Institute expertise showcased at Northwest University, China (NWU)

Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the UCL Institute of Archaeology and the School of Cultural Heritage, Northwest University, China (NWU), Institute colleagues take part in NWU’s World Archaeology programme. This year, four Institute staff members, Dorian Fuller, Renata Peters, Dominic Perring and Thilo Rehren, visited NWU and gave talks in their specialist fields.

Dorian gave a series of lectures relating to Archaeobotany and Civilisation:

• Comparing pathways to domestication, agriculture and civilization across Asia and Africa
• From sustainability to investment agriculture: logics of productive consumption and disparity
• The rise and fall of the first cities of the Indus Valley: agricultural diversification, climate change and deurbanization

On this occasion, Dorian was conferred with the title of NWU Honorary Professor of Archaebotany as part of China’s National 1000 Talent Programme, which recognises leading international experts in scientific research and innovation collaborations with Chinese partners.

Renata lectured to conservation students from the NWU School of Cultural Heritage as well as colleagues from Xi’an museums on the Concept of Contemporary Conservation:

• Contemporary conservation: definition and concepts 
• Contemporary conservation: decision-making in values-led conservation 
• Archaeological conservation in the field: a case study from Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania), with a focus on conservation of animal fossils and capacity building

Dominic gave a series of lectures on Archaeology and the City:

• Conflict, archaeology and the politics of post-war reconstruction in Beirut:
• Building London’s railway: the mystery of the Crossrail skulls
• ‘The little things are the most important’: What we can learn from urban archaeology

Thilo's talks focused on Archaeometallurgy:

• Faience from Egypt to China
• The Many ways of Making Bronze
• Analysing archaeological materials

In order to mark, and possibly expand, the long and fruitful collaboration between the two institutions, Dorian and Renata were also invited to visit the Xunyi Xitou Archaeological Site, a Neolithic site used for teaching by NWU, as well as their conservation labs and analytical facilities. 

Further details

• The full programme from the visit is available here