Dr Anja Slawisch (Dr phil. habil., M.A., FHEA, FSA)

Senior Lecturer in Greek Archaeology

Biography

Background

I am a classical archaeologist with a research focus on Greek material culture and archaeology of the eastern Mediterranean from Geometric to Roman eras, with a particular emphasis on Ionia and Thrace and on the period between the 7th and 4th centuries BCE. My publications span (a) detailed primary studies of material culture in historical contexts and (b) critical synthetic commentaries on political history, art, trade networks and the history of research (see list of publications).

I did my doctoral research on the textual and visual aspects of funerary monuments from the Roman province of Thrace at Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and my habilitation qualification on Ionia in the 5th c. BCE at Ruhr-University Bochum.

Before joining the University of Edinburgh Classics Department in September 2019 I worked as Research Associate for Classical Archaeology and Manager of the Photographic Archives at the Istanbul branch of the German Archaeological Institute followed by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship at the Faculty of Classics Cambridge.

I was awarded a Major Research Fellowship by the Leverhulme Trust in 2024 with a project entitled ‘A Cultural History of Archaic and Classical Ionia’. I am on research leave until August 2027.

Responsibilities & affiliations

Corresponding Member of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI)

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (FSA)

Member of the Archaeology Committee for the British School at Athens (BSA).

Member of the AHRC Peer Review College

Trustee and Member of Council for the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies (SPHS)

Trustee and Member of Council for the British Institute at Ankara (BIAA)

 

Undergraduate teaching

I am currently on research leave and not teaching (09/2024-08/2027).

Previous teaching and course organisation included:

Year 1

The Greek World 1B

Classical Archaeology in the Field and in the Museum.

Year 2

Greek Art and Archaeology

Honours

Handling Greek Pottery

Death and Burial in the Greek World

Piecing Together the Cultural Fragments of Ionia (Archaic Period)

Postgraduate teaching

Skills and Methods (Classical Archaeology)

Handling Greek Pottery

Death and Burial in the Greek World

Piecing Together the Cultural Fragments of Ionia (Archaic Period)

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Current PhD students supervised

  • Navarro, Juan - PhD - Reading the Image: An Interdisciplinary Study of the Iconography of Clazomenian Sarcophagi - primary
  • Bisson, Maylla E. - PhD - Sanctuaries and metal workshops in the Greek Mediterranean: techniques and economic practices in the shadow of worship from the Geometric period to the early Classical period - primary

Past PhD students supervised

  • Magnani, Alex - MPhil - The Mistress of the Animals in Archaic and Classical Greece - Secondary - 2024

Research summary

My general research interests cover the following thematic areas:

  • Greek Art and Archaeology from the 8th to the 4th c. BCE
  • Cross-disciplinary and synthetic analysis of archaeological material with textual sources
  • Diachronic approaches to mobility, resilience, economy & cultural change
  • Greek Archaic, Hellenistic and Roman funerary practices and monuments

Project activity

Ongoing projects

  • A Cultural History of Archaic and Classical Ionia, book project (2024-2027)
  • Archaic Miletus, as part of the Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World (OHAGW) series (2019-2024)
  • Panormos Project, excavation and survey (2014-2022) - http://www.projectpanormos.com/
  • The OpenKADA Project, mapping the legacy of ancient and premodern settlement and political turmoil on Karantina Island, Klazomenai (2022-2024)

