and Membership committee as well as our own Richmond Society president. She received the AIA’s Martha and Artemis Joukowsky Distinguished Service Award in 2003 and on the occasion of her 100^th birthday in 2010 was recognized with an AIA symposium in her honor at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Gertrude Howland celebrating her 105th birthday in 2015

Dr. Fotini Kondyli (University of Virginia) will present “Byzantine Athens: Rediscovering a Lost City?”