THE RESEARCH TEAM ON MARITIME AND UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY
WHO WE ARE
CARLO BELTRAME
Professor
is Associated professor at Ca’ Foscari University and is Affiliated professor at the University of Haifa.
Since 2001 he has been teaching Maritime Archaeology and he has coordinated the first master in Maritime History and Archaeology in Italy. He is specialized mainly in ship construction from Antiquity to modern age and he is interested on methodology in maritime archaeology, on management and valorization of the underwater cultural heritage and in the traffics in Antiquity.
Since 2001 to 2012 he has been directing the training-excavation on the shipwreck of the brick Mercurio sunk off Punta Tagliamento in 1812; he collaborated with a Croatian mission of excavation on Medieval wrecks in the island of Mljet and he has directed a project of documentation and study of cargoes of marble of Roman age in southern and central Italy. He is coordinating two Interreg. Italy-Croatia projects, UNDERWATERMUSE and ARCA ADRIATICA, about the promotion respectively of the underwater archaeological sites and of the traditional nautical heritage of the Adriatic. He is member of the editorial boards of the journals Rivista di Archeologia, L'archeologo subacqueo, Scienze e ricerche, Annals of Archaeology and Journal of Marine Science Research.
ELISA COSTA
Research Fellow
is a research fellow in Methodologies for Archaeological Research at Ca' Foscari University.
In last ten years has dealt mainly with maritime and nautical archaeology, with particular interest in shipbuilding and archaeological survey with 3D digital techniques for the documentation, study, and dissemination of the archaeological heritage.
She has held a PhD in Storia delle Arti, an Interateneum doctorate Ca' Foscari University and Iuav University of Venice, with a thesis on Digital survey techniques for documentation, study and public fruition of wooden shipwreck"; she has graduated with a Master Degree in Archaeology and Conservation of Cultural Heritage and he has attended a Master in "Maritime Archaeology" at Ca 'Foscari University of Venice.
She participated as a Post-doc at two Interreg projects Italy-Croatia ARCA ADRIATICA and UNDERWATERMUSE, for the protection, promotion and touristic valorisation of Adriatic maritime heritage and Immersive Underwater Museum Experience for a wider inclusion.
She currently partecipate at the project PNRR CHANGES Spoke 1 Historical Landscapes, Traditions and Cultural Identities.
VALENTINA MANTONVANI
Post-Doc Research Fellow
is a Post-Doctoral Researcher graduated in Padua with a thesis on the terra sigillata with stamps from roman excavation in “via Retratto”, in Adria (RO). She obtained a Master at the same
University with a thesis on plane terra sigillata and a PhD in archaeological sciences on black gloss ware, thin-walled pottery and mould-made sigillata.
She is a specialist on Roman fine tableware pottery and has been dealing with issues related to the production and trade of “instrumentum domesticum” in the Po Valley area for about twenty years, with a focus on Regio X and social and economic relations with Noriucum,
Dalmatia and Pannonia.
She is the author of a monography on the Roman fine pottery of Adria, Roman lamps from the Magdalensberg emporium. She is also the editor of volumes on the archaeological investigations at the Roman Temple of Nora and in the “Domus delle Bestie ferite”, as well as numerous scientific papers.
She has been collaborating for several years with the Archaeological Park Magdalensberg (AT) and the Institute of Archaeology in Zagreb (HR) as a "Researcher" in the projects "Life on the Roman road: communications, trade and identities on roman roads in Croatia from 1st - 8th ce" uip-05- 2017-9768, project funded by Hrvatska Zaklada za Znanost (Croatian Science Foundation).
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ALESSANDRA FORTI
PhD Student
has been dealing with Archaeobotany for more than 15 years, ranging in different chronological and cultural contexts, from prehistory to the Middle Ages.
Graduated in Pisa, she attended for her thesis the Laboratory of Archaeobotany and Paleoecology of the University of Lecce, directed by Prof. G. Fiorentino. Afterwards she had a scholarship within the Graduiertenkolleg, "Paläoökosystemforschung und Geschichte", at the University of Regensburg, Germany, which allowed her to attend the Laboratory of Palynology, of the University of Padua, directed by Prof. A. Miola and a course of wood anatomy, held by Prof. H.F. Schweingruber, at the Faculty of Biology of the University of Regensburg.
