Slides, lectures will dig into archaeology of WNY, Rome

The first program will focus on the telltale signs of urban life found in and around the foundation pit of Buffalo's Marine Midland Arena. The second will explore what recent excavations on the Palatine Hill have divulged about life in ancient Rome.

The programs are co-sponsored by the UB Department of Classics whose chair, Stephen Dyson, is national president of the AIA. The series is headed this year by Donald McGuire, adjunct professor of classics at UB. Lectures will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Grupp Fireside Lounge in the Canisius College Student Center.

A discussion of "Recent Archaeological Excavations at the New Marine Midland Arena" that have shed a significant light on the early history of Buffalo's waterfront and its neighborhoods, will be the topic of a lecture on Feb. 13. The speaker will be Elizabeth Peņa of Dean & Barbour Associates, a private Buffalo archaeological consulting firm headed by Warren Barbour, UB professor of anthropology. Dean & Barbour Associates performed much of the archaeological excavation work around the new arena.

UB faculty members Brad Ault and Ted Peņa will make an informal presentation titled "Recent American Excavations on the Palatine Hill in Rome" on March 12. Ault and Peņa, both assistant professors of classics, have supervised significant aspects of this archaeological project. Ault is a specialist in ancient domestic architecture; Peņa specializes in ceramic production and trade.