Researcher unique identifier: ORCID 0000-0003-3844-9009
www.unibo.it/sitoweb/elisabetta.govi; https://unibo.academia.edu/elisabettagovi.
Full Professor in Etruscology and Italic Archaeology (ARCH-01/C - Civilization of pre-Roman Italy and Etruscology). He teaches Etruscology and Italian Archaeology in the study courses of the University of Bologna (Three-year degree, Master's degree, School of Specialization in Archaeological Heritage).
Academic position
Since 2016, Full Professor of Italic Etruscology and Archaeology, University of Bologna
2010-2015 Associate Professor of Italic Etruscology and Archaeology, University of Bologna
2000-2010 Researcher in Italic Etruscology and Archaeology, University of Bologna
2000: Eligibility for the official competition at the Civic Archaeological Museum of Bologna; eligibility for the official competition at the Superintendency for Archaeological Heritage.
Educational qualifications
1998: PhD in Etruscology, University of Padua
1994: Diploma in the School of Specialization in Archaeological Heritage, University of Bologna
1991: Degree in Classics, University of Bologna Scholarships
1999-2000: Two-year postdoc at ' University of Bologna
1998-1999: Annual scholarship at the Civic Archaeological Museum of Bologna
1994: annual scholarship, Municipality of Marzabotto (Bologna)
Academic teaching
2000-: Teachings at the various educational levels (Bachelor's, Master's and Specialization School) of Italic Etruscology and Archaeology, Etruscan Epigraphy.
She has been a supervisor and co-supervisor of numerous degree, School of Specialization and PhD theses.
Institutional posts
2013-2018 Head of the Archaeology Section of the Department of History Cultures Civilizations
2013-2018 Member of the Research Commission of the Department of History, Cultures and Civilizations
2019-2025 Director of the School of Specialization in Archaeological Heritage.
2019-2025 Editor of Ocnus magazine. Notebooks of the School of Specialization in Archaeological Heritage
2014- Director of the Marzabotto excavation (Regio I, insula 4).
2006-2014 Member of the teaching staff of the PhD program at the University of Padua.
2015-2025 Member of the teaching staff of the PhD program at the University of Bologna in Historical and Archaeological Sciences. Memory, civilization and heritage.
2025 - Member of the teaching staff of the Doctoral School in Archaeology of Sapienza University of Rome
2021- Member of the Department Board.
Full member of the Institute of Etruscan and Italic Studies and of the steering committee of the Member Institute of the Academy of Sciences and Letters of Bologna
Member of the Municipal Commission of Chiusi Member of the Scientific Committee of the Archaeological Park of Cerveteri and Tarquinia
Member of the scientific committee of Bononia University Press and several journals and editorial series
Vice President of the Council for the Archaeology of Pre-Roman Italy (CAIP)
Member and Secretary of the Board of the Federation of Archaeological Consultations
Research themes
Among the main lines of scientific research, Etruscan urban planning and architecture are of significant importance in relation to archaeological investigations in the city of Marzabotto, which he has directed since 2014. The study focuses on architectural categories within a broader context of experiences gained in Etruria, and the excavation of House 1 of the R. IV, 2 of Marzabotto provided elements for reflection on domestic typologies. The discovery of the great urban sanctuary (R. I, 4-
5), which houses two temples, then opened up new research perspectives on temple architecture and allowed for the development of a specific focus on the archaeology of the rite.
Another important line of research concerns the archaeology of death in Po Valley Etruria and the systematic study of the funeral ritual of different contexts, starting with the burial ground of the Certosa di Bologna.
Over the years, the topic has been enriched by new areas of investigation in the Etruscan-Padian territory, including large necropolises, such as that of Valle Trebba di Spina. Today, it is possible to establish a comprehensive analysis of the funerary reality at a regional scale, based on an extraordinarily rich database. A privileged area of research is constituted by the funerary sculptures of Bologna from the 5th-4th century BC, which have been subjected to a systematic analysis for several years that touches
multiple aspects of the etrusco-padane culture, from the original elaboration of a figurative language in which etrusco-tyrrenic and greek models intertwine, to the definition of the codes of social self-representation of the community. Funerary archaeology has developed a line of research dedicated to childhood archaeology, which aims to map and better understand the phenomenon in Etruria and pre-Roman Italy.
