October 2012: Dr. Joshua Wright, ‘The World of Genghis Khan Through Archaeology And History’

October 14                     Archaeological Institute of America Lecture

Dr. Joshua Wright The World of Genghis Khan Through Archaeology And History

Genghis Khan’s empire exploded out from Inner Asia in the 13th Century AD and reshaped the world.   The archaeology of the Mongol Empire demonstrates its antecedents, roots in Inner Asia and its unique aspects as a world empire. In addition to the wide array of primary historical information on the Mongol Empire, this lecture will present the ethnohistoric landscapes of Mongolia and particular new archaeological discoveries at sites from the imperial capital of Karakorum to the speakers own work documenting nomadic landscapes of the everyday citizens of the imperial core.

Joshua Wright will lecture for the Society on Sunday, October 14, 2012.  He is with the Humanities Program at Stanford University, and holds his degrees from the Harvard University (Ph.D.), Cambridge University, and Vassar College.  His fields of interest include landscape archaeology, pastoral nomads, Eurasia, East Asia, and Inner Asia.  He has done extensive fieldwork in Mongolia and China, and has also worked at a wide variety of other sites in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.