Current Position

Associate Professor, Near Eastern Archaeology, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Storia, Archeologia, Geografia, Arte e Spettacolo, via San Gallo 10, Firenze

Education:

2/2014 Abilitazione Nazionale all’insegnamento Universitario in N-10 (Ancient Near Eastern Studies )

1998 – 2003 Freie Universität Berlin (Germany), PhD summa cum Laude, Faculty of History and ´Cultural Studies, PhD in Archaeology of the Ancient Near East.Titel: Functional Analysis of Space in Syro-Hittte Architecture. Supervisors: Prof. Dr. H. Kühne and Prof. Dr.- Ing. J.G. Schmid

1993 – 1998 Universita’ di Pisa (Italy). Graduation certificate: Master degree, (110/110), Faculty of Humanities, Classical Studies, master degree in Archaeology and History of Art in the Ancient Near East (Prof. Mazzoni). Title: Re-analysis of the architecture at the Syro-Hittite centres of Karkemish, Tell Halaf, Tell Ta^cyinat and Zincirli

Academic and Research Experiences

August 2016 – 2019: Assistant Professor, tenure track, Near Eastern Archaeology, at the Università degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento SAGAS (History, Archaeology, Geography, Fine and Performing Arts).Teaching (graduates and undergraduates) and research position.

1. Assistant Professor, Rita Levi Montalcini, at the Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy.Teaching (undergraduates and Graduates) and Research position in Archaeology and History of Art in the Ancient Near East. This full position requires 50% time for teaching and supervising undergraduate and graduate students and 50% for Research projects.
2. Assistant Professor at the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. This part time teach- and research-position was planned for five years. I was supposed to teach two classes each year and carry out my own research. I obtained also the Förderungspreis to carry out a new application for a dig project. I decided to interrupt this contract when I got the position at the University in Florence.
3. External Researcher at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. I was responsible for the publication of the pottery and small finds from German excavations at Zincirli and currently kept in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin and the Archaeological Museum in Istanbul.
4. Research assistant at the FU Berlin in the Tell Sheikh Hamad Project. I worked in preparing the 2008 excavations campaign, whose main aim was to investigate specific open questions before the final publication.
5. Visiting Scholar at the Oriental Institute in Chicago. I directed the Chatal Höyük Publication Project, studying the documentation of the OI excavations at Chatal Höyük in the Amuq and analysed pottery and objects kept in the OI-Museum.
6. Research assistant at the Freie Universität Berlin in the Tell Shech Hamad Project. I was responsible for the analysis and publication of the Neo-Assyrian residences and for the preparation of the excavation campaign 2006.

Grants and Financial Supports

2020 MAECI Fund for the Italian Mission at the excavations at Alalakh

2020 OrMe Foundation: financial support for a post doc position at the University degli Studi di Firenze

2019 MAECI Fund for the Italian Mission at the excavations at Alalakh 2019

2019, Prin 2017,Writing Uses: Transmission of Knowledge, Administrative Practices and Political Control in Anatolian and Syro-Anatolian Polities in the 2nd and 1st Millennium BCE. Participant

2018-19 Straarcheologia, Università degli studi di Firenze. Financial Support for archaeological research

2016-17 Straarcheologia, Università degli studi di Firenze. Financial Support for archaeological research

2016 Prin 2015, L'Anatolia antica: politiche imperiali e culture locali tra XV e VII secolo a.C. Problemi di etnicità, assetti urbani e territoriali, tradizione e innovazione. Participant

2015 iFund, Università degli studi di Firenze. Financial Support to apply to the EU horizon 2020 program

2014 iFund, Università degli studi di Firenze. Financial Support to apply to the EU horizon 2020 program (Application submitted in May 2015)

2013-2016 Rita Levi Montalcini Grant from Ministero Affari Esteri

2013 Freie Universität Berlin Forschungsförderung, Financial support to organize the application for the Excavations at Gerçin Höyük, Turkey

2009-2011 Shelby-White Grant, Harvard the research on the Zincirli materials and pottery kept at the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin

2006-2008 Shelby-White Grant, Harvard, research and publication on the materials from Chatal Höyük (Hatay region, turkey) at the Oriental Institute Museum in Chicago

2001-2002 Na-Fög (FU-Berlin) grant for doctoral studies

2000-2001 DAAD grant for doctoral studies

Field and

Museums Experiences

2011-2019 Excavations at Alalakh, Turkey: Since 2011 Since 2011, director of the Italian Mision at the Turkish excavations of Atchana. I direct (6-7 students and postdocs) a team from the University of Firenze, who processes and study the pottery at the site and analyses on the field the archaeological context.

