Alessandra Esposito | King's College London (original) (raw)

Book Chapters by Alessandra Esposito

Research paper thumbnail of NEW APPROACHES TO RITUAL IN THE ROMAN WORLD

Research paper thumbnail of Abandoned but not forgotten. Dynamics of authority negotiation in the British sacred landscape.

Before/After: Transformation, Change, and Abandonment in the Roman and Late Antique Mediterranean. Edited by Paolo Cimadomo, Rocco Palermo, Raffaella Pappalardo and Raffaella Pierobon Benoit., 2020

Regalia connected to ceremonial performers and local ritual practices are found in deposits throu... more Regalia connected to ceremonial performers and local ritual practices are found in deposits throughout east and south-east Britain in the Roman period. The evidence for their concealment points towards a possible interruption or change in the local practices that would have been carried out at these sites. This paper focuses on four deposits of regalia and discusses the variations and types of interruption and change of ritual practices by focussing on two aspects. The deposits of headdresses from Hockwold-cum-Wilton, Cavenham Heath, and Deeping-St-James illustrate the first point, namely, the connection between the careful deposition of headdresses and sceptres and the abandonment of the sites that marks the end of ritual activities. This depositional behaviour is further explored to address the second point. At the temple site of Wanborough, the concealment of ceremonial regalia is connected to an architectural change characterised by the construction of a Romano-Celtic temple. Linking the presence of these ceremonial items to the structural features at the site offers the opportunity to engage with recent theoretical discussions on mnemonic triggers associated with landscape markers.

Research paper thumbnail of Celtic religions in the Roman period: Personal, Local, and Global

by Ralph Haussler, Ralph Haeussler, Anthony C King, Audrey Ferlut, Daphne Nash Briggs, Roger S O Tomlin, Alfred Schäfer, Blanca María Prósper, Cristina Girardi, Marjeta Šašel Kos, Vojislav Filipovic, Fernando Fernández Palacios, Alessandra Esposito, and Werner Petermandl

ed. by R. Haeussler and A. C. King. Aberystwyth 2017.

What is Celtic religion? And does it survive into the Roman period? This multi-authored volume ex... more What is Celtic religion? And does it survive into the Roman period? This multi-authored volume explores the 'Celtic' religions in pre-Roman and Roman times. It book brings together new work, from a wide range of disciplinary vantages, on pre-Christian religions in the Celtic-speaking provinces of the Roman Empire. The twenty-six chapters are the work of international experts in the fields of ancient history, archaeology, linguistics, epigraphy and Celtic studies. It is fully illustrated with b&w and colour maps, site plans, photographs and drawings of ancient inscriptions and images of Romano-Celtic gods.
The collection is based on the thirteenth workshop of the F.E.R.C.AN. project (Fontes epigraphici religionum Celticarum antiquarum), which was held from the 17th to the 19th October 2014 in Lampeter, Wales.

Books by Alessandra Esposito

Research paper thumbnail of Performing the Sacra: Priestly roles and their organisation in Roman Britain

Archaeopress Roman Archaeology 53, 2019

The book addresses the range of cultural responses to the Roman conquest of Britain with regards ... more The book addresses the range of cultural responses to the Roman conquest of Britain with regards to priestly roles. The approach adopted is based on current theoretical trends focussing on dynamics of adaptation, multiculturalism, and appropriation characterising the continuity and emergence of these roles in the province.
The book investigates three main themes: a model of priesthoods organisation in Britain, the embodiment of priestly authorities in a provincial environment, and how the different depositional contexts of priestly regalia contribute to our understanding of these roles.
The methodical investigation of published and unpublished objects identifiable as priestly regalia is integrated into an assessment of historical, epigraphic, and iconographic sources mapped via the creation of a Geographic Information System. Highlighting the continuity of use of British priestly regalia between the Iron Age and the Roman period and contextualising this phenomenon in a wider provincial panorama from Spain to Syria, the regalia become crucial to mark the presence of priestly roles and their evolution. The biographical analysis of the regalia, especially when found in structured deposit, allows consideration on the organisation of cults, while their geographical distribution suggests different patterns of priestly organisation across different regions.
After crossing this information with the epigraphic evidence, the result is that of a mosaic of engagements with priestly authority, particularly by elite or near-elite individuals, ultimately illustrating a fluid provincial culture behind the religious organisation of the ritual landscape of Britain.