Previous projects and fieldwork

  • Ionia during the 5th century BCE/Ionien im 5. Jahrhundert v. Chr.: Kollaps, Resilienz, Regeneration (Habilitation, Ruhr-University Bochum, 2017)
  • Mass-Production, Landscape Transformation and the Birth of Science in the Land of Thales - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship (2016-2018)
  • Layers of Landscape. Visions of the changing Milesian Peninsula, photo exhibition, Museum of Classical Archaeology, Cambridge and Milet Müzesi (2018-2019)
  • Roman funerary busts from Seleuceia Sidera, Pisidia (2009-2023)
  • Didyma, field director, excavation led by A.E. Furtwängler (2004-2009)
  • Baalbeck, field supervisor, excavation led by M. v. Ess (2004)
  • Grave Stones of the Roman province Thrace/Die Grabstelen der römischen Provinz Thracia (PhD project, Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 2001-2004)
  • Metal finds from the sanctuary near Knidos (2002-2006)
  • Knidos, field supervisor, excavation led by D. Berges (2000-2002)
  • Athenian pottery with horsemen/Die Amphore Halle Inv. Nr. 590 und die Gruppe der Reiteramphoren (Magister Artium project, Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 2000)
  • Ziskaarantgora, student excavator, excavation led by A.E. Furtwängler (1996-1997)

Current project grants

Major Research Fellowship, Leverhulme Trust (2024-2027)

Past project grants

PhD Scholarship, Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (2001-2004)
Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2006-2008)
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship, European Research Council (2016-2018)

Books - Authored

  • Slawisch, A. (2007). Die Grabsteine der römischen Provinz Thracia. Aufnahme, Verarbeitung und Weitergabe überregionaler Ausdruckmittel am Beispiel der Grabsteine einer Binnenprovinz zwischen Ost und West, Schriften des Zentrums für Archäologie und Kulturgeschichte des Schwarzmeerraumes, ZAKS 9. Langenweißbach: Beier & Beran
  • Slawisch, A. (Habilitation thesis). Ionien im 5. Jahrhundert v. Chr. Kollaps, Resilienz, Regeneration, Ruhr-University Bochum 2017

 

Books - Edited

  • Slawisch, A. (ed.) (2013). Handels- und Finanzgebaren in der Ägäis im 5. Jh. V. Chr. — Trade and Finance in the 5th century BC Aegean World, BYZAS 18, Istanbul: Ege Yayınları
  • Einicke, R., St. Lehmann, H. Löhr, G. Mehnert, A. Mehnert, A. Slawisch (eds.) (2009). Zurück zum Gegenstand. Festschrift für A. E. Furtwängler, 2 Vols., Schriften des Zentrums für Archäologie und Kulturgeschichte des Schwarzmeerraumes, ZAKS 16. Langenweißbach: Beier & Beran, 640pp.
  • Conrad, S., R. Einicke, A. E. Furtwängler, H. Löhr, A. Slawisch (eds.) (2006). Pontos Euxeinos. Beiträge zur Archäologie und Geschichte des antiken Schwarzmeer- und Balkanraumes, Schriften des Zentrums für Archäologie und Kulturgeschichte des Schwarzmeerraumes, ZAKS 10. Langenweißbach: Beier & Beran, 504pp.

 

Articles

  • Dijkstra, T.M. , de Jong, L., Hürmüzlü, B., Kaska, G. and A. Slawisch. (2023). Dealing with the dead in Roman Seleukeia Sidera: Reconstructing funerary culture from ex-situ material, Anatolica 49: 93–155.
  • Meiggs, D., Slawisch, A. and T. Wilkinson. (2023). A preliminary assessment of ancient diet and mobility n Archaic period Asia Minor: A view from Panormos, near Didyma. Journal of Archaeological Science: Report 51: 104169
  • Loy, M. and A. Slawisch (2021). Shedding light on the matter: evaluating changing patterns of object dedication in Ionian sanctuaries (7th/6th – 5th/4th centuries BC) with lexicometrical analysis, Journal of Greek Archaeology 6, 166–199.
  • Wilkinson, T.C. and A. Slawisch (2020). An agro-pastoral palimpsest: new insights into the historical rural economy of the Milesian Peninsula from aerial and remote sensing imagery, accepted for Anatolian Studies 70, 181-206.
  • Slawisch, A. (2019). Figures in Motion: An Ionian Perspective on the Severe Style, Annual of the British School of Athens 114, 1-21.
  • Slawisch, A. (2019). Amphoren auf Amphoren. Wie Chios während einer Krisenzeit eine Marke einführte, Antike Welt, Schwerpunktthema Wirtschaft in der Antike, 8–16.
  • Slawisch, A. and T. C. Wilkinson (2018). Processions, Propaganda and Pixels: Reconstructing the Sacred Way between Miletos and Didyma, American Journal of Archaeology 122.1, 101–143
  • Slawisch, A. (2011). Aus unruhigen Zeiten:  Die ‚Ächtungsinschrift’ aus Milet, ein Erlass aus dem frühesten 5. Jahrhundert v. Chr., Istanbuler Mitteilungen 61, 425–432.

