Justinian’s Tree: Underwater Environmental Histories in Byzantine Harbors, 24 October | Event in Denver

Justinian’s Tree: Underwater Environmental Histories in Byzantine Harbors

The Denver Society of the Archaeological Institute of America

Highlights

Fri, 24 Oct, 2025 at 05:00 pm

1.5 hours

Cherry Creek Building (CHR), Community College of Denver

Free Tickets Available

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Date & Location

Fri, 24 Oct, 2025 at 05:00 pm to 06:30 pm (GMT-06:00)

Cherry Creek Building (CHR), Community College of Denver

1111 Saint Francis Way, Denver, United States

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About the event

Justinian’s Tree: Underwater Environmental Histories in Byzantine Harbors
Environmental data encoded in the wooden harbor works of the Byzantine era illuminates the impact maritime trade had on local ecosystems.

About this Event

Harbors were and remain epicenters of economic and social exchange and hold equally dynamic environmental histories. Constructing artificial harbor works or adapting natural coastal features to accommodate maritime activity—like that which fueled transport and exchange in the Byzantine Empire—required investment of both material resources and labor, which left far-reaching ecological impacts.

In this lecture, I discuss the evolution and environmental history of the harbor at Lechaion in ancient Corinth revealed from the recent Lechaion Harbour Project excavations by the Danish Institute at Athens and Greek Department of Underwater Antiquities. I concentrate on environmental data encoded in wooden harbor works from Lechaion and show how we can use this information to reconstruct the harbor’s development during the 5th-6th centuries AD, uncover the network of natural resources used to create Corinth’s artificial harbor works, and better understand the impact that centers of maritime trade had on coastal, marine, and forest ecosystems in the Byzantine Empire.


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Brita Lorentzen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology and director of the Tree-Rings and Archaeological Wood Analysis Lab at University of Georgia. She completed her PhD at Cornell University, where she also served as a research scientist and lab manager of the Cornell Tree-Ring Laboratory. She is an environmental archaeologist who uses tree-rings, stable isotope geochemistry, and archaeobotanical methods to investigate human interactions with climate and environment, transmission of shipbuilding materials and technologies, and their long-term impacts on forest and coastal ecosystems. She has conducted archaeological and heritage science fieldwork above and underwater throughout the East Mediterranean, Southeast Europe, and North America, including as a dendrochronologist for the Lechaion Harbor Project in Corinth (Greece), Mazotos Shipwreck Project (Cyprus), and underwater excavations at Dor/Tantura Lagoon and Akko Bay (Israel). She also co-directs the TREE Project investigating Byzantine-Medieval wooden monuments, artwork and modern forests in the Troodos Mountains (Cyprus).

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Ticket Info

Tickets for Justinian’s Tree: Underwater Environmental Histories in Byzantine Harbors can be booked here.

Ticket type Ticket price
General Admission - Zoom Free
General Admission - In Person Free
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Cherry Creek Building (CHR), Community College of Denver, 1111 Saint Francis Way, Denver, United States
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Justinian’s Tree: Underwater Environmental Histories in Byzantine Harbors, 24 October | Event in Denver
Justinian’s Tree: Underwater Environmental Histories in Byzantine Harbors
Fri, 24 Oct, 2025 at 05:00 pm
Free