Papers by Alessandra Esposito

Research paper thumbnail of Performing the Sacra: Priestly roles and their organisation in Roman Britain

The book addresses the range of cultural responses to the Roman conquest of Britain with regards ... more The book addresses the range of cultural responses to the Roman conquest of Britain with regards to priestly roles. The approach adopted is based on current theoretical trends focussing on dynamics of adaptation, multiculturalism, and appropriation characterising the continuity and emergence of these roles in the province. The book investigates three main themes: a model of priesthoods organisation in Britain, the embodiment of priestly authorities in a provincial environment, and how the different depositional contexts of priestly regalia contribute to our understanding of these roles. The methodical investigation of published and unpublished objects identifiable as priestly regalia is integrated into an assessment of historical, epigraphic, and iconographic sources mapped via the creation of a Geographic Information System. Highlighting the continuity of use of British priestly regalia between the Iron Age and the Roman period and contextualising this phenomenon in a wider provincial panorama from Spain to Syria, the regalia become crucial to mark the presence of priestly roles and their evolution. The biographical analysis of the regalia, especially when found in structured deposit, allows consideration on the organisation of cults, while their geographical distribution suggests different patterns of priestly organisation across different regions. After crossing this information with the epigraphic evidence, the result is that of a mosaic of engagements with priestly authority, particularly by elite or near-elite individuals, ultimately illustrating a fluid provincial culture behind the religious organisation of the ritual landscape of Britain.

Research paper thumbnail of A Context for Roman Priestly Regalia: Depositional Practices and Spatial Distribution of Assemblages from Roman Britain

Theoretical Roman Archaeology Journal, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of The MaDiH (مديح): Mapping Digital Cultural Heritage in Jordan, Opportunities and Limitations

Culture and Computing. Interactive Cultural Heritage and Arts, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of MaDiH (مديح) Mapping the Digital Cultural Heritage in Jordan Project. Datasets Identification and Publication Protocol

Zenodo, 2020

The document details the approaches and processes employed by the MaDiH (مديح) Mapping the Digita... more The document details the approaches and processes employed by the MaDiH (مديح) Mapping the Digital Cultural Heritage in Jordan Project Team for the identification and collection of datasets recorded in the project's CKAN instance (https://madih-data.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/).

Conference Proceedings by Alessandra Esposito

Research paper thumbnail of A Context for Roman Priestly Regalia: Depositional Practices and Spatial Distribution of Assemblages from Roman Britain

TRAC 2015: Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, Leicester 2015, 2016

The recent discovery of a deposit containing votive and ritual objects dating to the Roman period... more The recent discovery of a deposit containing votive and ritual objects dating to the Roman period in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk offers a chance to discuss depositional practices.
Deposits of objects used for religious rituals are known in Britain, but their consideration in the archaeological literature has often been affected by different biases. Greater attention has been given to specific objects, particularly the ‘priestly regalia’, while their study has focused mainly on their iconography rather than their performative aspect. Moreover, the peculiar aspect of some of these objects, particularly the headdresses, has favoured speculations on their possible connection with religious practices predating the Roman conquest, symbolizing a local, cultural resistance to the introduction of official Roman religious practices. This particular element has been stressed in the literature, often overshadowing the discussion of other objects present in the same deposits and consequently missing the opportunity to include this evidence from Britain in the more general discussion about provincial ritual practices.
This paper offers a new perspective on deposits of ritual materials. Analysing their spatial distribution together with that of other types of religious evidence (inscriptions and temple sites) aims to identify their function as deposits while an overall analysis of their contents allows a discussion about the personalities, professional and non-, involved in their performance.
The goal is to demonstrate that ritual practices, traditionally considered the prerogative of specific cultural groups and stressed in the dichotomy Roman/native, appear to overlap in the reality of the religious experience and involve different people bearing different cultural identities.

Call for Papers by Alessandra Esposito

Research paper thumbnail of Inclusion and Exclusion: Ritual Practice in the Roman World and Beyond

Research paper thumbnail of NEW APPROACHES TO RITUAL IN THE ROMAN WORLD

TRAC2023 - Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, 2023

This session aims at expanding our current understanding of what are considered 'ritual' behaviou... more This session aims at expanding our current understanding of what are considered 'ritual' behaviours in the Roman period by looking at instances of ritual performances both in the ancient and the modern worlds. Understood as functioning as a globalised/glocalised system, the Roman world fostered a spectrum of ritualised behaviours in its different regions and in different periods resulting from a long habit of incorporating and rejecting local traditions encountered during its expansion as well as interfacing with those of the peoples outside its borders. Drawing from current developments in the fields of psychology, anthropology, and sociology, the session will foster comparisons of Roman ritual behaviours from across different time periods and places. The contributions to this session will look at instances of continuity of use of ritual sites, including across the pre-Roman/Roman/post-Roman transitions, as well as instances of modern uses of Roman period ritual spaces so to frame ritual behaviours beyond the traditional connection of ritual practices and religious beliefs.

