Carl Walsh
Email (still valid): [email protected]
I am archaeologist specializing on cross-cultural interactions in north Africa, western Asia, and the Mediterranean during the Bronze Age. I previously worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia and the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World at Brown University.
My research focuses on the materiality of objects and the body, and how these can offer glimpses into the past experiences of ancient peoples, particularly across cultural boundaries. (See for example my co-edited volume Tracing Gestures, The Art and Archaeology of Bodily Communication). My current publications focus on the material culture—such as board games, cosmetics, furniture, and pottery—of the Middle Bronze Age kingdom of Kerma (Kush) in modern Sudan, and how these object typologies reveal complex interactions with other royal and elite centers across north Africa and western Asia. I am more broadly interested in ancient diplomacy, models of African statehood, phenomenology of architecture, and the roles of games in human societies.
At ISAW I am working with the exhibitions team in crafting accessible and engaging stories about the ancient world, starting with the November 2023 exhibition Through the Lens: Latif Al Ani's Visions of Ancient Iraq. I am passionate about museum research, education, and outreach, and am currently exploring concepts of authenticity and the ethics of using antiquities forgeries, replicas, and casts in museums. This is explored in an upcoming paper “What to do with Fakes? Modern Productions of Ancient Egyptian Objects as Pedagogical Tools in Museums,” which features in a co-edited volume Teaching Ancient Egypt in Museums: Pedagogies in Practice. This volume delves into ethical best practices for engaging learners about ancient Egypt using museum objects, through co-authored essays that reflect on the teaching experiences and techniques of museum educators, scholars, docents, artists, and students from all across the world.
Supervisors: Andrew Bevan and David Wengrow
I am archaeologist specializing on cross-cultural interactions in north Africa, western Asia, and the Mediterranean during the Bronze Age. I previously worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia and the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World at Brown University.
My research focuses on the materiality of objects and the body, and how these can offer glimpses into the past experiences of ancient peoples, particularly across cultural boundaries. (See for example my co-edited volume Tracing Gestures, The Art and Archaeology of Bodily Communication). My current publications focus on the material culture—such as board games, cosmetics, furniture, and pottery—of the Middle Bronze Age kingdom of Kerma (Kush) in modern Sudan, and how these object typologies reveal complex interactions with other royal and elite centers across north Africa and western Asia. I am more broadly interested in ancient diplomacy, models of African statehood, phenomenology of architecture, and the roles of games in human societies.
At ISAW I am working with the exhibitions team in crafting accessible and engaging stories about the ancient world, starting with the November 2023 exhibition Through the Lens: Latif Al Ani's Visions of Ancient Iraq. I am passionate about museum research, education, and outreach, and am currently exploring concepts of authenticity and the ethics of using antiquities forgeries, replicas, and casts in museums. This is explored in an upcoming paper “What to do with Fakes? Modern Productions of Ancient Egyptian Objects as Pedagogical Tools in Museums,” which features in a co-edited volume Teaching Ancient Egypt in Museums: Pedagogies in Practice. This volume delves into ethical best practices for engaging learners about ancient Egypt using museum objects, through co-authored essays that reflect on the teaching experiences and techniques of museum educators, scholars, docents, artists, and students from all across the world.
Supervisors: Andrew Bevan and David Wengrow
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Books by Carl Walsh
This series of co-authored essays reflects the breadth and collaborative nature of museum learning. They are written by Egyptologists, teachers, curators, docents, museum educators, artists, and community partners working in a variety of institutions around the world—from public, children’s, and university museums to classrooms and the virtual environment—who bring a broad scope of expertise to the conversation and offer inspiration for tackling a diverse range of challenges. Contributors foreground their first-hand experiences, pedagogical justifications, and reflective teaching practices, offering practical examples of ethical and equitable teaching.
The volume is intended to serve as a resource for teaching with Egyptian collections at any museum, and at any level.
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/tracing-gestures-9781350276987/
(see flyer for discount code!)
This volume examines the role of gestures in past societies, exploring both how meaning was communicated through bodily actions, and also how archaeologists can trace the symbolism and significance of ancient gestures, ritual practices and bodily techniques through the material remnants of past human groups. Gesture studies is an area of increasing interest within the social sciences, and the individual chapters not only respond to developments in the field, but push it forward by bringing a wide range of perspectives and approaches into dialogue with one another. Each exhibits a critical and reflexive approach to bodily communication and to retracing bodies through the archaeological record (in art, the treatment of the body and material culture), and together they demonstrate the diversity of pioneering global research on gestures in archaeology and related disciplines, with contributions from leading researchers in Aegean, Mediterranean, Mesoamerican, Japanese and Near Eastern archaeology. By bringing case studies from each of these different cultures and regions together and drawing on interdisciplinary insights from anthropology, sociology, psychology, linguistics, design, art history and the performing arts, this volume reveals the similarities and differences in gestures as expressed in cultures around the world, and offers new and valuable perspectives on the nature of bodily communication across both space and time.
https://bloomsburycp3.codemantra.com/viewer/62a897c75f150300016f11d5
Book available for pre-order, out 28th July 2022
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/tracing-gestures-9781350276987/
(see flyer for discount code!)