From 2006- 2008 she was an adjunct professor of Archaeobotany at Ca' Foscari University of Venice and later, from 2011 to 2020, an adjunct professor for the Laboratory of Archaeobotany, also at Ca' Foscari.
She is currently PhD student in an inter-university program with the University of Ca' Foscari, University of Udine, and the University of Trieste, with a project that concern green and sustainability issues referring paleoenvironmental investigations on plant remains from archaeological lagoon contexts.
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ELISABETTA ROSATTI
PhD Student
is a PhD student in Heritage Science, a national doctoral program coordinated by Sapienza-University of Rome. In this context, she won a scholarship in Global History and Archaeology of the Landscapes led by University of Bari.
After a bachelor’s degree in Classical Literature (2019), she obtained a master’s degree in Ancient Civilisations at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice (2021) with a thesis on Roman fluvial ports.
In the last years, she has taken part in different archaeological excavations and lab activities, enhancing her skills in both desk and field-based work.
For her doctoral research, she currently studies fluvial-maritime ports in the Roman Adriatic region focusing especially on the organisation and functioning of these facilities, together with prof. Giuliano Volpe and Carlo Beltrame as tutors of the project.
CARLOTTA LUCARINI
PhD Student
graduated in Palethnology at University of Florence, she began to specialize in the field of maritime and underwater archaeology with a master's degree in Naval and Maritime History and Heritage at the University of Murcia (Spain), with a thesis on the underwater site of Nido del Cuervo (Aguilas). She has held a master's degree at the University of Naples L'Orientale with a thesis on coastal communities and underwater archaeology of the Amalfi Coast. In the last years, she has participated in various underwater excavations for Italian and international University projects. She is currently PhD student in Archaeology at the University of Murcia in co-tutorship with the doctoral program in Sciences of Antiquity at Ca' Foscari University in Venice. Her thesis is co-directed by Prof. Sebastian Ramallo and Prof. Carlo Beltrame and is focused on the dynamics of occupation of lagoonal areas in the central-western Mediterranean and on the techniques and methodologies of investigation in lagoon environments.
CATERINA TOMIZZA
PhD Student
after a bachelor’s degree in Conservation of Cultural Heritage and Performing Arts Management, she proceeded her studies at Ca’Foscari University of Venice attending a master’s degree in Ancient Civilizations with a thesis on the maritime circulation of ceramic building materials in the Central-Western Mediterranean of Roman period. In the last years she had the opportunity to participate in different on-land and underwater excavations in Italy and abroad, where she has been involved in an international exchange program in the Department of Maritime Civilizations of Haifa University. She is currently a PhD student from the doctoral program in Sciences of Antiquity at Ca’Foscari University of Venice and her project, under the supervision of Prof. Carlo Beltrame, concerns the production and the maritime circulation of rooftiles in the Roman Mediterranean, with a particular interest for the archaeometrical studies on these materials, the reconstructive studies of the vessels involved in their distribution and the methodological proposals for the management and systematization of archaeological data.
NADIA MARGRETHE ANDERSEN
Erasmus +
Is specialised in field archaeology and is carrying out an internship at Ca’ Foscari University under the direction of Prof. Carlo Beltrame and Dott. Elisa Costa. With an interest in researching the
networks of the lagoon, using the methodologies of Network Analysis, she is establishing the connections of the Roman period using evidence from current and previous excavations of the
lagoon and Veneto region. She holds a master’s degree in Field Archaeology on Land and Under the Sea from the University of Cyprus (2023) and a bachelor’s degree in Classical Archaeology from Aarhus University (2020). Both theses focused on using digital archaeology with applied Network
Analysis on the Uluburun shipwreck and GIS for stratigraphical analysis of the Forum of Caesar in Rome. Throughout her studies she has participated in various excavations and surveys on land and under the sea in Italy, Cyprus, and Greece.