 

Chapters

  • Slawisch, A. (under review). Ionia and the Athenian Empire: Archaeology Revisited, in Driscoll, E., Lazar, L. and Loy, M. (eds.). The New Athenian Empire.
  • Slawisch, A. (in press). Miletus, in: Cartledge, P. and P. Christesen (eds.), The Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World, OUP (95.000 words)
  • Slawisch, A. (in press). Phokaian electrum coinage and Klazomenian red-figure decoration: Or, the Dangers of Over-Dependence on Athenian Chronologies in Asia Minor. in J.Z. van Rookhuijzen, F. van den Eijnde & J.H. Blok (eds.). 480 BCE: Reconsidering the Chronological Anchor of Archaic and Classical Greece. Brill.
  • Wilkinson, T. C. and A. Slawisch (in press). Route intertia and route dynamism: myths, materials and landscapes, in Vandeput, L. et al. Routes and Roads in Anatolia from Prehistory to Seljuk Times, BIAA Monographs.
  • Slawisch, A. and Sichelschmidt, V. (2022). Ionia’da Arkaik ve Klasik Dönem Heykeltıraşlığı / Archaic and Classical Sculpture in Ionia, Y. Ersoy and E. Koparal (eds.) Ionians. The Sages of the Aegean Shore, Yapı Kredi Publishing, Istanbul 2022, 238–255.
  • Slawisch, A. (2022). M.Ö. 5. yüzyılda Ionia: Diplomasi, Sanat ve Iktisadi Yapı / Ionia during the Fifth century BC, Art, Diplomacy and Economy, Y. Ersoy and E. Koparal (eds.) Ionians. The Sages of the Aegean Shore, Yapı Kredi Publishing, Istanbul, 496–506.
  • Slawisch, A. (2016). Reading the image? Ambiguities in the Interpretation of Banquet Scenes on Grave Stelai from Roman Thrace, in: C. Draycott – M. Stamatopoulou (eds.), Dining and Dead: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the ‘Funerary Banquet’ in ancient Art, Burial and Belief, Colloquia Antiqua 16, Leuven, 591–625.
  • Slawisch, A. (2013). Didyma. Untersuchungen zur sakralen Topographie und baulichen Entwicklung des Kernheiligtums vom 8.–4. Jh. v. Chr., in: I. Gerlach – D. Raue (eds.), Heiligtümer und Rituale. Berichte aus den Forschungen 2006–2009, Publikation des Clusters 4 (2013).
  • Slawisch, A. (2013). Absatzmarkt Ionien: Zur Rolle attischer Keramik als Indikator für die Unterbrechung oder Verschiebung von Handelsnetzwerken in der Ägäis im 5. Jh. v. Chr., in: A. Slawisch (ed.) Trade and Finance in the 5th century BC Aegean World, BYZAS 18, Istanbul: Ege Yayınları, 185–206.
  • Slawisch, A. (2009). Eine runde Sache: Zu einem Fragment einer Bronzekeule aus Didyma, in: Zurück zum Gegenstand. Festschrift für A. E. Furtwängler, Schriften des Zentrums für Archäologie und Kulturgeschichte des Schwarzmeerraumes, ZAKS 16. Langenweißbach: Beier & Beran, 195–203.
  • Slawisch, A. (2009). Epigraphy versus archaeology: conflicting evidence for cult continuity in Ionia during the 5th century BC, in: Ch. Gates - J. Morin - Th. Zimmermann (eds.) Sacred Landscapes in Anatolia and its Neighboring Regions, BAR International Series 2034. Oxford: Archaeopress, 29–34.
  • Slawisch, A. (2008). [Commentary on] Chapter VI. Carl Humann. Zu seinem hundertsten Geburtstage am 4. Januar 1939, in: O. Kern, Erinnerungen an meine Lehrer, M. Hillgruber (ed.). Weidmann, Halle/Saale.
  • Slawisch, A. (2007). Die Grabsteine aus Philippopolis – Ausdrucksmittel einer multikulturellen Bevölkerung, in: E. Walde (ed.) Ikarus 2, Die Selbstdarstellung der römischen Gesellschaft in den Provinzen im Spiegel der Steindenkmäler, Akten des IX. Internationalen Kolloquiums über provinzialrömisches Kunstschaffen in Innsbruck, 25.–28. Mai 2005. Innsbruck: University Press, 89–82.
  • Slawisch, A. (2006). Zu ‚Fluchhänden’ auf hellenistischen und kaiserzeitlichen Grabsteinen, in: S. Conrad, R. Einicke, A. E. Furtwängler, H. Löhr, A. Slawisch (eds.), Pontos Euxeinos. Beiträge zur Archäologie und Geschichte des antiken Schwarzmeer- und Balkanraumes, Schriften des Zentrums für Archäologie und Kulturgeschichte des Schwarzmeerraumes, ZAKS 10. Langenweißbach: Beier & Beran, 189–198.
  • Slawisch, A. (2006). Die Metallfunde, in: D. Berges (ed.), Knidos. Beiträge zur Geschichte einer archaischen Stadt. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 188–193.
  • Slawisch, A. (2003). Zwischen Korinth und Athen. Eine schwarzfigurige Reiteramphora aus dem Archäologischen Museum Halle, in: B. Schmaltz – M. Söldner (eds.), Griechische Keramik im kulturellen Kontext, Akten des Internationalen Vasen-Symposions in Kiel vom 24.-28.9.2001. 127–129.

