University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

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Heritage and Identity in Ireland: landscape that links the present with the past For more than five thousand years people have lived and worshipped in the valley of Glencolumbkille, in County Donegal.  Twenty-first century pilgrims wend their way through village streets and past modern farms to halt at ancient monuments that now are sacred to Saint Colmcille (also known as Saint Columba).  This talk will show how the dynamic landscape of Glencolumbkille and the continuing use of the pilgrimage site keeps the traditional legends alive and nourishes the collective memory of the local residents. Dori Panzer

The Black Death In the four years after 1347, when a fleet of dying sailors made harbor in Sicily, the bubonic plague killed between one-quarter and one-half of Europe's population. No one was immune. Entire villages died. The Pope estimated the toll to be almost 24 million victims. Theories concerning the bubonic plague's origins and transmission, medieval concepts of plague hygiene, the chronology of the Black Death's spread and its immediate and long-term effects upon European population, society, and culture will be described. Ms. Rachel E. Scott

The Everyday Life of Medieval Peasants Our knowledge of the Middle Ages is conditioned by the surviving evidence. Archaeology highlights rich tombs, pretty jewelry, and exotica; art history, cathedrals and castles. The extant medieval manuscripts and their contents reflect the lives of those wealthy enough to afford them. But from excavated medieval farms and villages, from mundane tax lists and charters, and from such novel documents as coroners' inquests and inquisition records, we have considerable insight into rural medieval society: the birth, death, family and community relations, labor, and thoughts of the medieval peasant. Dr. William R. Fitts

The Ships of the Vikings Buried and sunken Viking ships, carving and tapestries, the Norse sagas, modern Scandinavian boat-craftsmen, and sailing tests on Viking-ship replicas will be used to show the variety of types and uses of Viking ships and the extraordinary skill employed in building them. Dr. William R. Fitts

Stonehenge: Myth and Reality Jacquetta Hawkes, a noted British archaeologist, once observed that "every age has the Stonehenge it deserves or desires." Ever since the twelfth century, when it first appeared in the historical record, the enigmatic ruins of Stonehenge have generated theory and controversy, scholarly debate and speculation of the wildest kind, both in equal measure. This lecture examines some of these ideas, from the early accounts of the Middle Ages, through the Enlightenment, 19th century Romanticism, and into the modern age of flying saucers and "neo-Druids." These are compared to Stonehenge as it is known from modern archaeological investigation, and as it is interpreted today. Ms. Rachel E. Scott

The Legend of King Arthur -- Are There Facts Behind It? Of all the rulers England has known, the most famous is undoubtedly King Arthur. Much has been written about him, his Queen Guinevere and his Knights of the Round Table. His story has spanned generations, from vague appearances in contemporary documents to the sagas of the High Middle Ages, to the modern era of Camelot and Disney's The Sword and the Stone. But was there really a King Arthur? And if there was, who was he, when did he live, and was his life anything like the legends? This lecture answers these questions through a discussion of what is known, what has been written an how the two have produced the modern image of this most famous of English kings. Ms. Rachel E. Scott

Don't Stab Your Neighbor with Your Fork: Food and Feasting in Medieval and Renaissance Times This slide lecture discusses the elaborate feasts of Europe from the 13th to 15th centuries, when banquets had fifty or more dishes, and nobles sometimes went bankrupt sponsoring them. A single dish might be flavored with a dozen exotic, imported spices, but the poorest and least noble guests never even had the opportunity to sample them: those foods were reserved for the head table, with its noble guests and elaborate etiquette. Illustrations from Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, painting, and sculpture. An age-appropriate version is available for younger audiences. Dr. Jill Furst

Please Eat the Peas with Your Knife: Food and Feasting in the 18th Century This slide lecture presents the boisterous table manners of the 18th century, when people did eat peas from knives, and the country gentry still had not decided on the proper use of forks. The Age of Reason allowed free-for-all grabs for food at banquets, and men and women were just beginning to sit alternating at the table. Nevertheless, the century was the source of many of our modern habits at table. Illustrations from 18th century paintings, and of 18th century homes, table settings and implements. An age-appropriate version is available for younger audiences. Dr. Jill Furst

Plants from Paradise: Medieval Medicinal Lore and Food This slide lecture presents European ideas about the medicinal and alchemic values of spices in the 13th and 14th centuries, and how the need for spices encouraged the exploration of distant lands to obtain them. A proper diet was considered essential for well being, and European cooks created culinary confections that mimicked the color of gold and precious metals and gemstones, and combined spices with meats and vegetables to insure the proper balance of the four humors. Illustrations from medieval paintings and manuscripts. Dr. Jill Furst

Sweet, Delicious Stimulants: A Brief History of Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate This slide lecture discusses the introduction of coffee, tea and chocolate into the Western world. By the 18th century, Europeans and Americans had established—or rejected—the rituals of drinking these beverages, and had developed specialized utensils and implements for fixing and serving them. Within a country, use of one or the other beverage depended on class, race, politics, and gender. Illustrations from art from the 17th through the 19th centuries, and of implements, utensils, and houses. Dr. Jill Furst

The Dutch Made Holland: Food, Art, and Economics in the 17th Century Netherlands This slide lecture presents 17th century Dutch still lives in which artists represented fruits, fish, vegetables, meat, and sweets as symbols of Dutch pride, prosperity, and independence. Although Dutch Baroque works can be enjoyed for their beauty, almost every one of them offers a commentary on the competition for world-wide markets, colonial expansion, and European political rivalries—and on Dutch superiority. Dr. Jill Furst

Vegetable, Animal, or Human?: The Human Body in Europe This slide lecture discusses how, despite cultural changes and advances in scientific knowledge, some ideas about the human body remained remarkably consistent across millennia. The division of the forces that animated the body into three parts—vegetative, sensate, and rational souls—began with the Greeks and continued until the 19th century. Humoral medicine endured nearly as long. In Western thought, the soul originally depended on the body, but over time, the soul became an independent entity that animated the body. Western religion link body and soul more intimately than other cultures, even after death. With illustrations from paintings and manuscripts. Dr. Jill Furst

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