Research: Southern Sicily in the Middle and Late Bronze Age and the dynamics of interaction with Nuragic Sardinia: archaeometric investigations of pottery from the site of Cannatello (AG)
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
November 2025 – ongoing: Research period at the National Centre for Scientific Research “Demokritos” – Athens
Supervisor: Prof. Peter M. Day
8–9 September 2025: European Meeting on Ancient Ceramics (EMAC) 2025 Summer School – Bilbao
2019/20 – 2021/22: “Sapienza” University of Rome
Master's degree in Archaeology LM-2 with a grade of 110/110 cum laude
Dissertation in Methodology of Archaeological Research entitled "
Procurement of raw materials and manufacture of Neolithic and Copper Age pottery from the site of Ogliastretto, San Demetrio Corone (CS). Macroscopic and petrographic analysis of ceramic pastes."
Supervisor Professor Alessandro Vanzetti
Co-supervisors Dr. Valentina Cannavò, Dr. Giovanna Verbicaro.
August – September 2022: University of Modena and Reggio Emilia
Training on thin section petrographic description and analysis of archaeological ceramics for thesis research activities, at the optical petrography laboratory of the Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences under the supervision of Dr. Valentina Cannavò.
November 15th 2021: "Sapienza" University of Rome
Examination achievement (EX ART. 6) 1052074 Petrography and laboratory of stone materials (cfu 12) at the course of Technologies for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage, Faculty of Mathematical, Physical, Natural Sciences: Petrography (GEO/07) Laboratory of stone materials (GEO/09) with grade 30/30 cum laude.
September 21st 2021:"Sapienza" University of Rome
Examination achievement (EX ART. 6) 1052132 Mineralogy and diffractometry laboratory (cfu 9) at the course of Technologies for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage, Faculty of Mathematical, Physical, Natural Sciences: Mineralogy (GEO/06) Diffractometry laboratory (CHIM/03) with grade 30/30 cum laude.
September 2021: University of Modena and Reggio Emilia
Training on the description and thin section petrographic analysis of archaeological ceramics at the optical petrography laboratory of the Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences under the supervision of Dr. Valentina Cannavò.
2015/16 – 2018/19: "Federico II" University of Naples Bachelor's degree in Archaeology and History of the Arts with a grade of 110/110 cum
laude Dissertation in Prehistory and Protohistory entitled "Grotta Petrosa (Palmi). Local and Aegean-type pottery of the Bronze Age."
Supervisor Professor Marco Pacciarelli.
February – June 2018: Coimbra University (Portugal)
Attendance to the Erasmus+ program with achievement of the exams stipulated in the Learning Agreement during the Third academic year, II semester, of the Bachelor of Arts in Archaeology and History at the "Federico II" University of Naples.
CONFERENCE PAPERS
10–12 September 2025: 17th European Meeting on Ancient Ceramics (EMAC) – Bilbao
Poster contribution, Topic #T1 Raw Materials and Provenance Studies
Donatella Serino, Flavia Palazzini, Elisa Pizzuti, “Technological Traditions of Bronze Age Impasto Pottery at Torre Castelluccia (Apulia, Southern Italy): A Comparative Study of Domestic and Funerary Contexts”
20–21 February 2025: Ceramic Petrology Group – Annual Meeting CPG@UNIPD 2025
Oral contribution
Donatella Serino, Alessandro Vanzetti, Valentina Cannavò, Sara Marino, “Resource Procurement and Paste Preparation at Ogliastretto (CS): A Quantitative Approach to the Petrographic Analysis of Pottery and Raw Materials”
28–31 August 2024: 30th European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) Annual Meeting – Rome, Italy
Oral contribution, Session #1065 Advances in the Study of Ancient Pottery: Bringing Social Archaeology and Digital Archaeology Together
Donatella Serino, Alessandro Vanzetti, Sara Marino & Valentina Cannavò, “Integrating Ceramic Petrography and Digital Image Analysis: Investigating Paste Preparation Methods and Resource Procurement at Ogliastretto (CS)”
19–21 February 2024: 11th Seminar of the Sapienza Doctoral School in Archaeology (SSDA Sapienza) – Rome
Poster presentation, Session Material Culture
Donatella Serino, “An Interdisciplinary Archaeometric Approach to the Study of Indigenous and Nuragic Pottery from Cannatello (AG): Research Questions and Methodological Issues”
August 30 – September 2 2023: 29th European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) Annual Meeting – Belfast Northen Ireland
Accepted abstract for an oral paper, Session #237 Pottery Beyond Typology. Prehistoric Vessel Biographies in the Domestic Sphere
Donatella Serino, Flavia Palazzini & Elisa Pizzuti “Designed for life or death? Pottery Characterization study to assess cultural dynamics at the Bronze Age site of Torre Castelluccia”.
