Michael Hoff, professor of art history, will deliver the next Lincoln-Omaha Chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America lecture at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 5 in Richards Hall, Room 15.

The talk, “Mosaics, Baths and Pirate Treasure: The Excavations at Antiochia ad Cragum in Asia Minor,” will explore Hoff’s archaeological dig on the coast of Turkey. The event is free and open to the public.

Since 2005, the Roman-era site of Antiochia ad Cragum has been undergoing excavation by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The city was founded on the site of a former late Hellenistic base of the famed Cilician pirates, who preyed upon shipping in the Mediterranean.

This talk will examine the early history of the city, its pirate past and the extraordinary mosaics found by the research team. Recent discoveries include a new mosaic; a mythological scene found in the latrine; a mysterious body from the late Roman period; and a major coin hoard.

Hoff specializes in Greek and Roman archaeology in which he conducts his research on the archaeology of Asia Minor. He has excavated in Wales, and Greece in the Athenian Agora, Corinth, Crete, and at the Sanctuary of Zeus at Nemea.

Hoff currently conducts research in Turkey where from 1997 to 2004, he co-directed the architectural survey team of the Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project, and since 2005, serves as project director of the Antiochia ad Cragum Excavations in Rough Cilicia on the south coast of Turkey.