Michael Fuller to Present Archaeology Lecture on March 26

Address to be held in Lean Lecture Room of Wishart Hall at The College of Wooster

WOOSTER, Ohio — Michael Fuller, professor of anthropology at St. Louis Community College at Meramec, will present “Sacred Symbols and Martyrs at Tell Tuneinir, Syria” on Tuesday, March 26, at The College of Wooster. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, begins at 7 p.m. in Lean Lecture Room of Wishart Hall (303 E. University St.). An open reception with beverages and snacks will be held in the foyer outside the lecture room following the presentation.

After 14 seasons of fieldwork, rescue archaeological excavations at Tell Tuneinir in northeastern Syria have uncovered the ruins of a church, monastery, and nunnery that belonged to an Aramaic-speaking Christian community. Fuller co-directs the rescue excavations, where many cultural materials have been found, including pottery, coins, glass, decorated plaster, animal bones, and human burials, all of which allow for a detailed reconstruction of parts of the community’s beliefs and rituals. One amazing discovery was a group of martyr burials, and relevant artifacts, within the mudbrick rooms that served as the monks’ cells. In this lecture, Fuller will explain their significance to professional archaeologists, volunteer archaeologists, and the surviving Christian communities in Syria.

Fuller’s lecture is sponsored by the Archaeology Student Colloquium, the Program in Archaeology, the Local Society of the Archaeological Institute of America, the Cultural Events Committee, and the local chapter of Lambda Alpha National Honorary Society in Anthropology.

Additional information is available by phone (330-263-2474) or e-mail.