Kent-Berlin Ostia Excavations

Luke is co-director of the project. He is a lecturer in archaeology at the University of Kent, specialising in the late antique period. He was educated at Oxford, Durham and Nottingham, and undertook post-doctoral work in France, Germany, Turkey and Belgium. He is particularly interested in the use of everyday life and space in the late antique city and studies this using a combination of archaeological, textual and epigraphic evidence. He also enjoys industrial archaeology and has a project in his home town of Tottington near Manchester. His favourite archaeological discovery was the late Roman market stall at Sagalassos where, despite no stratigraphy, he was able to show many features of everyday life. In his spare time Luke enjoys editing endless piles of articles, making lists, walking, reading Asterix, and eating a lot of cakes.  www.kent.ac.uk/secl/classics/staff/LukeLavan/

Axel is co-director of the project. He was born in Munich, Germany, which is also where he undertook his academic studies. He currently teaches at the Humboldt University in Berlin, a post he took up around 8 years ago. His main interest lies in the study of urbanism. This initially focused on the early imperial Roman period but he has now moved on to specialise in the late antique period. He also enjoys studying Greek sculpture. His favourite archaeological find was the discovery of the street blockings at Ostia, a very important phenomenon which had previously gone unnoticed prior to his research. In his spare time he enjoys deep water diving, particularly around the Red Sea and the Maldives, as well as sailing and skiing.

Kelly is responsible for implementing the recording system. She is a professional archaeologist working for LP Archaeology in London (www.lparchaeology.com). However, she has kindly taken a three weeks off work in order to help with the documentation of the site. She undertook her BA in Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Exeter and then followed it up with a Masters Degree at Royal Holloway in Classical Art and Archaeology. Her particular interests lie in Roman Imperial building programs, the topography of ancient Rome, the historic built environment and excavation techniques and methodologies. Kelly also has a great interest in the archaeology and history of the British Isles which she explores extensively through her work in London. Kelly is an avid supporter of Plymouth Argyle Football Club, enjoys sport in general, enjoys good food, good wine and good company and has travelled extensively around the Mediterranean and North Africa. Her favourite place is Rome.

Helen Harrington, a Kent graduate in Classical and Archaeological Studies, is the Finds Supervisor. Her main archaeological interests include Early Medieval burial artefacts and the use of data from the spatial distribution of finds to interpret sites.  She has previously worked at Bradstowe School, Ringlemere, Lyminge, Javols in France and many others. During her time on site she mostly enjoys finds processing and teaching other students how to recognize artefacts. Her favourite discoveries include an unused Mesolithic hand axe at Ringlemere and a beautifully worked bone comb at Lyminge. Her hobbies include keeping up with her three lads, being a part-time Liverpool fan, cooking chocolate brownies and making quilts. She continues to develop a possibly fatal love of Italian ice cream.

Andy is the site surveyor. He graduated from the University of Kent with a BA in History and Archaeology. He used to work as an engineer in industry for 24 years, but decided enough was enough and made the tough decision to return to study. On site Andy works with a total station in order to plot a grid for us, and he is also the finds supervisor. He is particularly interested in the Iron Age, Anglo Saxon and Late Roman periods, especially when any kind of earthworks or prominent features such as ditches and land divisions are involved and then working out how they were done, and why. He was worked at Lyminge, Ringlemere, Chilton Farm and a Roman site near Folkestone. He has also surveyed a medieval earthworks and a stone chapel for English Heritage.

Richard, a University of Kent graduate in Classical and Archaeological Studies is undertaking both spolia survey and surface archaeology survey throughout the whole of Ostia. He is also in charge of updating, maintaining and writing for the blog.  His interests lie in Late Antiquity, particularly the transition perioid in Britain during the change from Roman to Anglo-Saxon occupation. Specific areas include death, burial and associated ritual and how and why the Saxons, adopted, adapted or rejected previous Roman practices. In his spare time he enjoys lots of computer games and reading Tolkien! He intends to undertake an M.A. in September ‘09.

Michael completed his doctorate at University College London on the late antique religious topography of the city of Rome and is now editor of the Late Antique Archaeology series. His interests lie in late antique urbanism in the West and ancient religion, more particularly ancient religious practice and belief and the use of secular and religious space and the interaction between the two. He would like to build on his current research with the use of the geographical information system (GIS). Michael is also a docent for Context Travel in London, and most recently Ostia, where he leads guided historical walks. His other interests include travelling, eating, cricket, repelling barbarians and unifying the empire.

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Elisabeth Pamberg is a doctoral candidate at University College London; her research concerns late Roman pottery in North Africa. She undertook her BA at Smith College (USA) and her MA at University College London. She has worked as Roman pottery specialist for MoLSS and has participated in numerous excavations throughout the Mediterranean.  Elisabeth enjoys watching Middle Eastern sunsets, discovering new places and experiencing different cultures.

New to the excavation this year, but definitely not new to excavating, is Jennie.  She will be in charge of teaching everyone how to excavate.  She graduated two and a half years ago from the University of Toronto with a BA in Anthropology, focusing on cultural anthropology and archaeology.  She is dedicated to being a professional generalist, a jack-of-all-trades.  She is employed by Archaeological Assessments Limited, a CRM company in Toronto, where she has worked on everything from small lithic scatters to large Iroquois villages.  Her favorite find was a 700 year old Iroquoian effigy pipe that looked exactly like Woody the Woodpecker.  She also practices close-up (cards and coin) magic, but assures us that this is never used for nefarious reasons.

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