Cultural and commercial relations affecting Po Valley Etruria have also been investigated with a focus on vascular imports from both the Greek world and Tyrrhenian Etruria, with particular attention to ceramic classes, such as Attic black-glazed production and Etruscan figurative production.
The spread of Etruscan writing in the Po Valley and the reconstruction of the region's epigraphic framework have long been research topics explored with a contextual approach and systematic study.
He is the director of the following research projects:
• Kainua-Marzabotto Project: The project concerns the urban planning and architecture of the city, artisanal production, sacred forms and l'epigraphy. In addition to the excavation, first of House 1 and now of the urban sacred area, the project aims at the systematic study of the documentation and materials of the v and materials from old excavations with the aim of recomposing a cognitive framework at the city scale. In more recent years, with the project “Kainua Project”, the activity of data recovery and philological reconstruction of contexts has translated into the virtual reconstruction of the city in augmented reality.
She is the editor of the Kainua publishing series.
• EOS (Etruscans on the Sea): The Adriatic emporiums of Spina and Adria are investigated through the perspective of necropolises, for a total of approximately 2,500 tombs (5th-2nd century BC). Since 2008, the Valle Trebba necropolis has been under study and is soon to be published. He was scientific director of the project involving the University of Bologna in the Interreg Italy-Croatia VALUE project, signed in 2017 with local authorities and institutions and aimed at the study and valorization of Spina. In 2022-2023 she was a member of the scientific committee of the Centenary of the Discovery of Spina, Spina100, participating in the activities of valorization and dissemination of the Etruscan heritage of the site.
• Felsina Project: Starting from her doctoral thesis on the Certosa necropolis, she devoted herself to the study of the funeral ritual of Bologna in all its manifestations and implications. The study of the funerary objects and the monumental stone sculpture allows us to investigate the commercial and cultural relations that the city maintains with l'Etruria and with the Greek world, the ritual and religious practices and the social and political structure of the city. He coordinates the study of necropolar sectors of the city and founded the Felsina publishing series, whose first product is the ' complete edition of the De Luca-Battistini necropolis by G. Morpurgo.
• BIRTH. Archaeology of Childhood in Pre-Roman Italy. The project investigates all the archaeological manifestations of childhood in Italy in the first millennium BC. The first outcome of the project is the 2021 edition of the collective work, in 2 volumes, which will be followed shortly by the launch of the BIRTH database for mapping infant burials.
List of publications
https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/elisabetta.govi/pubblicazioni
Museum exhibitions and displays
He has collaborated as a member of the scientific committee with conservation bodies and various museums in the region, and beyond, participating over the years in museum and exhibition design projects: ongoing: new design of the National Etruscan Museum “P. Aria” by Marzabotto; new installation of the Archaeological Museum of Sarsina
2023 “Etruscan Thorn at Villa Giulia. A Large Port in the Mediterranean”, National Etruscan Museum, Rome
2022 “Etruscan Thorn: A Large Port in the Mediterranean”, National Archaeological Museum of Ferrara
2019-2020 "Etruscans. Journey to the Land of Rasna", Civic Archaeological Museum of Bologna
2014 "The Journey Beyond Life. The Etruscans and l'Afterlife", City Museum, Bologna
2013: Permanent installation of the Etruscan rooms, Museum of the History of the City, Bologna
2000: “Etruscan Principles between the Mediterranean and Europe”, Civic Archaeological Museum, Bologna
2000: Permanent installation “The Etruscan Liver of Piacenza”, Palazzo Farnese, Piacenza
1991-1993: Permanent exhibition on ancient ceramics,International Museum of Ceramics, Faenza
1991: “The Etruscans among all peoples are the most religious”, Civic Museum of Modena