Phd in PHD SCHOOL OF ARCHAEOLOGY

email: mariacristina.biella@uniroma1.it
phone:
building: Facoltà di Lettere
room: Studio di Etruscologia e Antichità Italiche

I am currently a “Ricercatore a Tempo Determinato” in the field of Etruscan Studies and the Archaeology of pre-Roman Italy (ssd L-Ant/06) at the Sapienza Università di Roma.
After my first PhD in Etruscan Archaeology at the Sapienza Università di Roma (2005), I developed my postdoctoral experience at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg (2007), at the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut (Rome and Berlin, 2008-2009), at the Fondation Hardt pour l’Etude de l’Antiquité Classique (Geneva, 2008-2009) and at the Istituto Nazionale di Studi Etruschi e Italici (Florence, 2009-2010). I then began a second PhD at the University of Southampton (2011-).
I am a Research Fellow of the British School at Rome (2011-) and I was an Honorary Lecturer at University College London (History Department).

Main Research Interests
I have been working especially in the domain of Etruscan archaeology and the archaeology of pre-Roman Italy, including research on South Etruria, the Faliscan and Capenate regions, Abruzzo and South Latium from the eighth century BC to the first century BC, and in particular I worked on the following subjects:
The diachronic development and organization of pre-Roman cities. I have been working in detail on a case study of Falerii Veteres(Civita Castellana, VT), adopting a holistic approach that took into consideration all the different aspects of the ancient city, considered especially in the light of the development of the relations between the public and private spheres.
The delicate relation between archaeological and historical sources in the reconstruction of pre-Roman Italy. In this respect I founded, in collaboration with Italian and Swiss colleagues, the project “E pluribus unum? Italy from the pre-Roman fragmentation to the Augustan Unity”. (https://www.unige.ch/lettres/antic/italia-antica/accueil/, 2011-2018). This project aims at a critical reading of the relations between the two datasets mentioned, in the period from the eighth century BC to the Roman Imperial period.
The visual culture of the Orientalizing period in the Italian peninsula and in Etruscan and Italic Orientalizing-period pottery productions, with particular regard to the so-called impasto ware. Starting from this research I have addressed more general socio-economic issues, such as those connected to the production and consumption of these artefacts, and the social role of the artisans in ancient pre-Roman Italy.

I am currently working also on bronze votive productions of the Hellenistic period in central inland Italy, with the aim of recognizing the different local and regional ateliers and of understanding their economic impact in the ancient sanctuaries in which those objects were dedicated.