Vanessa Forte

Marie Curie Research Fellow, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Emaill: vf261@cam.ac.uk
Website: http://www.arch.cam.ac.uk/directory/vf261

Vanessa focuses her research interests in the analysis of use and technology related wear on ceramics.She received her BA in 2007 in Prehistoric Ecology (Supervisor: Prof.ssa Alessandra Manfredini) with a dissertation on a domestic structure from the Copper Age site of Maddalena di Muccia (Macerata-Italy).In 2010 she received her MA in Prehistoric Ecology with a dissertation (Supervisor: Prof.ssa Alessandra Manfredini and Prof.ssa Cecilia Conati Barbaro) on the technological and functional study of the pottery production coming from the Copper Age site of Maccarese, Loc. Le Cerquete-Fianello- Fiumicino (Roma-Italy) developing a preliminary approach based on traces analyses on pottery.In 2015 Vanessa obtained her PhD (with scholarship) in Prehistory at Sapienza University of Rome with a dissertation on technology and function of the Copper Age pottery production of the Rome Area. During this research she developed a dedicated methodology based on an integrated approach of traces analyses, compositional analyses, experimentation and residues analysis, which permitted to define the cultural traditions developed in the Rome Area between the 4th and the 3th millennium BC. The research is focused on the detailed examination of the pottery production based upon the decomposition of the vessel. Starting with the compositional analysis of clay pastes (petrographic analysis on thin sections, XRF) she reconstructed the sourcing strategies, the clay sources exploited in the area and defined the various clay recipes used in time. Technological choices were completed thorough a detailed analysis of the vessel modeling techniques and pottery firing techniques used.A major role in Vanessa’s research is played by the analysis of the samples under a microscope, applying a Low Power approach, and by a dedicated experimental framework that allowed to study and define the modeling techniques, surface treatments, decorations techniques, along with the exploited tools, in order to reconstruct the involved gestures, which are only hypothesised trough the study of traditional contexts. From 2004 Vanessa took part to various archaeological excavations and surveys in Italy and from 2015 she collaborates with the Iraqi-Italian mission at Abu Tbeirah (Iraq) for the technological and functional study of the pottery production unearthed at the site (Sapienza University of Rome).Since 2010 Vanessa gave several lessons about pottery technology and use in collaboration with various academic courses of archaeology and public demostrations about the pottery modelling. Actually Vanessa is an Honorary Fellow in Prehistoric Ecology at Sapienza University of Rome and she is working to develop the application of a high power approach to study the technological and functional traces on ceramic materials.

Pubblications

Forte,V. & Lemorini, C., in publication, Traces analyses applied to textile activities: an assessment of the method through the case study of ceramic tools during the 1st millennium BCE in Central Italy, Origini

Forte V, Medeghini L 2015. A preliminary study of ceramic pastes in the copper age pottery production of the Rome area. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-015-0261-42  

Forte V (2015) Tecnologia e funzione nella produzione ceramica eneolitica del territorio di Roma: casi studio, problemi e potenzialità della ricerca. Tesi di Dottorato in Archeologia, XXVI Ciclo Sapienza Universita di Roma, a.a. 2014.Pubblicazioni Aperte Digitali della Sapienza http://hdl.handle.net/10805/2653  

Forte V., 2014. Investigating pottery technological pattern through macrowear analysis: The chalcolithic village of Maccarese (Italy). In Marreiros J., Bicho N., Gibaja Bao J. (eds.) International conference on Use-wear analysis: Use Wear 2012. Cambridge Scholars Publishing pp.619-629.

Flavia Venditti

Post Doc at Tel Aviv Universty, Israel 
PhD - "Sapienza" Università di Roma, Italy

Emaill: flavia.venditti@gmail.com     

Flavia focuses her research on functional analysis of quartz and flint lithic industries. In 2008, she obtained her B.A. at “Sapienza” Università di Roma with a dissertation on the study of the dolmenic structures in South Italy. During her M.A., she started working in the field of use wear analysis under the supervision of Prof. Cristina Lemorini at the LTFAPA. Flavia focused her research on a quartz lithic industry of a Middle Palaeolithic site in Quercy (France) which ended with a dissertation titled “Per l’analisi funzionale di manufatti in quarzo. Creazione di un protocollo sperimentale. Studio funzionale dell’industria litica proveniente dal sito Paleolitico di Coudoulous I (Quercy, France)”. In 2012 she took part to an “Erasmus Intensive Programme” organised by Musée National d’Historie Naturelle at Les Eyzies-de-Tayac (Dordogne, France) from 29th May to 12th June. In 2013, she updated the “Thesaurus” for the lithic industries definitions in collaboration with the Central Institute for the Catalogue and Documentation. After her M.A. Flavia attended a Master class in Archaeological Heritage at  “Sapienza” Università di Roma under the supervision of Prof. Alberto Cazzella. In 2014, she ended her Master with a dissertation titled “On the effects of the mechanical post-depositional alteration on quartz artefacts: the case study of Sai Island (Sudan)”. Flavia is actually involved in a Ph.D. research on the functional analysis of the recycled items of a Lower Paleolithic site of Qesem Cave (Israel). She is a member since 2011 of the Qesem Cave Project, taking part to the annual archaeological excavation at the site.