Research paper thumbnail of Call for papers: Critical Globalisation: A Theoretical Framework for the 'Crisis' of the 3rd century

TRAC - Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, 2020

The Roman Empire has been recently considered a valid case study for the application of global hi... more The Roman Empire has been recently considered a valid case study for the application of global history and globalisation theories by Roman historians and archaeologists (Pitts and Versluys 2014, Globalisation and the Roman World: World History, Connectivity and Material Culture). This approach highlights the characteristics of the Roman Empire as an interconnected world, where numerous cultural, economic, and religious exchanges took place, creating everywhere a common cultural veneer considered as ‘Roman’.
This panel aims to challenge the concepts of globalisation in the Roman Empire, using as case study the ‘crisis’ of the 3rd century CE. Current scholarship assumes that this connectivity came to an abrupt interruption during that period of crisis (Hekster, de Kleijn and Slootjes 2007, Crises and the Roman Empire). Despite abundant scholarly works on the subject, no satisfactory and shared theory of crisis exists. Combining globalisation and crisis as object of analysis, this panel explores whether the diverse range of trading and cultural Roman links, implied by the globalisation theories, would continue or be disrupted once the imperial world supposedly almost collapsed.
Our main questions are how can we theoretically define the crisis that affected the Roman Empire in the 3rd century CE: economic, political, or military? Did it affect the connections across the Roman Empire and how far and how fast did they change? Finally, whether globalisation and crisis were two phenomena mirroring each other, and to what extent was (or was not) a global empire more prone to experience a global crisis?

Research paper thumbnail of From trench to press. Session abstract for TRAC 2020, Split, Croatia

TRAC - Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, 2020

The Roman world has been a focus of fascination and research for several centuries. It is at the ... more The Roman world has been a focus of fascination and research for several centuries. It is at the centre of countless collections as well as studies, reports, and publications. This research outpour has become an object of research in itself, as archaeologists working on ancient sites have to often engage with older publications produced when the standards of archaeological investigations and associated publications were different from the ones expected today. This session focuses primarily on studying material from old(er) excavations using new methodological approaches to the reinterpretation of old reports with the aim of bridging the gaps between modern archaeology and pre-WWI archaeology. A second key issue covered in this session is how to approach an excavation in areas that were already excavated in the past and consequently, how to address the problems posed by old documentation in such cases. Finally, the session is concerned with how to deal with material from sites with missing documentation, also accounting for geographical biases resulting from different historical traditions of archaeological analyses. By exploring past and modern approaches to old methodologies, this session addresses the manifold obstacles that are encountered on the way from initial discovery and excavation to analysis and final publication of a site and its finds, while assessing the significance of past archaeological endeavours for the advancement of the general scientific knowledge of the Roman period.

Book Reviews by Alessandra Esposito

Research paper thumbnail of Dea Senuna: Treasure, Cult and Ritual at Ashwell, Hertfordshire. Edited by R. Jackson and G. Burleigh. British Museum Research Publication 194. British Museum, London, 2018. Pp. viii + 364, illus.

Britannia, 2019

The Ashwell Hoard is one of the most extraordinary finds of deposited votive material from Britai... more The Ashwell Hoard is one of the most extraordinary finds of deposited votive material from Britain in recent history. Its exceptional nature is explored in this volume by a diverse team of contributors reporting on multiple scientific and interpretational aspects of the deposit and its landscape.

The full review of the volume Dea Senuna: Treasure, Cult and Ritual at Ashwell, Hertfordshire is available at https://tinyurl.com/y3zj2pbn

Conferences by Alessandra Esposito

Research paper thumbnail of Hoarding and deposition in Europe from later prehistory to the medieval period -finds in context. 12th-14th of June 2019. King's College London.  Conference Programme.

