A public lecture is planned for the end of June

JMA-Chair Marcella Frangipane

With the well-known Italian archaeologist Marcella Frangipane, another international colleague enriches the scientific work of ROOTS as Chair of the Johanna Mestorf Academy since mid-May.

Marcella Frangipane’s research focuses on the rise and early developments of hierarchical and unequal societies, the rise of centralised economies, bureaucracy, and the State in the ancient Near East, with particular reference to Mesopotamian and Anatolian environments. At the core of this research is the long-term excavation in Arslantepe, Anatolia, where she started to work in 1976. In 1990, she took over the direction of this benchmark project, leading it till 2019.

Besides her work in Anatolia, Marcella Frangipane has taught Prehistory and Protohistory of the Near and Middle East and Strategies and Methods of Archaeological Research at the Sapienza University of Rome for undergraduate, master and PhD degrees. She is the author of more than 180 publications in international journals and volumes, among which are five books.
In her latest book, Un frammento alla volta: Dieci lezioni dall'archeologia (One fragment at a time: Ten lessons from archaeology), she deals more generally with the question of what archaeology is about—not discovering individual treasures, but uncovering the roots of crucial phenomena and linking them to the present.

In addition, Marcella Frangipane has been, till 2018, the Editor in Chief of the journal Origini and the Series Studi di Preistoria Orientale (SPO), all published by the Sapienza University of Rome. She is the Editor of the monograph Series Arslantepe, where the final results of the excavations at the site are published. Marcella Frangipane has also participated in field research in Mexico, Italy, Egypt and Turkey, and was field vice-director of the Sapienza excavations at the Late Predynastic site of Maadi (Egypt).

Marcella Frangipane is International Member of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), member of the Italian Accademia dei Lincei, corresponding member of the Deutsches Archäologische Institut in Berlin, corresponding member of the Archaeological Institute of America and, since 2021, foreign fellow of the British Academy.

For her research at Arslantepe, she has received the Discovery Award by the Shanghai Archaeology Forum (China 2015); the Vittorio De Sica Prize for Science (Archaeology) (Italy 2015); and Rotondi Prize to Art Saviors (Italy 2017). She has also received the honorary PhD by the University of Malatya (Turkey) and the titles of Cavaliere Ufficiale dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana and Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella della Solidarietà by the President of the Italian Republic.

During her stay in Kiel, Marcella Frangipane will not only continue existing collaborations with colleagues from ROOTS and further develop new projects, but will also give a public lecture that is planned for the second half of June. Details will be announced in time on the ROOTS website, Mastodon, Twitter other usual channels.

Link to JMA-Chair at the ROOTS Website
Link to Johanna Mestdorf Academy