Pubblications 

Venditti, F., Lemorini, C., Bordigoni, M., Zampetti, D., Amore, M., Tagliacozzo, A. (in press). The role of burins and their relationship with art through traces analysis at the Upper Palaeolithic site of Polesini Cave (Latium, Italy), Origini XXXVIII.

Zupancich, A., Nunziante-Cesaro, S., Blasco, R., Rosell, J., Cristiani, E., Venditti, F., Lemorini, C., Barkai, R., Gopher, A., 2016. Early evidence of stone tool use in bone working activities at Qesem Cave, Israel. Sci. Rep. 6, 1–7. http://doi:10.1038/srep37686 

Mourre V., Venditti F., Lemorini C., Jaubert J., (submitted): Quartz and quartzite use in the Middle Paleolithic bison kill and butchery site of Coudoulous I (Southwestern France). Quaternary International

Venditti, F., Tirillò, J., & Garcea, E. A.A. (2015). Identification and evaluation of post-depositional mechanical traces on quartz assemblages: An experimental investigation. Quaternary International, pp.1–11. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.07.046 

Lemorini, C., Venditti, F., Assaf, E., Parush, Y., Barkai, R., & Gopher, A. (2015). The function of recycled lithic items at late Lower Paleolithic Qesem Cave, Israel: An overview of the use-wear data. Quaternary International, 361, 103–112. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.07.03 

Venditti, F. (2014). Use wear analysis on quartz and quartzite tools: methodology and application. In: Marreiros J., Bicho N., Gibaja J.F. (Eds) International conference on use-wear analysis, Use Wear 2012. Proceeding of the International Conference on use-wear analysis, Faro, Portugal 10-11-12 October, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 124-137.

Francesca Coletti

Phd Candidate – “Ruprecht Karl” University of Heidelberg and “Sapienza” University of Rome.

Emaill: francesca.coletti@uniroma1.it

Francesca focuses her research interest in the analysis of textile artefacts and textile fibers.
She obtained her BA in 2008 in Mediterranean and Near East Archeology at “Sapienza” University of Rome (Supervisor L. Del Francia Barocas) with the dissertation on the necropolis and textile found in the ancient cities of Akhmim-Panolis, Egypt. In 2012, she received her MA in Classic Archaeology at “Sapienza” University with the thesis “Il tessuto nell’antichità: materiali, produzione e contesti” (Supervisor M. Galli, part of the work was carried out in Munich at Ludwig-Maximilians University, as visiting student) dealt with the materials and production techniques of fabrics starting from the pre-protohistoric period up to the end of the Roman age. Great emphasis was given to an interdisciplinary approach, able to give an overall view of the issues connected to the subject, to privilege the completeness of the study based on the importance and evolution of the textile production in the ancient times. From May to August 2013, Francesca took part of the international scholarship “Leonardo Da Vici” at the Curt-Engelhorn-Centre Archaeometry (Supervisor S. Mitschke) on archaeometry applied to archaeological textiles and to improve practical experience on technical analysis of fabric and morphological analyses for the identification of textile fibers.
Currently, Francesca is involved in a Joint- PhD at Ruprecht Karl” University of Heidelberg and “Sapienza” University of Rome (Supervisors Prof. E. Pernicka, M. Galli), carrying out a research project focused on the analysis of the archaeological fabric and textile fibers from Pompeii and the surrounding area, in order to investigate their morphological and technological characteristics (type of spinning, weave and the differ type of fibers). The ongoing investigation is carried out on carbonized, mineralize textile remain as well as metallic threads and fabric.
From 2014 her research is involved in the project entitled “La cultura tessile a Pompei” in partnership agreement between the Pompeii archeological authority (“Parco Archeologico di Pompei”), the “Sapienza” University of Rome and the Curt-Engelhorn-Centre Archaeometry.

Pubblications

Galli M., Coletti F., Lemorini C., Mitschke S. (Forthcoming). The ‘Textile culture at Pompeii’ Project. In: Purpureae Vestes. Textiles and Dyes in the Mediterranean Economy and Society. vol. VI, Università degli Studi di Padova, 17/10/2016 - 20/10/2016.

