Dr Augusta McMahon is Reader in Mesopotamian Archaeology in the Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, and a Fellow of Newnham College. She has a BA in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology from Bryn Mawr College (Pennsylvania) and an M.A. and PhD in Mesopotamian Archaeology from the University of Chicago. She has excavated in Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Egypt and Yemen. From 2006 to 2011, she was field director of the Tell Brak excavations in northeast Syria. Her current project explores 3rd millennium BC urbanism through excavation and survey at the ancient city of Lagash (Tell al-Hiba, south Iraq). Her research examines ancient urbanism, conflict, and past sensory experiences of monumental architecture.