Research: Domestic Spaces in the Central-Western Mediterranean between the 9th and 3rd Century BC: Specificities, Persistences, and Transformations in the Residential Contexts of the Indigenous, Phoenician, and Punic Worlds
Academic Background
In July 2022, I obtained a Master’s degree in Archaeology, with a focus on the Oriental curriculum, from the University of Rome La Sapienza. I defended a thesis entitled "Domestic Architecture in Western Sicily between the 8th and 4th Century BC" and graduated with top honors (110/110 cum laude).
In the same year, I began my PhD in Archaeology at Sapienza, within the Oriental curriculum, with a research project entitled "Domestic Spaces in the Central-Western Mediterranean between the 9th and 3rd Century BC: Specificities, Persistences, and Transformations in the Residential Contexts of the Indigenous, Phoenician, and Punic Worlds." My research focuses on the analysis of domestic contexts from both an archaeological perspective—through architecture, building techniques, and materials—and a social perspective, with the aim of deepening our understanding of daily life and domestic dynamics. Specifically, I investigate the differences and similarities between the dwellings of the indigenous populations of the Mediterranean during the Iron Age, the Archaic, and Classical periods, and those of the Phoenician and later Punic communities, who settled in the Central-Western Mediterranean while carrying a Semitic-based housing tradition.
Fieldwork Experience
My fieldwork experience began in 2017 with excavation activities as part of the archaeological mission at the foot of the Palatine Hill in Rome. From 2018 to 2025, I have participated and continue to be a member of Sapienza’s archaeological mission at Motya, taking part annually in month-long excavation campaigns. My responsibilities include excavation, artifact analysis, documentation, drawing, and classification of ceramic materials, including Phoenician and Punic productions, as well as those from the Late Antique and Islamic periods.
Since 2021, I have been involved in the archaeological mission at the Punic-Roman sanctuary of Ras Il-Wardija on the island of Gozo (Malta), within the Grandi Scavi research and funding program. In 2022, I participated in a reconnaissance campaign on Gozo as part of the Ras il-Wardija Project.
In June 2023, I took part in excavations at the Phoenician-Punic necropolis of Dermech in Carthage.
In 2024, I participated in the excavation campaign at the Nuraghe S'Uraki, as part of a research project investigating the interactions between the Nuragic civilization and the Phoenician world. In October of the same year, I took part in the excavation of the necropolis of Ses Covetes on the island of Menorca.
Academic and Research Activities
I have contributed two essays as part of the PRIN2017 research project People of the Middle Sea.
In 2022, I carried out a three-month independent research assignment, focusing on the classification, documentation, and editing of ceramic and non-ceramic materials from the sanctuary of Ras il-Wardija (Gozo). Additionally, I worked on organizing the archival materials of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Gozo (1964-1967).
In 2024, I spent a visiting period at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, collaborating with the research group GRACME (Grup de Recerca d'Arqueologia Mediterrània).
Conferences and Seminars
February 2-4, 2023, University of Udine – XXIV Symposium on Mediterranean Archaeology
Presentation of the paper "Housing in the Iron Age Mediterranean. Phoenician’s Ways of Inhabiting from the Levant to Sicily."
November 23-25, 2023, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice – International Conference Writing and Religious Traditions in the Ancient Western Mediterranean
Presentation of the poster "The Sanctuary of Astarte at Ras il-Wardija in Gozo between Carthage and Rome."
(Co-authors: Federica Spagnoli, Giuliana Bonanno, Tecla Zucchi)
February 19-24, 2024, Sapienza University of Rome – Doctoral School Seminar in Archaeology
Presentation of the paper "Domestic Spaces in Punic, Greek, and Indigenous Cities of Western Sicily in the 5th Century BC."
August 28-30, 2024, Rome – EEA 30th Annual Meeting
Presentation of the paper "The History of the 'House of the Domestic Shrine': A Fifth-Century BC House in Western Sicily (Motya). Domestic Space, Activities, and People."
November 24, 2024, participation in the seminar "More than a Feeling: Ritual through Sensorial Archaeology"
Presentation of the paper "The Glowing Cave: Reconsidering Paths, Ritual Activities, and Perceptions at the Sun-Lit Cave Sanctuary of Astarte at Ras il-Wardija, Gozo." (Co-authored with Federica Spagnoli)