Galli Marco, Coletti Francesca, Sylvia Mitschke, Doris Döppes, Cristina Lemorini, Corine Siegmund (2017). Auf den Spuren antiker Textilkultur. RESTAURO, vol. 4, p. 40-45, ISSN: 0933-4017

Bruijn Erik, Alterauge Amelie, Zesch Stephanie, Heggelman Ben, Mitschke Sylvia, Coletti Francesca, Rosendahl Wilfried, Albert Zink, Vilsteren VINCENT T. VAN (2015). Die Mumie im Inneren ¿ eine übermodellierte Mumie eines buddhistischen Mönchs. In: A. Wieczorek & W. Rosendahl. Mumien - Der Traum vom ewigen Leben. vol. 24, Darmstadt: Alfried Wieczorek; Wilfried Rosendahl.

Anđa Petrović

PhD Candidate - "Sapienza" Università di Roma (Italy) in joint research with University of Belgrade (Serbia)

Emaill: andja.petrovic315@gmail.com

Anđa focuses her research on use-wear and technological analysis of chipped stone artefacts. Her main interests are human activities during Late Glacial and Early Holocene period in SE Europe. She graduated in 2015, and in 2016 obtained her MA degree with the thesis entitled Transitional period at Lepenski Vir: use-wear analysis on chipped stone artefacts at University of Belgrade (Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Archaeology). In this study, Anđa combined technological aspect with preliminary use-wear analysis of sampled assemblage from Lepenski Vir site and discussed the gathered data on the basis of spatial organization. For this research, she received the National Museum in Belgrade Award for the best MA thesis in 2016/2017. In 2017, Anđa won the Andrew Sherratt grant (University of Sheffield) for postgraduate students for research projects in Old World Prehistory. In her PhD research she continued following her interest in use-wear analysis, and also in the region of Iron Gates, trying to uncover the everyday dynamics of complex communities that lived in Danube Georges and their connectivity with similar societies in Montenegro, and Northern Italy.
Since 2012 Anđa is involved in various archaeological excavation projects in the Near East, Eastern Turkey, Cyclades, and central Balkan which, among others, include Çatalhöyük Research Project, ERC Prehistoric Anatolia, Stélida Naxos Archaeological Project, Cultural changes and population movement in early prehistory of the Central Balkans, and Lojanik – Chert mine of prehistoric communities in Central Serbia.

Pubblications

- 2016 – Use-wear analysis on chipped stone artefacts: terminology perspective. The Journal of Serbian Archaeological Society 32: 205-222.
- 2017 – Muzeologija in arheologija: muzej Krasa, Verena Perko, book review, The Journal of Serbian Archaeological Society 33. Belgrade. (in press).
- 2017 – Iron Gates (Serbia): Difference in the Use of Stone Raw Materials during Mesolithic-Neolithic Transition. Proceedings of International conference Through the Eyes of a Stranger - Appropriating Foreign Material Culture and Transforming the Local Context, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Archaeology (in press).
- 2017 – Man and stone between functional analysis and artefacts. Arhaica 05/2017, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Archaeology (in press).

Sergio Taranto

PhD Candidate – Univesitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain)

Email: sergio_taranto@alice.it

Sergio’s research falls within the investigation area concerning the animal and vegetal resources exploitation as food by ancient communities. The core of his research is the study and analysis of the archaeological ceramic remains as “mediation objects” between the man and the food in the past. He looked at this topic in deep throughout all his studies.
In the 2013 he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Archaeological Science at the University of Roma La Sapienza with a dissertation (supervisor Prof. L. Nigro) that brought to the attention the laboratories on the seashore to produce “Fish salting and sauces in the Punic Sicily”.
In the 2016, at the same Athenaeum, he obtained a Master’s Degree discussing a thesis, written under the supervision of Prof. C. Lemorini and the Prof. F. Restelli Balossi, entitled “The Husking Tray: a Pan to Bake Bread? An Interpretation of the Pottery Typology of Neolithic Upper Mesopotamia by way of an Experimental Approach”.
Currently he is a PhD candidate at the department of Prehistory of Near East of the Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona in joint research with the University of Roma La Sapienza under the supervision of the Prof. M. Molist Montaña, the Prof. A. Gómez Bach and Prof. C. Lemorini.
Through his PhD research he intend to further develop the theme of his Master thesis investigating the function of the “husking trays” (a characteristic pottery shape used by the Late Neolithic societies of Near East) on the basis of an assessment of the archaeological material and an analysis of their surface alteration traces.

