2018 Midwest Archaeological Conference
The 2018 Midwest Archaeological Conference will be hosted by the University of Notre Dame on October 4 – 6, 2018. The conference organizers are Mark Schurr and Madeleine McLeester. Registration will open in a few weeks!
The MAC welcomes papers and posters on any aspect of Midwestern archaeology, both prehistoric and historic. This year’s organizers are very interested in attracting papers that will appeal to members of the Notre Dame community beyond archaeology. We are especially interested in papers that address the themes of listed below, either in the form of symposia or as individual papers that could be placed into themed sessions.
If any of these topics are of interest to you, we hope you will consider them as you plan your presentation. Of course, papers on any aspect of Midwestern archaeology are welcome and submissions are not limited to these themes.
The themes are:
War, Peace, and Security in the Past
Coping with conflict, or developing mechanisms to avoid it, are universal preoccupations of human society. We invite papers that deal with any aspect of war, peace, and security in the past, both prehistoric and historic. Topics can range from evidence for warfare, defensive structures, battlefield archaeology, and the inference of peace-promoting behavior such as alliance networks via exchange and other mechanisms. While war is a collective phenomenon, peace and security apply to individuals, so evidence of the prevalence of inter-personal violence, or lack thereof, are also relevant.
Symbols, Ritual and Religion in the Midwest
Past Midwestern groups, both prehistoric and historic, engaged in diverse ritual behaviors which used a great array of symbols in many media, and were underpinned by many different religious systems. We invite papers that examine each of these areas, or the interplay between them. Topics can range from the analysis of symbols, the materials used to execute them, evidence for ritual performance, to considerations of the role of religion in topics such as social organization and inter-group interaction. Papers exploring various aspects of Western religions, especially Catholicism, in the context of interactions with Native Americans and other groups, or the ways in which such perspectives have influenced archaeological interpretations, will be especially interesting to a wider Notre Dame audience.
Climate Variability, Culture, and Sustainability in the Midwest
Considerations of the relations between climate and culture have a long history in Midwestern archaeology. Our current era of global climate change has intensified interests in climate science and the interplay between climate and its effects on human societies. We invite papers that explore any aspect of climate and culture, from responses to climatic variation, environmental modification, revisiting past theories about the role of climate in culture change, the sustainability of various ways of life under changing climate, and discussions of climate proxies and their reliability.
This year’s Sponsored Symposium is titled ‘Late Prehistoric Landscapes in the Northern Prairie Peninsula: A Lake Koshkonong Perspective‘ and organized by Robert J. Jeske, Richard W. Edwards, IV, and Katherine M. Sterner. This symposium will be held on Thursday afternoon, October 4.
For more information about the 2018 Midwest Archaeological Conference, please contact the Annual Meeting organizers Mark Schurr (mschurr@nd.edu) or Madeleine McLeester (mmcleest@nd.edu). Additional information will be posted on the MAC website once registration opens.
Three conference hotels are available for attendees:
The Morris Inn, on Notre Dame campus
$179 a night
https://usmor.webhotel.microsdc.us/bp/search_rooms.jsp?groupCode=MID001_015
Or call 574-631-2000 or 800-280-7526 and reference the “Midwest Archaeological Conference”
The Inn at Saint Mary’s, on the nearby St. Mary’s College campus
$139 a night for doubles and kings
Guests should call 574-323-2184 or reservations@innatsaintmarys.com and reference “Notre Dame Midwest Archaeological Conference”
The Fairfield Inn (adjacent to the southern edge of campus)
$125 a night for a standard king / $135 a night for 2 queen beds or a king suite
Book your group rate for Midwest Archaeological Conference
Or call 574-234-5510 and reference the “Midwest Archaeological Conference”
More details on the upcoming conference will be forthcoming in the next few weeks.