 

Field Reports/Open Data Publications

  • Slawisch, A. and T.C. Wilkinson (2022) Project Panormos Survey 2019 Season Report (Panormos Yüzey Araştirmasi 2019 Sezonu Raporu. 2010-2022 Yılı Yüzey Araştırmaları, Ankara. Vol 3: 333-343.
  • Wilkinson, T. C. and A. Slawisch and N. Strupler (2020) Project Panormos Archaeological Survey: Photograph Archive (survey-photo-archive) (Version 0.2.0). Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3941899
  • Wilkinson, T. C. and N. Strupler and A. Slawisch (2020) Project Panormos Archaeological Survey Data (survey-data) (Version 0.2.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3941561
  • Wilkinson, T. C. and A. Slawisch (2019). Survey, sense and sensibilities: Reflections on old and new spatial archaeologies on the Project Panormos Survey. Heritage Turkey 9: 36–37. doi: 10.18866/biaa2019.19
  • Wilkinson, T. C. and A. Slawisch (2018). Panormos 2017: Intensive Survey on the Milesian Peninsula. Heritage Turkey 7, 32–33.
  • Wilkinson, T. C. and A. Slawisch (2016). Intensive Survey on the Milesian Peninsula. Research Highlights. Archaeology at Cambridge 2016–7, 46.
  • Wilkinson, T. C. and N. Strupler and A. Slawisch (2015), The Project Panormos Survey: Open Data Release v1. Zenodo Open Data Repository (http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1039980).
  • Slawisch, A. and T.C. Wilkinson (2016). e-Projektbericht: Panormos, Türkei. Die Arbeiten der Jahre 2014 und 2015. eDAI-F 2016-2, 114–118.
  • Slawisch, A. and H. Akat (2015). Gaben für die Jüngsten. Zwei Kinderbestattungen aus der Nekropole von Panormos bei Didyma, DAI Istanbul, Jahresheft 13/2015, 28–29.
  • Slawisch, A. (2014). e-Projektbericht: Die archaische Nekropole von Panormos, 2012 und 2013, eDAI-F 2014-3, 114–119.
  • Slawisch, A. (2014). Die archaische Nekropole von Panormos, DAI Istanbul, Jahresheft 12/2014, 22–23.
  • Slawisch, A. (2013) and M. Bilici. Grabungen in der Nekropole von Panormos, DAI Istanbul Jahresheft 11/2013, 15.
  • Slawisch, A. and A.E. Furtwängler. (2008). Branchidai/Didyma Araştırmaları, Türk Eskiçağ Bilimleri Enstitüsü Haberler Dergisi (TEBE) 30, 11–12

