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How can we move from our own interactions with ancient objects today to a sense of the richness and particularity of people’s lived experience in the distant past? This First-Year Seminar is based in the Archaeological Museum on campus, allowing for daily hands-on work with artifacts. We use the lens of bodies as we learn to interrogate ancient things for indications of how people cared for, ornamented, protected, altered, understood, and represented not only their physical but also their socio-cultural persons. The class pairs readings for discussion with analysis of objects. Weekly themes draw out certain types of bodily experience, working with objects that were, e.g., worn in battle; held/worn during birth; connected to healing; used to adorn or shape the body (such as jewelry, clothing, and magical amulets); utilized by craftspersons in their handwork; involved in rites of passage; or incorporated into contexts of bodily death. Our approach is deeply cross-disciplinary, integrating techniques and interests from the fields of classics, archaeology, history of art, the life sciences, and materials analysis. Outings will take us to other museums in the area to engage with their collections, as well.