PCAS Activities: General Meetings
Monthly lecture meetings feature noted archaeologists and anthropologists who provide insight into a variety of topics. Lecture meetings are held at the Irvine Ranch Water District 15600 Sand Canyon Avenue (between the I-5 and I-405, next to the Post Office) in Irvine, on the second Thursday of each month, at 7:30 pm. See site map of the Irvine Ranch Water District and general vicinity map. For additional directions, please call Scott Findlay, 714-342-2534.
You are invited to join the speaker and PCAS members for dinner before the general meeting. It's an informal opportunity to visit with an acknowledged expert. We meet at 6:00 pm at Knowlwood Restaurant, 14952 Sand Canyon Avenue, Irvine; 949-857-8927.
Schedule and Speakers
Please note that last minute changes may occur.
There will be no meetings in July and August.
September 10, 2009
Dr. Jennifer Perry
Landscapes, Seascapes, and Spiritscapes of the California Channel Islands
As dynamic intersections between terrestrial and marine environments, coastlines not only represent resource diversity, transportation, and opportunity, but also influence the identity and spirituality of their residents. In the California Bight, interactions between people on the Channel Islands and mainland coast are oftentimes viewed by archaeologists in the context of exchange, with intervening ocean waters regarded primarily as sources of food and danger. While resource variability, travel routes, and viewsheds are all important factors, largely absent from these perspectives are the ways in which these landscapes and seascapes were intimately connected to traditional cosmology and were imbued with supernatural qualities. Drawing from archaeology, ethnography, and historical accounts, in this talk Dr. Perry will discuss how the natural features of the northern Channel Islands and surrounding marine environment may have been perceived and valued as spiritscapes by their Chumash inhabitants. Given the limited amount of rock art on the islands, she will consider Chumash place-names; rock features that have been interpreted as shrines; and the distribution of portable ceremonial items such as incised stones, charmstones, and shamanic regalia on the islands, focusing specifically on evidence from Santa Cruz Island . Finally, Dr. Perry will argue that one cannot fully evaluate how people ‘mapped' onto landscapes or seascapes of the Santa Barbara Channel without considering the material and immaterial properties that influenced their decision-making and gave meaning to their lives.
Jennifer E. Perry is an Associate Professor and the Chair of Anthropology at Pomona College, as well as a member of the Environmental Analysis Program at the Claremont Colleges. A California native, she graduated from the University of San Diego in 1994 with Bachelor's degrees in Anthropology and Latin American Studies. After working in CRM, she obtained her M.A. in 1998 and Ph.D. in 2003 in Anthropology at UC Santa Barbara . Having been involved with archaeological fieldwork in Mexico, Chile, and throughout southern California, her interests revolve around hunter-gatherer-fisher societies in coastal settings. She first fell in love with the California Channel Islands during a field class on San Clemente Island in 1992 and has been actively conducting research on Santa Cruz Island since 1997. Dr. Perry's current island research is focused on Middle Holocene settlement, subsistence, and technology; material manifestations of ritual and spirituality; and landscape archaeology.
October 8, 2009
Dr. Matthew Des Lauriers
November 12, 2009
Dr. Wendy Teeter
December 10, 2009
Dr. Claude Warren