Current Students

Maria De Falco

Between the IV and III millennia BC, Europe and the Mediterranean are characterized by the development of widespread cultures that show highly coded funerary practices and long-distance connections. Southern Italy and the Central Mediterranean region during the Copper Age stand out for the widespread transcultural circulation of goods, symbols and concepts. Hypotheses on the definition of cultures and circulation of peoples, goods and ideas have been made based on typological and contextual analyses. The main aim of my research is to investigate the social dynamics of Copper Age Campania pottery production and circulation. In particular, my research questions are:

1) Understanding to what extent stylistic changes and patterns in ceramic production reflect technological, productive, functional and cultural differences;

2) Detecting the presence of imported/exported goods and the local re-elaboration of foreign influences.

The dataset for the proposed research consists in pottery from several Copper Age sites, settlements and necropolises, in Campania, Southern Italy. The methodology chosen for this research is an integrated approach to pottery involving both macroscopic and advanced archaeometric analyses. This research will contribute to broaden our understanding of Copper age communities, their craft specialization, mobility and technological choices.

https://durham.academia.edu/MariaDeFalco

https://www.dur.ac.uk/research/directory/staff/?mode=staff&id=16602

Supervisory Team: Prof. Robin Skeates, Archaeology (Durham), Dr Benjamin Roberts, Archaeology (Durham), Dr Kamal Badreshany, Archaeology (Durham).

Start Date: September 2017