Martina Basile

PhD Candidate - Universitat de Valencia (Spain) in joint research with "Sapienza" Università di Ro-ma (Italy)

Emaill: martina7915@gmail.com   

Martina in 2011 graduated at the University of Naples “Federico II” with a thesis titled “Lightning stones: history and study of an ancient superstition”, concerning the study of Neolithic arrowheads used as fertility amulets since the Roman age. In 2014 she obtained a master degree in Experimental Archaeology at “La Sapienza” University of Rome under the supervision of professors Cristina Lemorini and Daniela Zampetti, with a thesis focused on the experimental study of the Parabità Venus (Taranto, Apulia), bone figurines dated to the Gravettian period, acquiring the operative chain that led to their realization. In 2017 she graduated scuola di specializzazione at “La Sapienza” University of Rome in Economy and Management of Cultural Heritage with a thesis titled: “Little-Authors: the museum guide written by children”, supervised by professor Paolo Serafini, about the compilation/realisation of the best paper guide for an archaeological museum, through a psychological approach. Currently she is a PhD candidate at the Univesitat de Valencia (Spain) with a joint research in collaboration with “La Sapienza” University of Rome, focused on the experimental study of the
post-Paleolithic art of the Valencian community area

Pubblications 

Basile, M. 2016, Experimental Archaeology as a Method for Studying the Paleolithic Venus Figu-rines, Saguntum (P.L.A.V) 48, 2016.

Andrea Zupancich

Temporary Research Fellow - “Sapienza Università di Roma” Hidden Foods - H2020 ERC Starting Grant
PhD Candidate - Tel Aviv University, Israel

Emaill: andreaz@post.tau.ac.il

Andrea focuses his research on the function of stone tools coming from Early Stone Age and Lower Palaeolithic contexts. He obtained his B.A. degree in Arcahaeological Science in 2010 at Università “La Sapienza” di Roma with a thesis on the use of Rhyolite artefacts coming from the Early Stone Age site of Kanjera South (Kenya), under the supervision of Prof. Cristina Lemorini. In 2011 he obtained his MSc degree in Palaeoanthropology and Palaeolithic Archaeology at the UCL Institute of Archaeology (London), with a thesis on the use of battered anvils coming from the Early Stone Age site of Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania), under the supervision of Dr Ignacio de la Torre. Currently Andrea is a PhD candidate at Tel Aviv University (Israel), carrying out a research project focused on the use of Quina and demi-Quina flint scrapers coming from the Acheulo Yabrudian site of Qesem Cave (Israel), under the supervosion of Prof. Avi Gopher, Prof. Ran Barkai and Prof. Cristina Lemorini.

Pubblications

Zupancich, A., Nunziante-Cesaro, S., Blasco, R., Rosell, J., Cristiani, E., Venditti, F., Lemorini, C., Barkai, R., Gopher, A., 2016. Early evidence of stone tool use in bone working activities at Qesem Cave, Israel. Sci. Rep. 6, 1–7. http://doi:10.1038/srep37686  

Zupancich, A., Lemorini, C., Gopher, A., Barkai, R., (2015). On Quina and demi-Quina scraper handling: Preliminary results from the late Lower Paleolithic site of Qesem Cave, Israel. Quat. Int. 1–9. http://doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2015.10.101  

Lemorini, C., Bourguignon, L., Zupancich, A., & Gopher, A. (2015). A scraper ’ s life history : Morpho-techno-functional and use-wear analysis of Quina and demi-Quina scrapers from Qesem Cave, Israel. Quaternary International http://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.05.013 

Nicoud, E., Aureli, D., Pagli, M., Villa, V., Agostini, S., Bahain, J., Boschian, G., Chauss, C., Degeai, J., Fusco, F., Giaccio, B., Hernandez, M., Kuzucuoglu, C., Lahaye, C., Lemorini, C., Limondin-lozouet, N., Mazza, P., Mercier, N., Pereira, A., Robert, V., Adelaide, M., Zupancich, A., 2015. Preliminary data from Valle Giumentina Pleistocene site ( Abruzzo , Central Italy ): A new approach to a Clactonian and Acheulian sequence. Quat. Int. 1–13. http://doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2015.08.080

Solodenko, N., Zupancich, A., Nunziante Cesaro, S., Marder, O., Lemorini, C., & Barkai, R. (2015). Fat Residue and Use-Wear Found on Acheulian Biface and Scraper Associated with Butchered Elephant Remains at the Site of Revadim, Israel. PloS One, 1–17. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0118572 

De la Torre, I., Benito-Calvo, A., Arroyo, A., Zupancich, A., & Proffitt, T. (2013). Experimental protocols for the study of battered stone anvils from Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania). Journal of Archaeological Science, 40(1), 313–332. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2012.08.007