June 14-16 2023: 16th European Meeting on Ancient Ceramics (EMAC) – Pisa Accepted abstract for an oral paper, Session #S3 Raw material ecologies and Provenance. Donatella Serino, Valentina Cannavò, Giuseppe Ferraro, Giovanna Verbicaro, Sara Tiziana Levi, Alessandro Vanzetti & Sara Marino. “Neolithic and Chalcolithic pottery from Ogliastretto (Italy): assessing raw materials procurement and paste preparation by petrographic analysis”.
FELLOWSHIPS
June 7 2023: Award of Junior Research Activity Grant (BS-J 020/2022) for "Macroscopic and Petrographic Study of ceramic pastes" (Department of Sciences of Antiquity, "Sapienza" University of Rome). Research activity to be carried out: Macroscopic study, at low magnification, of ceramic pastes from Cannatello (AG), selection of finds for petrographic sampling, sampling.
EXPERIENCES OF ACADEMIC RESEARCH COLLABORATION
February 2022 – ongoing: Macroscopic study of ceramic pastes by lens and portable digital microscope, sample selection and sampling at Soprintendenza Nazionale per il Patrimonio Culturale Subacqueo (Taranto, Italy). Petrographic analysis of ceramics in thin section at Laboratory of Technological and Functional Analyses of Prehistoric Artefacts (LTFAPA), “Sapienza” University of Rome. Avvio alla Ricerca Project "Composition and manufacture of impasto pottery from the protohistoric site of Torre Castelluccia (Pulsano, TA): study of technological aspects of ceramic production through macroscopic and advanced archaeometric analysis"
Principal Investigator PhD candidate Elisa Pizzuti (“Sapienza” University of Rome).
EXPERIENCES OF ACADEMIC EXCAVATION
January-February 2026: Archaeological excavation at the Bronze Age site of Cannatello, San Leone (AG), Sicily.
Principal Investigator Prof. Alessandro Vanzetti (“Sapienza” University of Rome)
June 2025: Participation in the Sediment Flotation Campaign at the Bronze Age site of Cannatello (AG).
Principal Investigator, Prof. Alessandro Vanzetti ("Sapienza" University of Rome).
January-march 2025: Archaeological excavation at the Bronze Age site of Cannatello, San Leone (AG), Sicily.
Principal Investigator Prof. Alessandro Vanzetti (“Sapienza” University of Rome)
January-march 2024: Archaeological excavation at the Bronze Age site of Cannatello, San Leone (AG), Sicily.
Principal Investigator Prof. Alessandro Vanzetti (“Sapienza” University of Rome)
June-July 2023: Participation in the Archaeological Excavation Campaign at the Bronze Age and Medieval site of San Vincenzo, Stromboli (ME).
Principal Investigator, Prof. Sara Tiziana Levi (Hunter College, CUNY, NY and University of Modena and Reggio Emilia).
June 2023: Participation in the Sediment Flotation Campaign at the Bronze Age site of Cannatello (AG).
Principal Investigator, Prof. Alessandro Vanzetti ("Sapienza" University of Rome).
January 2023: Archaeological excavation at the Bronze Age site of Cannatello, San Leone (AG), Sicily.
Principal Investigator Prof. Alessandro Vanzetti (“Sapienza” University of Rome)
January 2022: Archaeological excavation at the Bronze Age site of Cannatello, San Leone (AG), Sicily.
Principal Investigator Prof. Alessandro Vanzetti (“Sapienza” University of Rome)
November – December 2021: Archaeological materials cataloguing from the Bronze Age site of Cannatello, San Leone (AG), Sicily.
Principal Investigator Prof. Alessandro Vanzetti (“Sapienza” University of Rome)
July 2021: Archaeological excavation at the Pre-historic and Proto-historic cave of Battifratta (RI), Principal Investigator Prof. Cecilia Conati Barbaro (“Sapienza” University of Rome)
January – March 2021: Digitization of excavation documentation from the Bronze Age site of Cannatello, San Leone (AG), Sicily.
Principal Investigator Prof. Alessandro Vanzetti (“Sapienza” University of Rome)
September 2020: Archaeological excavation at the Bronze Age site of Arcevia, (AN).
Principal Investigator Prof. Andrea Cardarelli (“Sapienza” University of Rome)
February 2020: Archaeological excavation at the Bronze Age site of Cannatello, San Leone (AG),
Sicily.
Principal Investigator Prof. Alessandro Vanzetti (“Sapienza” University of Rome)
September 2019: Archaeological survey at Vulci (VT)
Principal Investigator Prof. Marco Pacciarelli (“Federico II” University of Naples)
August 2019: Archaeological excavation at the Pre-roman/Roman site of Pietrabbondante (IS)
Principal Investigator Prof. Adriano La Regina (National Institution of Archaeology and History of Art, INASA)
July 2018: Archaeological excavation at the Proto-historic and Archaic site of Poggio Sermugnano, Sermugnano (VT)
Principal Investigator Prof. Marco Pacciarelli