The Center for Archaeology and Ancient Studies (CAAS)

The Center for Archaeology and Ancient Studies at Texas Tech is dedicated to the advancement of innovative, transdisciplinary research on the ancient past.

CAAS specifically encourages research on the ancient past as a site of cultural production which bridges concerns across times, spaces and disciplines. The pursuit of the human past is significant, not only from the angle of how relations are figured in the ancient world, but also, crucially, how the past can both inform and intersect with matters of common concern today—design, digital humanities, cultural ecology, material culture, sustainability and more. This research draws upon the riches of the deep past in building sustainable societies and promoting long-term memory.

CAAS thus aims to provide a hub on the Texas Tech campus for research that uses the past as a means of revolutionizing our understanding of the present and future.

Areas of focus include:

• Space, Place and Topography
• Memory and Memorialization
• Identity Narratives
• Sustainable Societies

Directors

• David Larmour - Horn Professor of Classics
• Christopher Witmore - Professor of Classical Archaeology