Research has been carried out since 2002 on domestic material of the 5th century BC from the site of Morgantina, located in the hills of east-central Sicily. Two settlements have been uncovered at Morgantina: one on the Cittadella hill, reportedly destroyed in 459 BC (according to Diodorus), and the other on the adjoining Serra Orlando ridge,…[Read more]

A brief report on my dissertation research.

In this study the authors analyse archaeological materials belonging to two Coțofeni
settlements in Rotbav, Brașov County, at La Pârâuț and Unghiul Gardului. Structures of habitat and
material culture in these two settlements are discussed, with an emphasis on pottery. The material is
studied in terms of typology and decoration, the auth…[Read more]

Encyclopedia entry on the concept of the “Neolithic Package”.

A short history of work at Göbekli Tepe and an overview of the UNESCO Worls Heritage List nomination process.

Hoard finds appear throughout the European Bronze Age with distinct chronological and chorological peaks. While there is some consensus on seeing hoards as an expression of cultic behaviour, especially the large ‘scrap metal’ hoards still provoke interpretations as raw material collected for recycling. With socketed axes whose sockets were int…[Read more]

Although their early evolution is largely obscure, socketed axes are among the most numerous artefacts of
the Southeastern European Late Bronze Age. They seem to appear all at once in a horizon of hoards conventionally
parallelized with the Central European Bz D phase. Some researchers have tried to explain this sudden occurrence as
the result…[Read more]

An extensive preliminary report on Göbekli Tepe´s Enclosure H – in German.

In 2011 a special object was discovered at Göbekli Tepe in one of the excavation trenches in the tell´s northwestern depression. The artefact was described preliminarily as a ‘spatula’ made from a rib bone. It measures 5.3 x 1.9 x 0.3 cm and carries a carved depiction that is only partially preserved. The image is unclear, however the upper part…[Read more]

The text discusses reuse and modifications of older graves in southern Sweden during the Late Iron Age and early medieval period (c. 9th to 12th centuries AD). Post-burial practices in the Late Iron Age have in general been interpreted as means to negotiate status, identity and rights to land, while in the later part of the period they are…[Read more]

The Austrian Denkmalschutzgesetz (heritage protection law) aims to give total protection to all archaeological heritage. To achieve this, it takes a ‘finds-centred’ approach: chance finds are protected by some provisions in the law, searching for archaeology is restricted severely, and exclusively to archaeology graduates, by others. Yet, what has…[Read more]

Archaeologists like to think that heritage protection laws serve the purpose to protect all archaeology from damage. Thus, provisions like that of § 11 (1) Austrian Denkmalschutzgesetz or Art. 3 i-ii of the Valetta convention are interpreted as a blanket ban on archaeological fieldwork ‘unauthorised’ by national heritage agencies, and a gene…[Read more]

I investigate the organization of urban activities in Early Bronze Age cities of Northern Mesopotamia. I combine evidence from archaeological survey, magnetometry, and excavations to demonstrate that cities were broadly integrated in terms of function and use of space: inhabitants in outer cities, lower towns, and extramural areas all pursued a…[Read more]

Published in the Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Vol. 3, No. 3, 2015. This contribution was part of FORUM Investing in the Future of the Past: Alternative Careers for Mediterranean Archaeologists.

The lines between death and life were neither fixed nor finite to the peoples of the ancient Mediterranean. For most, death was a passageway into a new and uncertain existence. The dead were not so much extinguished as understood to be elsewhere, and many perceived the deceased to continue to exercise agency among the living. Even for those more…[Read more]

The story of the Philistines as Mycenaean or Aegean migrants, refugees who fled the Aegean after the collapse of the palace societies c.1200 BC, bringing an Aegean culture and practices to the Eastern Mediterranean, is well known. Accepted as essentially true by some, yet rejected as little more than a modern myth by others, the migration…[Read more]

The study of the collapse of past societies raises many questions for the theory and practice of archaeology. Interest in collapse extends as well into the natural sciences and environmental and sustainability policy. Despite a range of approaches to collapse, the predominant paradigm is environmental collapse, which I argue obscures recognition…[Read more]

The collapse of palatial society at the end of the Greek Bronze Age in c.1200 BC has long been a subject of fascination and contention. This monograph re-evaluates the different theories on this collapse and possible areas of continuity, making full use of recent archaeological data as well as the latest theoretical work on collapse in the…[Read more]

A case study in how small projects use digital tools.

An article on Slow Archaeology for a volume of North Dakota Quarterly dedicated to Slow.