2014-2016 Archaeological Museum Hatay (Turkey)

Study on the Materials from Chatal Hoyük and from Atchana

2011-2015 Excavations at Zincirli, Turkey. Four excavation campaigns at site of Zincirli led by the Oriental Institute Chicago. I travelled there with a group of students from the Freie Universität Berlin. We restarted excavating the Southern Gate at Zincirli. The project is a sub project under my direction.

2007-2009 Oriental Institute Museum

Study and publication of the OI collection from the American excavations in the Amuq

2007 Survey in the Niğde, Turkey. I took part at one survey season on behalf of the University of Pavia as the responsible for topography and architectural evidences.

1999-2008 Excavations at Tell Shech Hamad, Syria. Seven excavation campaigns at the site of Tell Shech Hamad, Syria led by the Free University in Berlin, department of Near-eastern Archaeology under the directorship of Prof. H. Kühne. I was field director of the area of the so -called Neo-Assyrian Residences in the lower town and vice director of the excavations in the last two seasons.

1997-2000 Excavations at Tell Afis, Syria. Four excavation campaigns (2/3 months each) at site of Tell Afis (Syria) led by the Universities of Pisa under the directorship of Prof. S. Mazzoni. First year, dig assistant, second and third year: responsible of sector G in the Iron Age II area.

1997 Excavations at the Etruscan cemetery in Castiglioncello (Livorno), Archaeological Museum of Rosignano. 1995 –Excavations at San Vincenzino, Italy. Medieval cemetery and Roman villa at San Vincenzino (Livorno), the University in Pisa

Teaching Experience

UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI FIRENZE, DIPARTIMENTO DI STORIA ARCHEOLOGIA GEOGRAFIA ARTE E SPETTACOLO, ITALY

Summer Term 2020, Graduate Course (Social Geography). Archaeology in Conflict Areas; Postgraduate seminar (Scuola di Specializzazione in Archeologia), Cultural Heritage in crisis areas; Post graduate course (Scuola di Specializzazione in Archeologia), Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, the history of research.

Winter Term 2019/20, Graduate Course (Archaeology). Archaeology of the Ancient Iran and Mesopotamia, Undergraduate Course (Archaeology and cultural heritage): Introduction to Near Eastern Archaeology.

Summer Term 2019, Undergraduate Course (Archaeology and cultural heritage): Introduction to Near Eastern Archaeology.

Winter term 2018/19,Graduate Course (Archaeology). Archaeology of the Ancient Iran; Undergraduate Course (Archaeology and cultural heritage): the temples in the ANE

Winter Term 2017/18, Graduate Course (Archaeology). Archaeology of the Ancient Iran; Undergraduate Course (Archaeology and cultural heritage): the temple in the ANE

Summer Term 2017, Undergraduate Course (Archaeology and cultural heritage): Introduction to Near Eastern Archaeology.

Winter Term 2016/17, Graduate Course (Archaeology). Archaeology of the Ancient Near East: iconography of Religion in the Second Millennium BC from Elam to Anatolia.

Summer Term 2016, Undergraduate Course (Archaeology and cultural heritage): Introduction to Near Eastern Archaeology.

Winter term 2015/16, Graduate Course (Archaeology): Archaeology in the Ancient Near East: Migrations and Disruptions at the End of the Second Millennium

Winter term 2015/16, Graduate Course (Languages and Civilizations of the Ancient and Modern Orient): Archaeology in the Ancient Near East, Excavations, Expeditions and the construction of a discipline from the 18th to now.

Summer Term 2015, Undergraduates Course: Archaeology and History of Art in the Ancient Near East, Levant, Anatolia and Mesopotamia during the Third and Second Millennium

Winter Term 2014/15 Graduate Course (Languages and Civilizations of the Ancient and Modern Orient): Archaeology and History of Art in the Ancient Near East, Excavations, Expeditions and the construction of a discipline from the 18^th to the 20^th century.