 

Reviews

  • [Review of] Susan W. Katsev, Laina W. Swiney, The Kyrenia ship final excavation report, volume I: history of the excavation, amphoras, ceramics, coins and evidence for dating. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2022. Pp. 464. BMCR: https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2024/2024.01.20/ (2024)
  • [Review of] Bumke, H. 1. (2022). Der archaische Heiligtumsbefund vom Taxiarchis-Hügel in Didyma (Grabungsstratigraphie, archäologischer Kontext und topographische Einbindung.). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. / Bumke, H. 1. (2023). Der archaische Heiligtumsbefund vom Taxiarchis-Hügel in Didyma. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag. / Bumke, H. 1. (2024). Der archaische Heiligtumsbefund vom Taxiarchis-Hügel in Didyma. Berlin: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut. Bonner Jahrbücher 222, 2023, 430-433.
  • [Review of] Ramage, A. Ordinary Lydians at Home: The Lydian Trenches of the House of Bronzes and Pactolus Cliff at Sardis. Cambridge, MA: Archaeological Exploration at Sardis. 2021, Journal of Hellenic Studies 143, 2023, 396–397. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0075426923000423.
  • [Review of] Curti, Francesca, Alessandra Parrini (eds.): Iasos. Ceramica attica a figure rosse. Prefazione di Ian McPhee. Con contributi di Fede Berti, Roberta Fabiani, Bernhard Schmalz. Roma: Giorgio Bretschneider 2020. XV, 179 S. 4 Abb. 85 z.T. farb. Taf. (Archaeologica. 182. Missione Archeologica Italiana di Iasos. 7.). Gnomon 94, 2022, 353-357.
  • [Review of] S. Krag, Funerary Representations of Palmyrene Women: From the First Century BC to the Third Century AD. Studies in classical archaeology, 3. Turnhout:  (Brepols, 2018), BMCR 2019.08.52
  • [Review of] Y. Er Scarborough, The Funerary Monuments of Rough Cilicia and Isauria, BAR International Series 2846 (Oxford 2017), BMCR 2018.02.36.
  • [Review of] S. Montel (Hrsg.), La sculpture gréco-romaine en Asie Mineur. Synthèse et recherches récentes, Franche-Comté 2015, BMCR 2016.09.31.
  • [Review of] L.-M. Günther, mit einem Beitrag von L. S. Köcke, Bürgerinnen und ihre Familien im hellenistischen Milet: Untersuchungen zur Rolle von Frauen und Mädchen in der Polis-Öffentlichkeit, Wiesbaden 2014, Ancient West & East 15, 2016, 400–401.
  • [Review of] M. Mohr, Die Heilige Straße – Ein ›Weg der Mitte‹? Soziale Gruppenbildung im Spannungsfeld der archaischen Polis, Züricher Archäologische Forschungen 1, Rahden/Westf. 2013, Gnonom 88, 2016, 2, 187–189.
  • [Review of] J. Burnett Grossman, Funerary sculpture, The Athenian Agora, 35, Princeton, NJ: American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 2013, BMCR 2014.07.28.
  • [Review of] U. Muss (ed.), Die Archäologie der ephesischen Artemis. Gestalt und Ritual eines Heiligtums (Wien 2008), in: Bonner Jahrbuch 207, 2007, 387–390.
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