Advertisement
For this year’s UA Museums’ John S. Steiner Endowed Lecture, Dr. Jan Simek, President Emeritus and Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at The University of Tennessee, is giving a FREE public presentation at The University of Alabama’s Math and Science Education Building (Room 1001) on November 9, 2024 at 11:00 am. RSVP through our online form to let us know you will be attending: https://universityofalabama.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5u174QPZ0k34QYeJan and his team made national news in recent years for their cave art discoveries in north Alabama caves. Some of this amazing art is over 1,000 years old, and some more recent, like their discovery in Alabama’s Manitou Cave of Cherokee art and written inscriptions using the Cherokee syllabary. These are the first Cherokee inscriptions ever found in a cave context.
Over the past decade, a number of caves within the historic homelands of Cherokee peoples have been recognized as containing 19th century inscriptions written in the Cherokee Syllabary. This writing system was invented by the Cherokee scholar Sequoyah, most likely in Alabama, a few decades before the Indian removals of the 1830s. The identification of these syllabary cave inscriptions has led to a unique scientific and cultural collaboration between archaeologists, avocational cavers, and scholars from the Cherokee tribes. This collaboration has provided a textured and nuanced understanding of the archaeological record including the inscriptions and how they related to Cherokee culture in a period of great personal and cultural distress. Such an understanding would not have been possible without close cooperation between non-native researchers and descendant scholars.
Location
The presentation will be given at the Math and Science Education Building (Room 1001) on The University of Alabama campus. The street address is 411 Hackberry Lane, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35401.
Parking
Parking in University of Alabama campus parking lots is free at the time of the event. The closest lots to the event will be at the Math and Science Education Building and behind Smith Hall and Lloyd Hall.
Contact Information
If you have any questions, please email Rebecca Johnson at [email protected] or call 205-348-6283.
Advertisement
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
427 Sixth Avenue, Tuscaloosa, AL, United States, Alabama 35487
Tickets