This volume examines the role of gestures in past societies, exploring both how meaning was communicated through bodily actions, and also how archaeologists can trace the symbolism and significance of ancient gestures, ritual practices and bodily techniques through the material remnants of past human groups.
Gesture studies is an area of increasing interest within the social sciences, and the individual chapters not only respond to developments in the field, but push it forward by bringing a wide range of perspectives and approaches into dialogue with one another. Each exhibits a critical and reflexive approach to bodily communication and to re-tracing bodies through the archaeological record (in art, the treatment of the body and material culture), and together they demonstrate the diversity of pioneering global research on gestures in archaeology and related disciplines, with contributions from leading researchers in Aegean, Mediterranean, Mesoamerican, Japanese and Near Eastern archaeology.
By bringing case studies from each of these different cultures and regions together and drawing on interdisciplinary insights from anthropology, sociology, psychology, linguistics, design, art history and the performing arts, this volume reveals the similarities and differences in gestures as expressed in cultures around the world, and offers new and valuable perspectives on the nature of bodily communication across both space and time.
Teaching Ancient Egypt in Museums: Pedagogies in Practice is intended to be a resource for developing best practices for teaching and learning in museums. Rooted in current social justice and decolonization approaches, it centers on the question, what do ethical museum pedagogies look like for Egyptian material culture? Such pedagogies may take different forms for contributors, from creating collaborative teaching materials to engaging with local communities; from rethinking accessibility to decolonizing exhibition content; and from humanizing ancient people to better representing the voices and scholarship of those who live in modern Egypt and Sudan today. The collection of essays in this volume will present case studies that foreground contributors’ first-hand experiences, methodologies, and reflective teaching practices.
Proposed essays should center on object-based, practice-oriented learning experiences with clear goals. These learning experiences may include public programs, group visits, self-guiding materials, curatorial/exhibition materials, and virtual experiences, among others. Prospective authors will be asked to write critically and reflectively about the successes and challenges of their case studies.
The editors strongly encourage submissions that are collaborative and co- or multi-authored, including those written in partnership between Egyptologists, teachers, curators, docents, museum educators, community workers, artists, and others. Our goal for the volume is to represent the voices and experiences of a broad spectrum of colleagues and learners. We especially welcome submissions from Egyptian and Sudanese colleagues, and from those working with museums in Egypt and Sudan.
Papers by Carl Walsh
https://www.barnesfoundation.org/whats-on/research-notes?fbclid=IwAR1T1ynGDaExrD0hEPuLMfLCCCuriyoC5HYyxLBgqqqVb52NnQaCcBDVM0M
Open access e-book through Archaeopress website
http://www.archaeopress.com/ArchaeopressShop/Public/displayProductDetail.asp?id=%7B48586A9F-7C7A-4840-97AD-3C33D17D6E2A%7D
Open access e-book through Archaeopress website
http://www.archaeopress.com/ArchaeopressShop/Public/displayProductDetail.asp?id=%7B48586A9F-7C7A-4840-97AD-3C33D17D6E2A%7D
Edited Volumes by Carl Walsh
Conference Presentations by Carl Walsh
This series of co-authored essays reflects the breadth and collaborative nature of museum learning. They are written by Egyptologists, teachers, curators, docents, museum educators, artists, and community partners working in a variety of institutions around the world—from public, children’s, and university museums to classrooms and the virtual environment—who bring a broad scope of expertise to the conversation and offer inspiration for tackling a diverse range of challenges. Contributors foreground their first-hand experiences, pedagogical justifications, and reflective teaching practices, offering practical examples of ethical and equitable teaching.
The volume is intended to serve as a resource for teaching with Egyptian collections at any museum, and at any level.
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/tracing-gestures-9781350276987/
(see flyer for discount code!)
This volume examines the role of gestures in past societies, exploring both how meaning was communicated through bodily actions, and also how archaeologists can trace the symbolism and significance of ancient gestures, ritual practices and bodily techniques through the material remnants of past human groups. Gesture studies is an area of increasing interest within the social sciences, and the individual chapters not only respond to developments in the field, but push it forward by bringing a wide range of perspectives and approaches into dialogue with one another. Each exhibits a critical and reflexive approach to bodily communication and to retracing bodies through the archaeological record (in art, the treatment of the body and material culture), and together they demonstrate the diversity of pioneering global research on gestures in archaeology and related disciplines, with contributions from leading researchers in Aegean, Mediterranean, Mesoamerican, Japanese and Near Eastern archaeology. By bringing case studies from each of these different cultures and regions together and drawing on interdisciplinary insights from anthropology, sociology, psychology, linguistics, design, art history and the performing arts, this volume reveals the similarities and differences in gestures as expressed in cultures around the world, and offers new and valuable perspectives on the nature of bodily communication across both space and time.
https://bloomsburycp3.codemantra.com/viewer/62a897c75f150300016f11d5
Book available for pre-order, out 28th July 2022
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/tracing-gestures-9781350276987/
(see flyer for discount code!)