The conference will begin at 10.30am on the morning of Wednesday 12th June and continue until 5pm... more The conference will begin at 10.30am on the morning of Wednesday 12th June and continue until 5pm on Friday 14th June. It will be held at King’s College London, Strand campus (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/). There will be an evening reception in the Great Hall at King’s College from 6–8 pm.

The afternoon of Thursday 13th June will be given over to tours. Participants can either join the walking tour of Roman sites around the City of London or a curator-led tour of the Secret Rivers Exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands. The conference venue is also within walking distance (c. 15 mins) of the British Museum.

Book tickets at:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/hoarding-and-deposition-in-europe-finds-in-context-tickets-58427858297

Walking tour: Visiting the newly-displayed temple of Mithras, amphitheatre and fort gate remains, the tour will begin and end at the Museum of London. There will be two tours (40 places in total) led by Meriel Jeater, curator Museum of London and Jenny Hall, retired Senior Roman Curator, Museum of London.

Secret Rivers: Guided tour of the Secret Rivers Exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands (20 places) led by the curator, Kate Sumnall

https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london-docklands/whatson/exhibitions/secret-rivers

Blog posts by Alessandra Esposito

Research paper thumbnail of MaDiH (مديح) Mapping Digital Cultural Heritage in Jordan: Research Software Engineering (RSE) Training

Talks by Alessandra Esposito

Research paper thumbnail of Unlocking priestly performances in the Romano-British countryside

UoLeicester SAAH Research Seminar Series, 2020

The paper discusses Roman period small finds of regalia to materialise the presence of priests at... more The paper discusses Roman period small finds of regalia to materialise the presence of priests at rural sacred sites in Britain. The evidence is used to highlight the performances of processions and divination practices.

Research paper thumbnail of Datasets Identification Process - MaDiH Workshop 29/10/2019

The principal aim of the MaDiH: Mapping the Digital Cultural Heritage in Jordan project is to col... more The principal aim of the MaDiH: Mapping the Digital Cultural Heritage in Jordan project is to collect datasets containing information on the Cultural Heritage of Jordan and link them to create a searchable national catalogue.
This presentation was delivered by the Project Research Team at the MaDiH Workshop held at the British Institute in Amman on the 29th of October 2019.
It illustrated the methodology and the tools designed by the Team to identify and record datasets held inside and outside Jordan, and the instance of CKAN adopted by the project.

Research paper thumbnail of FIEC / CA 2019 - Guided tour at the Roman Britain Gallery at the British Museum

Outline with links to the objects discussed during the visit and short general bibliography

Research paper thumbnail of NEW APPROACHES TO RITUAL IN THE ROMAN WORLD

Research paper thumbnail of Abandoned but not forgotten. Dynamics of authority negotiation in the British sacred landscape.

Before/After: Transformation, Change, and Abandonment in the Roman and Late Antique Mediterranean. Edited by Paolo Cimadomo, Rocco Palermo, Raffaella Pappalardo and Raffaella Pierobon Benoit., 2020

Regalia connected to ceremonial performers and local ritual practices are found in deposits throu... more Regalia connected to ceremonial performers and local ritual practices are found in deposits throughout east and south-east Britain in the Roman period. The evidence for their concealment points towards a possible interruption or change in the local practices that would have been carried out at these sites. This paper focuses on four deposits of regalia and discusses the variations and types of interruption and change of ritual practices by focussing on two aspects. The deposits of headdresses from Hockwold-cum-Wilton, Cavenham Heath, and Deeping-St-James illustrate the first point, namely, the connection between the careful deposition of headdresses and sceptres and the abandonment of the sites that marks the end of ritual activities. This depositional behaviour is further explored to address the second point. At the temple site of Wanborough, the concealment of ceremonial regalia is connected to an architectural change characterised by the construction of a Romano-Celtic temple. Linking the presence of these ceremonial items to the structural features at the site offers the opportunity to engage with recent theoretical discussions on mnemonic triggers associated with landscape markers.

Research paper thumbnail of Celtic religions in the Roman period: Personal, Local, and Global

by Ralph Haussler, Ralph Haeussler, Anthony C King, Audrey Ferlut, Daphne Nash Briggs, Roger S O Tomlin, Alfred Schäfer, Blanca María Prósper, Cristina Girardi, Marjeta Šašel Kos, Vojislav Filipovic, Fernando Fernández Palacios, Alessandra Esposito, and Werner Petermandl

ed. by R. Haeussler and A. C. King. Aberystwyth 2017.

