Brief CV

Graeco-Roman decorative stone and lithic material culture production, use, social and ritual meaning are the pivot of my line of research. I pursue to analyse lithic artefacts’ life cycle, from quarrying to the final object through to archaeometry; however, my interests include gender and cognitive archaeology, sensoriality of ancient material culture, network analysis, funerary practices and material religion. My research output from the last 10 years has greatly advanced the understanding of key, yet overlooked, technical and socio-cultural characteristics of non-decorative sculpture, such as small vases, in the Greek and Roman worlds by creating new spaces of knowledge in the field. I completed a BA/Ma in Classical Archaeology at the University of Naples ‘Federico II’ (2005) and a DPhil in Roman Archaeology at Royal Holloway University of London (2006-2015). My doctoral dissertation was entitled Roman funerary urns in coloured stone: production and significance. For this research programme I was awarded a grant by the prestigious Italian Cultural Institute in London – “Il Circolo” (May 2007) and invited to contribute to the Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani – Volume 1 “London and the South-East of England” (OUP, 2015). I am currently writing the monograph/catalogue of decorative stone cinerary urns for publication with Archaeopress Publishing Ltd (Oxford). My post-doctoral research includes several research fellowships (2017-2019) and the implementation and co-direction of several projects. These include the 2-year project ‘TECHNET’ (H2020-MSCA-IF-2019: 895286) on technological innovation and knowledge transfer in the production of stone vases in the Graeco-Roman period (ICAC) and the project ‘Alabaster. Quarrying and trade in the Roman World’: a quantitative, qualitative and archaeometric analysis of calcite alabaster in the Roman period (Sept. 2014- June 2018). The edited volume Barker, S. J. & Perna, S. (eds.). ‘Alabaster’: an interdisciplinary study of the sources and uses of calcite-alabaster across archaeological contexts. Turnhout: Brepols is forthcoming (2024). I am the IP of the Grevena Archaeological Project – The marble finds and villa rustica at Arsalia (Agios Georgios) (2021-SGR-1365) within the wider Grevena Archaeological Program, directed by Dr. Sonia Dimaki, Director of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Grevena, in which the ArPA&LIRA research group participates as an external collaborator in the research and survey of this area of Central Macedonia (Greece). I am also an active researcher in several I+D projects within the ArPA research group at ICAC and across institutions: ANTIQUAE FEMINAE. El retrato femenino de estilo clásico: contextos antiguos y anticuarios, análisis y reconstrucción digital (PID2022-137896OB-I00), PI: Montserrat Claveria Nadal (UAB); Sulcato marmore ferro. Canteras, talleres, artesanos y comitentes de las producciones artísticas en piedra en la Hispania Tarraconensis PI Diana Gorostidi Pi (PID2019-106967GB-I00) within which I am the PI of the subproject Los mármoles tipo greco scritto en espacios públicos y semi-públicos de la costa levantina de la Hispania Tarraconensis s. I–II d.C (with B. Soler Huertas, L.Galan Palomares, Marie-C. Savin, A. Gutierrez Gracia-M) ; «Cosas de mármol». Creación, usos y reciclaje de las producciones marmóreas en Hispania (MarmoRED2) (RED2022-134955-T) and member of the international research network Engendering Ancient Economies (EAEN) which aims to bring women to light as key players in ancient economies, and to promote gendered and intersectional perspectives in the field of economic studies of pre-modern societies In addition, I have collaborated as a marble expert in El Mensaje del mármol: Prestigio, simbolismo y materiales locales en las provincias occidentales del imperio romano en Hispania y Aquitania PI A. Garcia Gutierrez-M. (UEA/ArPA (PGC2018-099851-A-I00) other international and interdisciplinary research programs. I am also an assistant lecturer (Profesora Substituta) of Archaeology of Religion and Funerary Practices on the Master Inter-Universitario URV-UAB-ICAC at the URV Department of Catalan Philology – Faculty of Humanities within which I am supervising the Masters dissertation titled Las urnas funerarias romanas estrigiladas y tipo ‘cesta’ (siglos I-II d.C.): estado de la cuestión desde una perspectiva de género, and I have held several lectureships in Classics and Classical Archaeology at Spanish (UAB) (2023) and British universities (BBK, UCL, RHUL) (2006-2014). My professional training include assistant curator at the British Museum within the “Cyprus Digitization Project” (2010-2011) and participation in excavation and fieldwork campaigns in Italy (Pompeii, Herculaneum, Cumae, Orvieto), Greece and Romania (2000-2022).