Research
Sanctuaries
My primary research interest is in Greek sanctuaries and am particularly interested in the social dynamics of the people who made use of them—the bragging, the competition, the politicking, the manipulation of memories, and the creation of communities. I have especially been researching the role of sanctuaries in the identity formation processes of the diverse populations (settlers, conquerors, indigenous peoples, marginalized populations, enslaved communities, immigrants, refugees) inhabiting the region of Thessaly, which had many sanctuaries that are still understudied. My research on Thessalian sanctuaries will be published in a book (still in progress) entitled Sacred Space and Community Identity in Ancient Thessaly in Brill.
The Database of Religious History
I have been working as a postdoctoral research fellow for the Database of Religious History since 2021. The DRH is an online, open-access, qualitative-quantitative digital repository of information on the global history of religion from the beginning of human history to the present. Its data are gathered through Polls filled in by experts from across the globe and the ever-growing DRH dataset on the religious communities of the Mediterranean offers the potential for wide-reaching engagement and collaboration. As an Editor for the DRH, I oversee the entries for Ancient Greek and Roman religion.
Insiders and Outsiders in Ancient Thessaly
With my colleague, Adam Wiznura (University of Groningen), I am co-editing a volume dealing with intersections between the foreign and the local in Thessaly, a region traditionally approached as ethnically homogenous and conservative. The various contributors to the volume approach the topic from the prehistoric to the Byzantine periods and cover subjects such ranging from archaeology, history, religion, infrastructure, numismatics, urbanization, and mythology. Our contributors include Emma Aston, Robin Rönnlund, Edward Middleton, Myles Chykerda, Dafni Maikidou-Poutrinou and Ian Randall (as well as myself and Adam Wiznura).
Dialect and Identity
I am also a trained philologist with a background in linguistics and an endless love for phonology and Homer. I am fascinated by the various Greek dialects and spend a lot of my time pondering the various Thessalian dialects and their interplay with their group identities (to be featured in my book).
The Storage Wares of Kallithea
With Colette Kruyshaar (University of Amsterdam), I have been analyzing the pithoi and other large storage vessels from a large domestic structure (Building 10) at the site of Kastro Kallithea in Achaia Phthiotis. Building 10 contained a large pitheion (or room for pithoi) containing at least 10 pithoi dug into the floor and evidence for 17 individual pithoi (a very large storage capacity for a single house). The site also yielded many decorated storage vessels. By examining the materiality and functionality of these vessels, we aim to show a picture of the socio-economic implications of their presence in domestic contexts in the Hellenistic period.