What is Celtic religion? And does it survive into the Roman period? This multi-authored volume ex... more What is Celtic religion? And does it survive into the Roman period? This multi-authored volume explores the 'Celtic' religions in pre-Roman and Roman times. It book brings together new work, from a wide range of disciplinary vantages, on pre-Christian religions in the Celtic-speaking provinces of the Roman Empire. The twenty-six chapters are the work of international experts in the fields of ancient history, archaeology, linguistics, epigraphy and Celtic studies. It is fully illustrated with b&w and colour maps, site plans, photographs and drawings of ancient inscriptions and images of Romano-Celtic gods.
The collection is based on the thirteenth workshop of the F.E.R.C.AN. project (Fontes epigraphici religionum Celticarum antiquarum), which was held from the 17th to the 19th October 2014 in Lampeter, Wales.

Research paper thumbnail of Performing the Sacra: Priestly roles and their organisation in Roman Britain

Archaeopress Roman Archaeology 53, 2019

The book addresses the range of cultural responses to the Roman conquest of Britain with regards ... more The book addresses the range of cultural responses to the Roman conquest of Britain with regards to priestly roles. The approach adopted is based on current theoretical trends focussing on dynamics of adaptation, multiculturalism, and appropriation characterising the continuity and emergence of these roles in the province.
The book investigates three main themes: a model of priesthoods organisation in Britain, the embodiment of priestly authorities in a provincial environment, and how the different depositional contexts of priestly regalia contribute to our understanding of these roles.
The methodical investigation of published and unpublished objects identifiable as priestly regalia is integrated into an assessment of historical, epigraphic, and iconographic sources mapped via the creation of a Geographic Information System. Highlighting the continuity of use of British priestly regalia between the Iron Age and the Roman period and contextualising this phenomenon in a wider provincial panorama from Spain to Syria, the regalia become crucial to mark the presence of priestly roles and their evolution. The biographical analysis of the regalia, especially when found in structured deposit, allows consideration on the organisation of cults, while their geographical distribution suggests different patterns of priestly organisation across different regions.
After crossing this information with the epigraphic evidence, the result is that of a mosaic of engagements with priestly authority, particularly by elite or near-elite individuals, ultimately illustrating a fluid provincial culture behind the religious organisation of the ritual landscape of Britain.

Research paper thumbnail of Performing the Sacra: Priestly roles and their organisation in Roman Britain

The book addresses the range of cultural responses to the Roman conquest of Britain with regards ... more The book addresses the range of cultural responses to the Roman conquest of Britain with regards to priestly roles. The approach adopted is based on current theoretical trends focussing on dynamics of adaptation, multiculturalism, and appropriation characterising the continuity and emergence of these roles in the province. The book investigates three main themes: a model of priesthoods organisation in Britain, the embodiment of priestly authorities in a provincial environment, and how the different depositional contexts of priestly regalia contribute to our understanding of these roles. The methodical investigation of published and unpublished objects identifiable as priestly regalia is integrated into an assessment of historical, epigraphic, and iconographic sources mapped via the creation of a Geographic Information System. Highlighting the continuity of use of British priestly regalia between the Iron Age and the Roman period and contextualising this phenomenon in a wider provincial panorama from Spain to Syria, the regalia become crucial to mark the presence of priestly roles and their evolution. The biographical analysis of the regalia, especially when found in structured deposit, allows consideration on the organisation of cults, while their geographical distribution suggests different patterns of priestly organisation across different regions. After crossing this information with the epigraphic evidence, the result is that of a mosaic of engagements with priestly authority, particularly by elite or near-elite individuals, ultimately illustrating a fluid provincial culture behind the religious organisation of the ritual landscape of Britain.

Research paper thumbnail of A Context for Roman Priestly Regalia: Depositional Practices and Spatial Distribution of Assemblages from Roman Britain

Theoretical Roman Archaeology Journal, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of The MaDiH (مديح): Mapping Digital Cultural Heritage in Jordan, Opportunities and Limitations

Culture and Computing. Interactive Cultural Heritage and Arts, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of MaDiH (مديح) Mapping the Digital Cultural Heritage in Jordan Project. Datasets Identification and Publication Protocol

Zenodo, 2020

The document details the approaches and processes employed by the MaDiH (مديح) Mapping the Digita... more The document details the approaches and processes employed by the MaDiH (مديح) Mapping the Digital Cultural Heritage in Jordan Project Team for the identification and collection of datasets recorded in the project's CKAN instance (https://madih-data.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/).

