ISIS and the Destruction of Archaeological sites" topic of public talk by Zooarchaeologist Tina Greenfield at UAH

Internationally recognized zooarchaeologist Dr. Tina J. Greenfield will give two public talks at UAH on Oct. 25.

Some of the oldest recordings on clay tablets, the "Gate of God" which guarded the ancient city of Nineveh, the Mosque of the Prophet Yunus dedicated to the Prophet Jonah, and the world's oldest known Christian church are all ancient sites and artifacts that ISIS fighters have damaged or destroyed.

Renowned Zooarchaeologist Tina Jongsma Greenfield will give a public talk about the destruction of archaeological sites in Iraq at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) next month. The event is free and open to the public.

"ISIS: The Destruction of Archaeological Sites, and Saving Cultural Heritage in Iraq and Syria," will be presented on Tuesday, Oct. 25, at 7:30 p.m., in the Chan Auditorium. The event is co-sponsored by the UAH Department of Art, Art History, and Design and the AIA Society of North Alabama.

Earlier in day, at 12:45 p.m., Greenfield will give the lecture "Old Excavations, New Data: The Oxen Project at Ur," in Wilson Hall room 168. During this lecture, Greenfield will discuss results from the examination of excavated material using modern archaeological methods.

Dr. Tina Jongsma Greenfield works in the Near East and has conducted fieldwork in Turkey and northern Iraq under the threat of ISIS. For the past two years, she has been a part of a team from Boston University and the US State Department excavating and teaching in Iraqi Kurdistan (northern Iraq).

Greenfield's 7:30 p.m., lecture will outline the level of destruction that has occurred to some of the world's oldest cities and empires, and how local and international archaeologists continue to fight back by returning to the "Cradle of Civilization" to document, excavate, and preserve archaeological and heritage sites in a race against time.

"Despite the current dangers of pursuing archaeological work in Iraq, Dr. Tina Greenfield has remained dedicated to her research and the preservation of cultural heritage in Iraq," said Dr. Lillian B. Joyce, Chair and Professor of the UAH Department of Art, Art History and Design. Joyce also serves as the President of the AIA Society of North Alabama.

A Zooarchaeologist at The University of Manitoba (Winnipeg, Canada), Greenfield is also the co-director of the St. Pauls College Near Eastern and Biblical Archaeology Laboratory. In addition, she teaches at The University of Winnipeg, and is a Visiting Research Scholar at The University of Cambridge McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. Greenfield's research focuses on the political economy of early states and empires through the study of animal remains. She is actively analyzing animal bone collections from Tel es-Safi, and Tel Burna in Israel, Ziyaret Tepe and Gol Tepe in Turkey. Greenfield has worked on archaeological sites in Canada, Europe, Israel, South Africa, and Turkey. She recently coedited the book, "The Provincial Archaeology of the Assyrian Empire." Her passions are archaeology and family. Greenfield earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from The University of Manitoba and a PhD from The University of Cambridge (UK).

For a more complete listing of artifacts and ancient sites destroyed by ISIS, please visit: news.nationalgeographic.com.

For more information about Greenfield's visit to UAH, please contact Dr. Lillian B. Joyce at 256.824.6114, or email: joycel@uah.edu.