Archaeologist Chiara Zazzaro will be giving a talk on a recent excavation in Adulis, in Entrea on the Northern Sea, on Tuesday, March 27, at 5:30 p.m. at the Burroughs & Chapin Center for Marine and Wetland Studies on Coastal Carolina University’s East Campus in Room 100. The event is free and open to the public.

Zazzaro, whose specialty is maritime archaeology of the Red Sea, works with Exeter University’s MARES project (Maritime Ethnography of the Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea). She has recently returned from an Italian-Eritrean Joint Expedition at excavations in Adulis, an archaeological site in the Southern Red Sea region of Eritrea. She will present an illustrated description of the Adulis excavation and new information that has been discovered during her year-long stint.

Adulis was one of the most important port towns for trade between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean beginning 2,000 years ago. During the Roman and Byzantine periods, Adulis was prominent in exporting products such as ivory, obsidian and tortoise shells while receiving imported fabrics from Egypt, glass from Judea, metals from India and wine from Italy. Excavations conducted at the beginning of the 20th century and in the 1960s revealed a deeper richness of the ancient town, uncovering monumental buildings, churches and large housing compounds.

The presentation is part of the Explorations Lecture series hosted by CCU’s Center for Archaeology and Anthropology.

The Center for Marine and Wetland Studies is located at 1270 Atlantic Ave. in Conway, on the East Campus (or Atlantic Center). For more information, contact Cheryl Ward at 843-349-6657 or cward@coastal.edu.