Research paper thumbnail of A Context for Roman Priestly Regalia: Depositional Practices and Spatial Distribution of Assemblages from Roman Britain

TRAC 2015: Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, Leicester 2015, 2016

The recent discovery of a deposit containing votive and ritual objects dating to the Roman period... more The recent discovery of a deposit containing votive and ritual objects dating to the Roman period in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk offers a chance to discuss depositional practices.
Deposits of objects used for religious rituals are known in Britain, but their consideration in the archaeological literature has often been affected by different biases. Greater attention has been given to specific objects, particularly the ‘priestly regalia’, while their study has focused mainly on their iconography rather than their performative aspect. Moreover, the peculiar aspect of some of these objects, particularly the headdresses, has favoured speculations on their possible connection with religious practices predating the Roman conquest, symbolizing a local, cultural resistance to the introduction of official Roman religious practices. This particular element has been stressed in the literature, often overshadowing the discussion of other objects present in the same deposits and consequently missing the opportunity to include this evidence from Britain in the more general discussion about provincial ritual practices.
This paper offers a new perspective on deposits of ritual materials. Analysing their spatial distribution together with that of other types of religious evidence (inscriptions and temple sites) aims to identify their function as deposits while an overall analysis of their contents allows a discussion about the personalities, professional and non-, involved in their performance.
The goal is to demonstrate that ritual practices, traditionally considered the prerogative of specific cultural groups and stressed in the dichotomy Roman/native, appear to overlap in the reality of the religious experience and involve different people bearing different cultural identities.

Research paper thumbnail of Inclusion and Exclusion: Ritual Practice in the Roman World and Beyond

Research paper thumbnail of NEW APPROACHES TO RITUAL IN THE ROMAN WORLD

TRAC2023 - Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, 2023

This session aims at expanding our current understanding of what are considered 'ritual' behaviou... more This session aims at expanding our current understanding of what are considered 'ritual' behaviours in the Roman period by looking at instances of ritual performances both in the ancient and the modern worlds. Understood as functioning as a globalised/glocalised system, the Roman world fostered a spectrum of ritualised behaviours in its different regions and in different periods resulting from a long habit of incorporating and rejecting local traditions encountered during its expansion as well as interfacing with those of the peoples outside its borders. Drawing from current developments in the fields of psychology, anthropology, and sociology, the session will foster comparisons of Roman ritual behaviours from across different time periods and places. The contributions to this session will look at instances of continuity of use of ritual sites, including across the pre-Roman/Roman/post-Roman transitions, as well as instances of modern uses of Roman period ritual spaces so to frame ritual behaviours beyond the traditional connection of ritual practices and religious beliefs.

Research paper thumbnail of Call for papers: Critical Globalisation: A Theoretical Framework for the 'Crisis' of the 3rd century

TRAC - Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, 2020

The Roman Empire has been recently considered a valid case study for the application of global hi... more The Roman Empire has been recently considered a valid case study for the application of global history and globalisation theories by Roman historians and archaeologists (Pitts and Versluys 2014, Globalisation and the Roman World: World History, Connectivity and Material Culture). This approach highlights the characteristics of the Roman Empire as an interconnected world, where numerous cultural, economic, and religious exchanges took place, creating everywhere a common cultural veneer considered as ‘Roman’.
This panel aims to challenge the concepts of globalisation in the Roman Empire, using as case study the ‘crisis’ of the 3rd century CE. Current scholarship assumes that this connectivity came to an abrupt interruption during that period of crisis (Hekster, de Kleijn and Slootjes 2007, Crises and the Roman Empire). Despite abundant scholarly works on the subject, no satisfactory and shared theory of crisis exists. Combining globalisation and crisis as object of analysis, this panel explores whether the diverse range of trading and cultural Roman links, implied by the globalisation theories, would continue or be disrupted once the imperial world supposedly almost collapsed.
Our main questions are how can we theoretically define the crisis that affected the Roman Empire in the 3rd century CE: economic, political, or military? Did it affect the connections across the Roman Empire and how far and how fast did they change? Finally, whether globalisation and crisis were two phenomena mirroring each other, and to what extent was (or was not) a global empire more prone to experience a global crisis?