Winter Term 2013/14, Graduate Laboratory in Near Eastern Archaeology, From the excavations to the publication: Pottery

Winter Term 2014/15, Graduate Course (Archaeology): Archaeology and History of Art in the Ancient Near East, The Late Bronze and the Iron Age in the Levant and Anatolia and their influence to the West

Summer Term 2013, Undergraduates Course: Archaeology and History of Art in the Ancient Near East, Levant, Anatolia and Mesopotamia during the Third and Second Millennium

Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Vorderasiatische Archäologie, Germany

Summer Term 2013, Graduate Interdisciplinary Course. Looking for Identity in the Syro-Hittite town Centers: material culture, language and architecture (64 hours). Together with Dr. Annik Payne, philologist for Luwian hieroglyphic.

Winter Term 2012/13, Archaeological Laboratory: Introduction to the Field work in Near Eastern Archaeology Introduction on Methods and History of the Excavations in the Ancient Near East (32 hours.)

Winter Term 2012/13, Undergraduates Course (Pro-Seminar, Module Prehistory and History in the Archaeology). The Passage from the Late Bronze to the Iron Age in South Eastern Anatolia and Northern Syria (32 hours.)

Summer Term 2012, Undergraduates Course (Pro-Seminar, Module Typology and Classes). Shape versus Function: Typology and Functional Classes of built Structures, the first Millennium BC (32 hours.)

Winter Term 2011/12, Undergraduates Course (Pro-Seminar, Module Typology and Classes). Shape versus Function: Typology and Functional Classes of built Structures in the third and Second Millennium BC (32 hours.)

Summer Term 2006, Archaeological Laboratory for Graduates and Undergraduates. How to document an archaeological excavation using databases, vector drawing programs

Summer Term 2006, Undergraduates Course (Pro-Seminar). History of Architecture in the Ancient Near East from the Paleo-Babylonian to the Neo-Babylonian Period (32 hours.)

Winter Term 2005/06, Undergraduates Course (Pro-Seminar). History of Architecture in the Ancient Near East from the Obed to the Paleo-Babylonian Period (32 hours.)

Summer Term 2005, Archaeological Laboratory for Graduates and Undergraduates. How to document an archaeological excavation using databases, vector drawing programs

Winter Term 2004/05, Archaeological Laboratory for Graduates and Undergraduates. How to document an archaeological excavation using databases, vector drawing programs.

Winter Terms 2004/05, Archaeological Laboratory for Graduates and Undergraduates. How to document an archaeological excavation using databases, vector drawing programs

Research Focuses

• Late Bronze Age and Iron Age periods in the Ancient Near East
• Material Culture and Group Identity, Migration theories
• Relationship between periphery and center in the Neo-Assyrian Empire and in the Hittite Kingdom
• Morphology and Functional Classes of Pottery
• Social Archaeology
• Architecture and architectural space
• Archaeology of Syria

Invited

papers

22^nd February 2020, Firenze, Exotic and Foreign: refusal and Appreciation of Micenaean Pottery in the Amuq between the LBA and the Iron Age, Le grandi isole del Mediterraneo: Rotte e legami tra Bronzo e Ferro, Tourisma.

21^st Mai 2019, Bern, The Iron Age in Northern Levant, SGOA conference Bern

March 30^th- April 3^rd, 2019, Ascona, Networks/Modes of communication and knowledge transfer, In Search of the Neo-Hittites

29-30^th March 2019, Istanbul, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, 29 Marzo. Il contatto tra popolazione locale e i cosiddetti popoli del mare nell’Amuq. 10 Edizione del Convegno, Contributo Italiano a scavi, ricerche e studi nelle missioni archeologiche in Turchia.

22-23^rd January 2019, Torino, Economic Decay and Urban Rebirth: the Archaeological Evidence from Chatal Höyük and Tell Atchana in the Amuq from the Mid-14th to the Mid-12th Century BC, in Anatolia between the 13th and the 12th Century b.C.E.

16-21^st June 2018, Ascona (Switzerland), 20^th June, The Iron Age I-II Material Culture in the Amuq: traditions, innovations and contacts. In Beyond all Boundaries: Anatolia in the 1st Millennium BC.