This volume examines the role of gestures in past societies, exploring both how meaning was communicated through bodily actions, and also how archaeologists can trace the symbolism and significance of ancient gestures, ritual practices and bodily techniques through the material remnants of past human groups.
Gesture studies is an area of increasing interest within the social sciences, and the individual chapters not only respond to developments in the field, but push it forward by bringing a wide range of perspectives and approaches into dialogue with one another. Each exhibits a critical and reflexive approach to bodily communication and to re-tracing bodies through the archaeological record (in art, the treatment of the body and material culture), and together they demonstrate the diversity of pioneering global research on gestures in archaeology and related disciplines, with contributions from leading researchers in Aegean, Mediterranean, Mesoamerican, Japanese and Near Eastern archaeology.
By bringing case studies from each of these different cultures and regions together and drawing on interdisciplinary insights from anthropology, sociology, psychology, linguistics, design, art history and the performing arts, this volume reveals the similarities and differences in gestures as expressed in cultures around the world, and offers new and valuable perspectives on the nature of bodily communication across both space and time.
Teaching Ancient Egypt in Museums: Pedagogies in Practice is intended to be a resource for developing best practices for teaching and learning in museums. Rooted in current social justice and decolonization approaches, it centers on the question, what do ethical museum pedagogies look like for Egyptian material culture? Such pedagogies may take different forms for contributors, from creating collaborative teaching materials to engaging with local communities; from rethinking accessibility to decolonizing exhibition content; and from humanizing ancient people to better representing the voices and scholarship of those who live in modern Egypt and Sudan today. The collection of essays in this volume will present case studies that foreground contributors’ first-hand experiences, methodologies, and reflective teaching practices.
Proposed essays should center on object-based, practice-oriented learning experiences with clear goals. These learning experiences may include public programs, group visits, self-guiding materials, curatorial/exhibition materials, and virtual experiences, among others. Prospective authors will be asked to write critically and reflectively about the successes and challenges of their case studies.
The editors strongly encourage submissions that are collaborative and co- or multi-authored, including those written in partnership between Egyptologists, teachers, curators, docents, museum educators, community workers, artists, and others. Our goal for the volume is to represent the voices and experiences of a broad spectrum of colleagues and learners. We especially welcome submissions from Egyptian and Sudanese colleagues, and from those working with museums in Egypt and Sudan.
https://www.barnesfoundation.org/whats-on/research-notes?fbclid=IwAR1T1ynGDaExrD0hEPuLMfLCCCuriyoC5HYyxLBgqqqVb52NnQaCcBDVM0M
Open access e-book through Archaeopress website
http://www.archaeopress.com/ArchaeopressShop/Public/displayProductDetail.asp?id=%7B48586A9F-7C7A-4840-97AD-3C33D17D6E2A%7D
Open access e-book through Archaeopress website
http://www.archaeopress.com/ArchaeopressShop/Public/displayProductDetail.asp?id=%7B48586A9F-7C7A-4840-97AD-3C33D17D6E2A%7D
This paper suggests that Egyptology has reached a juncture in which the opening of the field to other areas, such as anthropology and sociology, is critical in revitalising and safeguarding the future of the discipline. Discourse beyond disciplinary boundaries is becoming increasingly important in academia, due to wider changes in university structures, employment, and funding opportunities. Other previously cloistered fields, such as Aegean archaeology, have seen a recent blossoming in incorporating anthropological theory, resulting in successful engagement with larger questions within archaeology, ancient history, and philology. We propose that a more reflexive Egyptology, one that engages critically with other disciplines, would do much to help reinvigorate the field. In this paper we review Egyptology’s attempts at better integrating anthropological theories and discourse, evaluate why they so far have proven comparatively ineffective, and suggest a number of lines of enquiry that hold promise for future research and progress.
In this paper I put forward an anthropological and sociological approach that employs a holistic analysis of palatial architecture, decoration and semi permanent features (such as furniture, basins, hearths, and standards), in examining the social reception spaces of Levantine Middle Bronze Age palatial buildings at Tell Kabri, Ebla, Qatna, Alalakh, and Tilmen Höyük. By focusing on the ways these features interacted with the human body and could construct specific forms of behavior (such as ways of walking and sitting), it is possible to begin to reconstruct the theatrical and performative body behaviors that would have formed integral elements of courtly identity, hierarchy, and social memory. In this manner we can start to restore some aspects of the pomp and drama of court life during the Bronze Age.