Research paper thumbnail of From trench to press. Session abstract for TRAC 2020, Split, Croatia

TRAC - Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, 2020

The Roman world has been a focus of fascination and research for several centuries. It is at the ... more The Roman world has been a focus of fascination and research for several centuries. It is at the centre of countless collections as well as studies, reports, and publications. This research outpour has become an object of research in itself, as archaeologists working on ancient sites have to often engage with older publications produced when the standards of archaeological investigations and associated publications were different from the ones expected today. This session focuses primarily on studying material from old(er) excavations using new methodological approaches to the reinterpretation of old reports with the aim of bridging the gaps between modern archaeology and pre-WWI archaeology. A second key issue covered in this session is how to approach an excavation in areas that were already excavated in the past and consequently, how to address the problems posed by old documentation in such cases. Finally, the session is concerned with how to deal with material from sites with missing documentation, also accounting for geographical biases resulting from different historical traditions of archaeological analyses. By exploring past and modern approaches to old methodologies, this session addresses the manifold obstacles that are encountered on the way from initial discovery and excavation to analysis and final publication of a site and its finds, while assessing the significance of past archaeological endeavours for the advancement of the general scientific knowledge of the Roman period.

Research paper thumbnail of Dea Senuna: Treasure, Cult and Ritual at Ashwell, Hertfordshire. Edited by R. Jackson and G. Burleigh. British Museum Research Publication 194. British Museum, London, 2018. Pp. viii + 364, illus.

Britannia, 2019

The Ashwell Hoard is one of the most extraordinary finds of deposited votive material from Britai... more The Ashwell Hoard is one of the most extraordinary finds of deposited votive material from Britain in recent history. Its exceptional nature is explored in this volume by a diverse team of contributors reporting on multiple scientific and interpretational aspects of the deposit and its landscape.

The full review of the volume Dea Senuna: Treasure, Cult and Ritual at Ashwell, Hertfordshire is available at https://tinyurl.com/y3zj2pbn

Research paper thumbnail of Hoarding and deposition in Europe from later prehistory to the medieval period -finds in context. 12th-14th of June 2019. King's College London.  Conference Programme.

The conference will begin at 10.30am on the morning of Wednesday 12th June and continue until 5pm... more The conference will begin at 10.30am on the morning of Wednesday 12th June and continue until 5pm on Friday 14th June. It will be held at King’s College London, Strand campus (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/). There will be an evening reception in the Great Hall at King’s College from 6–8 pm.

The afternoon of Thursday 13th June will be given over to tours. Participants can either join the walking tour of Roman sites around the City of London or a curator-led tour of the Secret Rivers Exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands. The conference venue is also within walking distance (c. 15 mins) of the British Museum.

Book tickets at:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/hoarding-and-deposition-in-europe-finds-in-context-tickets-58427858297

Walking tour: Visiting the newly-displayed temple of Mithras, amphitheatre and fort gate remains, the tour will begin and end at the Museum of London. There will be two tours (40 places in total) led by Meriel Jeater, curator Museum of London and Jenny Hall, retired Senior Roman Curator, Museum of London.

Secret Rivers: Guided tour of the Secret Rivers Exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands (20 places) led by the curator, Kate Sumnall

https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london-docklands/whatson/exhibitions/secret-rivers

Research paper thumbnail of MaDiH (مديح) Mapping Digital Cultural Heritage in Jordan: Research Software Engineering (RSE) Training

Research paper thumbnail of Unlocking priestly performances in the Romano-British countryside

UoLeicester SAAH Research Seminar Series, 2020

The paper discusses Roman period small finds of regalia to materialise the presence of priests at... more The paper discusses Roman period small finds of regalia to materialise the presence of priests at rural sacred sites in Britain. The evidence is used to highlight the performances of processions and divination practices.

Research paper thumbnail of Datasets Identification Process - MaDiH Workshop 29/10/2019

The principal aim of the MaDiH: Mapping the Digital Cultural Heritage in Jordan project is to col... more The principal aim of the MaDiH: Mapping the Digital Cultural Heritage in Jordan project is to collect datasets containing information on the Cultural Heritage of Jordan and link them to create a searchable national catalogue.
This presentation was delivered by the Project Research Team at the MaDiH Workshop held at the British Institute in Amman on the 29th of October 2019.
It illustrated the methodology and the tools designed by the Team to identify and record datasets held inside and outside Jordan, and the instance of CKAN adopted by the project.

Research paper thumbnail of FIEC / CA 2019 - Guided tour at the Roman Britain Gallery at the British Museum

Outline with links to the objects discussed during the visit and short general bibliography