My background

I was born in Germany in 1970, and educated at the Universities Heidelberg (Classical Archaeology, Ancient History and Ancient Greek) and Cambridge (MA in Classics 1994, PhD in Archaeology 2000). My doctoral thesis, entitled "The Minoanisation of the Southern Aegean: Comparative Approaches through Ceramic Assemblages", explored the social and economic dynamics of cultural change in the Bronze Age Cyclades (Greece) vis à vis a culturally dominant Minoan Crete. I joined Manchester as a Lecturer in Mediterranean Archaeology in 2000. I am a member of the British School at Athens where I sit on the Courses and Teaching committee.


Research Interests

My own research focuses on the Cyclades in the Middle and Late Bronze Age and pottery studies. Dominant research themes are cultural interaction and change (especially the phenomenon of 'Minoanisation') and the expression of local Cycladic identities; island archaeology (concepts and realities, seafaring, the sea as a social concept, island environments, ethnographic and experimental studies); ceramics as a means to express identity, group affiliation and negotiate status; ethnographic and experimental pottery studies, X-radiography of pottery, quantitative analysis in archaeology. My current research attempts to understand the meaning of the sea and its inhabitants for ancient communities utilizing multidisciplinary approaches.


Supervision areas

Prospective supervisees are welcome to contact me for preliminary discussions about topics and application procedures. I am happy to supervise students on all material and theoretical aspects of Bronze Age Greece. I am particularly encouraging candidates wishing to work in the following areas:

  • Prehistoric Cyclades (social, cultural, economic, political, environmental aspects)
  • Island studies; archaeology of islands; island lifeways
  • Ceramic studies; experimental archaeology; X-radiography
  • Application of quantitative analysis to archaeology

Current PhD students are researching the following topics

  • Representations of fauna and flora in Minoan Crete during the New Palace period and their interpretation" (E. Gemi-Iordanou)
  • Fluid Metaphors (L. Houseman)


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