14-15 November 2015, Istanbul, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Searching for the Hittites in southeastern Anatolia: Zincirli and the Hittite material culture in the Symposium The Discovery of an Anatolian Empire.

10-12 June 2015, Antakya, Archaeological Museum, The Iron Age pottery horizon from Alalakh in Alalakh and its Neighbours

5 November 2013, CNR Roma, Carl Humann e gli scavi alla porta sud di Zincirli, in Scavi d’archivio: dalla storia dell’orientalistica alla storia delle idee.

31 May – 1 June 2010, Istanbul, Koç University, Symposium Across the Border: Late Bronze – Iron Age Relations between Syria and Anatolia, The Late Bronze – Iron Age levels from Chatal Höyük in the Amuq

23 January 2008 ,Chicago, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Brown Bag Lecture, The Chatal Höyük Project

13-15 Maggio 2005, Heidelberg, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Forschungskolloquium Constructing Power, Architecture, Ideology and Social Practice, Enclosing Open Spaces

Organized Conferences

November 2019, Archaeology of Roads, International Conference held at the Università degli Studi di Firenze. Organized with dr. Tuna Kalayci

17-06-2018 al 21-06-2018, Ascona, with dr. Sebastiano Soldi. International Workshop: Political Boundaries and Cultural Contacts during the Iron Age in South-east Anatolia: Cilicia, Amuq and the Karasu valley. Beyond all Boundaries: Anatolia in the 1st Millennium BC.

14-16 January 2015, Late Bronze Age Ceramic Identities, International Conference at the Università degli Studi di Firenze. Organized with dr. Fabrizio Venturi

20 November 2014, with L. Welton (Vancouver) Workshop “The passage from the Iron I to Iron II periods in Northern Levant (ASOR)

Conference Papers

2018, 8 September, Barcelona, Late Bronze Age Resistance and Iron Age Acceptance of Mycenaean Influences in Northern Levant: Chatal Höyük in the Amuq, 24th EAA Annual Meeting, 5-8 September 2018

2018, Ascona (Switzerland), 20 Giugno, The Iron Age I-II Material Culture in the Amuq: traditions, innovations and contacts. In Beyond all Boundaries: Anatolia in the 1st Millennium BC.

2018, 7 September, Barcelona, The Shirin Initiative: Past, Present and Future, at the 24^th EAA Annual Meeting, 5-8 September 2018

2016, 29th April, Wien, Discussant at the Workshop Formation, Transformation and Development of Iron Age Societies, at the 10th International Congress of Archaeology of the Ancient Near East

2015, 18-21 November, Atlanta, ASOR Annual Meeting, together with Dr. M. Horowitz e Prof. R. Kohl, title: New Horizons: The Iron Age Sequence at Tell Atchana – Alalakh

2014, 19-22 November, San Diego, ASOR Annual Meeting title: The Iron I to Iron II Transition at Chatal Höyük : from Eclecticism to Standardization

2013, 20-23 November, Baltimore, ASOR Annual Meeting title: Testing the Canon of Ancient Near Eastern Art and Archaeology in Syria

2012, 14-17 November, Chicago, ASOR Annual Meeting title: Giving Meaning to Material Culture: the case of Chatal Höyük in the Amuq

2012, 4 May, Warsaw, 8^th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, title: Chatal Höyük in the Amuq during the Iron Age

2008, 7 May, Roma, 6^th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, title: The Chatal Höyük Publication Project

2006, 6 April, Madrid, 5th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, title: The Neo-Assyrian residences of Tell Shekh Hamad

2004, 3 April, Berlin, 4th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, title: Visual communication of Architecture: the Syro-Hittite Town of Zincirli

International Agreements

(Responsible)

Since 2017, International Agreement between the University of Firenze and the University of Art at Isfahan (Iran). Joint research on the Archaeology of the Iron Age in northern Iran. In 2018 we underwent a joint trip to the areas of Ziwiye and Tabriz, visited together the ICAR in Teheran and visited the University of Isfahan.

Since 2018, International Agreement between the University of Firenze and the Tishreen University at Latakye (Syria). Joint research on cultural Heritage preservation in northern Syria. Joint Visit in November 2019

Since 2015, International Agreement between the University of Firenze and the Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Universitesi di Hatay (Turkey). Joint research project on the archaeology of the Amuq region, summer excavations since 2015 to 2019