Petya Hristova graduated from Sofia University “St. Clemens of Ochrida” in Bulgaria. Her interest in craftsmanship in southeastern Europe from the Late Bronze Age through the Classical epoch includes a focus on metallurgy: the production sequences and how they affect the rapprochements in process between ancient societies; the cultural attitudes toward precious metals and artifacts, their transformations, and how they are manifested in different cultural contexts and situations.Her committee chair will be Professor Morris.

Jessica Langenbucher received her B.A. from the Department of Anthropology, UCLA. Her focus is the cultural influence of trade between the people of the Aegean and other Eastern Mediterranean people during the Bronze Age. She is a student of Professor Morris.

Christopher Needs studied Anthropology and Chinese at Ohio State University and received his M.A. in anthropology at the University of Illinois, Chicago. His interests center around the political and economic correlates to the development of complex societies; he has pursued these topics in Cyprus (since 1997) and China (since 1998). He is presently conducting compositional research on Cypriot ceramics with an eye toward understanding regional interaction and plans to pursue similar topics in a Neolithic Chinese context. His major pursuits at the Cotsen Institute will be analytical methods of materials in archaeology; ancient technology; and trade, exchange, and interaction studies. His studies will be with Professor Von Falkenhausen.

Adam Smith completed his M.A. this year from Peking University, with a dissertation on burial remains from the last centuries BC in what is now the western half of China’s Sichuan Province. Issues include the adoption and adaptation of Chinese elite institutions by their Western neighbors and the question of how the interface between populations differing sharply in terms of political and economic model was maintained and negotiated by those on either side of that boundary. His committee chair will be Professor Von Falkenhausen.

Gina Quinn graduated from University of Colorado at Boulder. Her research interests center around ancient textiles of South America. She will focus on varying aspects of textiles such as loom styles, weaving techniques, and design elements as indications of political and religious ideologies and population migrations and interactions. She will be working with Professor Stanish.

Four students—Michael Anderson, Eric Bruehl, Sara Palaskas, and Jennifer Rashidi—completed their M.A. degrees in the last year. Michael Anderson will continue his studies at Cambridge University. The other three will continue here at UCLA. Laura Gilliam, Rowan Flad, Bekir Gurdil and Ye Wa were advanced to candidacy. Eric Hansen completed his dissertation on “Ancient Maya Burnt-Lime Technology: Cultural Implications of Technological Styles.”

Gwen Bennett, who is completing her dissertation in Chinese archaeology, has accepted a teaching position at Washington University in Saint Louis.

Our students also received various fellowships for 2001-2002 from other sources:

Eric Bruehl: Research Mentorship

Freya Evenson: Kress Fellowship

Rowan Flad: Center for Chinese Studies Fellowship

Bekir Gurdil: ARIT Fellowship

Minna Haapanen: Academy of Finland Fellowship, Center for International Mobility (Finland), Kone Fellowship (3-year fellowship from Finland)

Maura Heyn: Dickson Fellowship

Michael Hilton: Dissertation Year Fellowship

Sara Palaskas: American School in Athens Fellowship

Friends of Archaeology Fellowships for field research were granted to Aleksander Borejsza, Eric Bruehl, and Angela Lo.

We welcome the newcomers and wish them, and our continuing students, success in the coming year.

The Rock Art Archive has been awarded the 2001 Governor’s Historic Preservation Award for “The Little Lake Rock Art Complex Digital Preservation Project.” In a slide presentation describing the project the Commission stated: “Rock art at Little Lake, Inyo County, is being destroyed or lost by seismic activity. Traditional conservation strategies and site management plans cannot protect Little Lake rock art. This project uses cutting edge, resource-intensive digital methods to collect objective, standardized information and, in the process, preserves the site through technology. Requiring no public funds, it has performed a major public service. The Little Lake Rock Art Complex offers incredibly valuable insight into California’s past and world heritage, and this project preserves it in an innovative, modern way.”

Speakers at “Colonizers, Conquerors, and Natives in Ancient Italy” included, from left to right, Margaret Miles, Emma Blake, Claire Lyons, John Papadopoulos, Theresa Menard, and David Soren. The one-day symposium was held 5 May 2001 in the Lenart Auditorium. Honoring Ruth Baus for her support of the Institute, the symposium focused on the cultural encounters between colonizers and natives in the Iron Age and Roman period sites on the Italian peninsula, Sicily, and Sardinia.