Lynn Dodd

Summary Statement of Research Interests

My research centers on archaeology & society (why the past matters) and ancient innovation & social change (material reflections of new ideas). I am particularly interested in the ways that beliefs about places and things make a difference, whether in Ancient Egypt and the Near East or in Native American landscapes in coastal California. As Curator of USC’s Archaeology Research Center, I am engaged in technical material studies, excavation publication projects, and the integration of extended reality in research, conservation, and public communication.

Research Specialties

Amuq Valley Research Project Survey (Turkey) Kenan Tepe Excavations (Tigris River, Turkey) Native American Sacred Landscapes Project (California) Tell al-Judaidah Publication Project (Turkey) Israeli Palestinian Archaeology Working Group (Co-organizer)

• Elemental analysis using X-ray florescence of ancient artifacts and materials (archaeometric study), including objects in USC’s Archaeological Research Collection.
• Catalina (Pimu) Island Holocene Settlement, Environment, and Chronology Project is a collaborative archaeology research effort focused on reconstruction of early and historic human settlements and environments including those now submerged underwater. Focus of exploration is an island which is the traditional, sacred land of Tongva (Gabrieleno) people.
• Publication and analysis of archaeological survey research in the Hatay region of coastal Turkey (Orontes River Valley; Plain of Antioch) that abuts the Syrian border.
• Continuing field and lab research effort centered in southern California’s Native American Sacred Landscape. This project involves collaboration with chemists and physicists. It features evaluation of lasers as a culturally-sensitive means of removing gang graffiti (modern paint) from ritually-significant sites. Includes training a team of undergraduates to create a geographic information system (a GIS database links landscape data, images, and ancient site information) as a tool for research and preservation. Also includes close oversight of undergraduates using lasers and scanning electron microscopy through USC CEEMA.

• Virtual Reality Development: AnyBook Experiences , Rare, fragile, or difficult to access multi-page documents and manuscripts available in a VR headset interactive, exploratory experience. New or legacy 2D scans or photos become 3D life-like pages in the NEH-supported template empowering educators, curators, researchers in libraries, archives and museums. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC2rdRPREBs, 2020 –

• Distinguished Faculty Fellow for USC Dornsife, 08/16/2011 – 05/13/2013

Administrative Appointments

• Director, 07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
• Dornsife Faculty Fellow, 08/16/2012 – 05/15/2013