This paper explores modes of bodily comportment amongst the court elite at Kerma, which were used in the construction of social etiquettes used to express a ‘courtly’ identity. Outlining an approach which stresses the use of body techniques and etiquettes in managing and regulating social interactions in court societies, it will be demonstrated through a select corpus of material, sitting furniture and eye cosmetics, that members of the Kerman court, and the wider region of the ‘Kerma Culture’, adopted certain etiquettes from contemporary Egyptian courts. These transmissions of courtly behaviours will be explained through Kerma’s active participation in Eastern Mediterranean diplomatic systems during the Middle Bronze Age, where diplomats could act as agents and catalysts of behavioural change. In this manner the dynamic region of the Kerma Culture is brought out of the perceived ‘periphery’ and into the wider Mediterranean world."
This paper will explore modes of elite bodily comportment at Kerma as evidenced through specific types of material culture, namely furniture. It is argued that the inherent bodily techniques that these objects required for their correct usage were themselves expressions of social status and prestige. In addition the presence of these objects and their associated bodily techniques in the royal tumuli will be explained through the Kerman court’s participation in a wider Eastern Mediterranean diplomatic system, in which bodily comportment and social etiquettes played a large role in the expression of status amongst the palatial elite.
This two-day series of talks combined with a workshop will discuss the state of the field in gaming and archaeology with a specific focus on how interactive, virtual media function as a differential space for theory-crafting, historytelling, and public outreach. As the most popular form of entertainment globally, it is a given that games are instrumental in democratizing access to the past. Yet this often happens outside of the realm of disciplines that normally produce knowledge of the past. In short, any engagement with games includes confronting our materially-constructed and linear versions of the past with those that take place in digital playgrounds. How do games afford experiences of the past and the practice of archaeology? How do game developers craft specific versions of the past through playful, nonlinear and multi-vocal narratives in alternative virtual worlds? How can games produce awareness on past and present matters, create communities,and forge new relations between different people? But also, how can playing with time, materiality, and history in this interactive, digital medium shape the analogue study of the past?
We would like to invite archaeologists, designers, critics and consumers to address these issues and their implications for the future of both games and archaeology. This will take the shape of discussion, play, and, game design — with a workshop on Twine, an easy to pick-up but powerful tool for the creation of interactive stories!
We would like to invite papers that make use of material, art historical, and textual approaches to examine the interrelationships between the body and performative practices, incorporating the role of gesture, ritualized and ceremonial behavior, and materiality of performance. Papers that use holistic, theoretical, and interdisciplinary approaches are especially encouraged, so as to flesh out the relevance of this topic for the wider discourses on the agency of people and objects.
In exploring the archaeological evidence for Levantine societies and their interactions with Egypt, students will be expected to develop and incorporate their own areas of interest into the course, providing a fruitful multi-disciplinary research and learning environment. The development of these interests over the semester will feed into the production an article that will be tailored for publication in a selected academic journal of the students choosing.
Wielding archaeological and art as historical evidence, unearth the craftsmanship and technologies that shaped fashion in prehistoric, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Nubian, and Aegean cultures. Navigate the rich language of attire as shaped by people, their practices, preferences, and hierarchies. What we wear speaks volumes, and every thread weaves a story. Unravel it with us in this captivating four-week course.
Week 1: The Deep Origins of Fashion
What is fashion and how can you see” it in the archaeological record? In this class, look at the deep history of decorating the body with different materials and pigments, learn about how evidence of these was preserved over time, and consider how the concept of “fashion” can be applied to the prehistoric societies of Paleolithic and Neolithic Europe and the Middle East.
Week 2: Clothes and Status
Clothing is a powerful means of communication and tells us much about a person. In this week’s class, delve into ancient couture from the colorful embroidered robes of Mesopotamia to the flowing flounced skirts of the Aegean. Explore artistic sources and material traces of textiles, and how they were made and worn, as well as how textiles were used to express social status.
Week 3: Body Art and Identity
The body is a canvas and has been painted, tattooed, and scarred in myriad ways over human history. Look at the evidence for ancient body art through the material traces of pigments and cosmetics and tantalizing evidence of tattoos on human remains in Egypt and Nubia. Consider how these forms of body art expressed a sense of self and personhood.
Week 4: Hairstyling and Gender
Hair is one of the most changeable parts of the human body: It can be cut, pressed, curled, heated, braided, dyed. In the final class, explore the diversity of hairstyles—including multilayered Egyptian wigs, manicured Assyrian beards, and the wild Cretan curls—and explore how hair was used to signify concepts about a person’s journey through life.
https://www.penn.museum/calendar/290/the-deep-dig
https://www.penn.museum/calendar/40/the-deep-dig