Institute for the Advanced Study of Culture and the Environment

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Welcome to IASCE

The Institute provides the physical and intellectual infrastructure to create and disseminate transdisciplinary knowledge about culture and the environment through seminars and working groups.  We currently have four foci: 1) Evolutionary theory, both cultural and biological, 2) the Anthropocene, 3) Ancient diseases and nutrition, and 4) East African and Indian Ocean. We draw on faculty from across the College of Arts and Sciences and beyond including those in the sciences, humanities, and professional schools.    

What's New?

  1. USF professor confirms Egyptians drank hallucinogenic cocktails in ancient rituals

    Wednesday, November 15, 2024

  2. USF partners with Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office to preserve more than a century of law enforcement history

    Tuesday, December 6, 2024

  3. USF researcher’s life work uncovers the first ancient DNA from the Swahili Civilization

    Thursday, March 29, 2023

  4. Centuries-old teeth could indicate the effectiveness of pandemic quarantines

    Tuesday, July 11, 2023

  5. Dr David Himmelgreen named Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science

    Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Spotlight on

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IASCE Director Charles Stanish presents to the AIA Tampa Bay Chapter

Thursday, November 21, 2024

IASCE Director Charles Stanish will present to the Archaeological Institute of America – Tamp Bay Chapter on his recent work at the Monte Sierpe. The site, located in the Pisco Valley of southern Peru, consists of a 1.5 kilometer long band of one-meter diameter depressions. The band is approximately 20 meters wide and climbs up a hill from the valley bottom. The site is unique in the Andes. It has been variously interpreted as a geoglyph, a set of agricultural features, defensive structures, storage, and accounting devices. Monte Sierpe is also prominently featured in the pseudo-archaeology literature. Dr. Stanish has uncovered exciting new data that allows us to propose a new interpretation of Monte Sierpe as an accounting, storage and redistribution center of exotic and domestic goods during the Chincha kingdom (1200-1400) and the Inca Empire (1400-1532).