Newcastle University

Roles and Responsibilities

Director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Artefact Studies (CIAS)
Coordinator of the Wolfson Archaeology Laboratory
Coordinator of the School's Exchange Programmes
Coordinator of the Archaeology Research Seminars
Coordinator of the Material Culture Research Strand

Qualifications

PhD in Archaeology, St. John's College, University of Cambridge
Post-Graduate Diploma in European Prehistory, University of Milan
First Degree in Classics and Archaeology, University of Milan

Previous Positions

2005 - Visiting Lecturer in European Prehistory, Continuing-Education University ‘Unigold’, Milan
2004-2005 - Field Instructor in the Summer Field School, University of Milan

Honours and Awards

2013 - Nominated (with Graeme Barker, Cambridge). Lloyd Cotsen Prize, UCLA

2003 - Early career publication award, The Italian Institute for Prehistory and Protohistory (IIPP)

Research Interests

My research focuses on the interaction between material culture and society in prehistoric Europe and the Mediterranean. Under this broad rubric, my work concentrates on two main subjects: the Later Prehistory of the Central Mediterranean (with particular reference to ancient technology, burial practices, household archaeology and the landscape) and prehistoric copper-alloy metallurgy. I have published extensively on both subjects.

Other Expertise

Use-wear analysis of copper-alloy metalwork
Field survey and excavation methods

Current Work

My current work concentrates on the origins of metallurgy in the prehistoric Central Mediterranean, with special regard to its chronology, technology and social dynamics. My most significant achievements included back-dating the emergence of metal-working to the Late Neolithic (cf. Dolfini in Antiquity 84, 2010 and Dolfini in Accordia Research Papers 13, in press), reconsidering the function of Chalcolithic metalwork by means of use-wear analysis (Dolfini in Journal of Archaeological Science 38, 2011), and proposing a new model to explain the emergence and early spread of metallurgy (Dolfini in European Journal of Archaeology 16.1, 2013).

I am a specialist advisor on prehistoric artefacts for The Cutting Edge, a project that draws together different sources of information about archaeological and ethnographic tools and weapons with sharp edges from collections held in Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums (TWAM), and combines existing information with new images of the artefacts. The high-resolution images of the cutting edges and other significant part of the objects (e.g. hafts) will be especially useful for researchers interested in the manufacture and use of ancient and ethnographic artefacts.

I am also coordinating two public engagement projects: the first aims to build a full-size replica of an Anglo-Saxon iron smelting furnace (and use it to smelt iron!) with a group of year 9 pupils from Burnside Business and Enterprise College, Newcastle; the second involves organising a combat experiment with replicas of Bronze Age weapons and shields, to be showcased at the British Science Festival in Sept 2013.

Finally, I am starting a new excavation at Case Bastione in central Sicily. The project, conducted in collaboration with E. Giannitrapani, investigates the Copper Age phase of a multi-stratified settlement site, where a feature that might be interpreted as a copper smelting pit-furnace has been brought to light. The 2013 campaign will include excavations, magnetic prospections, and petrographic and chemical analyses of the furnace lining.

A selection of my research papers can be downloaded from my Academia.edu webpage.  

Future Research

I have recently submitted an AHRC large grant application for a research project entitled 'The Social Life of Early Metal Objects in Europe' (with A. Charles, B. Gaydarska and C. Fowler). The project aims to explore the technological and social biographies of early metal objects in Bulgaria, Italy and northern Britain through a unique combination of archaeological and analythical methods.   

I am working towards an AHRC research networking application to organise a series of conferences leading to a CUP (World Archaeology Series) edited volume discussing the prehistory of Italy in its central Mediterranean context (with J. Robb, Cambridge). I am also working towards a Leverhulme grant application for a research project investigating the function of early flint and metal daggers in Europe by means of use-wear analysis (with C. Lemorini, Rome-La Sapienza). The aim of the project is to explore whether early flint and copper-alloy daggers where employed in similar social practices in two sample regions in Europe.

Postgraduate Supervision

I am keen to supervise doctoral students working on any of my research areas and in particular: the social dynamics of prehistoric technology and material culture; copper-alloy metallurgy in prehistoric Europe and the Mediterranean; death and burial in the ancient Mediterranean; and household archaeology. Informal enquires about research topics are encouraged. 

Projects

• The Cutting Edge
  Project Leader(s): Professor Eric Cross

Undergraduate Teaching

ARA1026 - Introduction to Archaeological Science
ARA2011 - Later European Prehistory (module leader: J. Harding)
ARA2101 - Artefacts (module leader: J. Gerrard)
ARA3100 - Later Mediterranean Prehistory

Postgraduate Teaching

ARA8186 - Ancient Technologies: Understanding metalwork (with A. Charles)
ARA8182 - Prehistoric Architecture: Houses, monuments and beyond (module leader: J. Harding)
ARA8184 - Bodies in Prehistoric Europe (module leader: C. Fowler)

• Dolfini A. The Gendered House: Exploring domestic space in later Italian prehistory. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 2013, 26(2). In Press.
• Dolfini A. The Neolithic beginnings of metallurgy in the central Mediterranean region. Accordia Research Papers 2013, 13. In Press.
• Negroni-Catacchio N, Cardosa M, Dolfini A, ed. Paesaggi d’Acque. La Laguna di Orbetello tra Preistoria ed Età Romana. Milan: Centro Studi di Preistoria e Archeoologia, 2013. In Press.
• Dolfini A. Neolithic and Copper Age mortuary practices in the Italian peninsula: Change of meaning or change of medium?. In: J.R. Brandt, H. Ingvaldsen & M. Prusac, ed. Death and Changing Rituals: Function and Meaning in Ancient Funerary Practices. Oxford: Oxbow, 2013. In Press.
• Dolfini A. Early metallurgy in the central Mediterranean. In: Roberts, B., Thornton, C, ed. Early Metallurgy: A Global Reader. New York: Springer, 2013. In Press.
• Dolfini A. The Emergence of Metallurgy in the Central Mediterranean Region: A New Model. European Journal of Archaeology 2013, 16(1), 21-62.
• Dolfini A, Aranguren B, Silvestrini M. La prima metallurgia in Italia centrale alla luce di nuove date radiometriche. In: Atti della 43° Riunione Scientifica dell’Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria. 2011, Florence, Italy: Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria.
• Dolfini A. The function of Chalcolithic metalwork in Italy: An assessment based on use-wear analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science 2011, 38(5), 1037-1049.
• Dolfini A. The Origins of Metallurgy in central Italy: New Radiometric Evidence. Antiquity 2010, 84(325), 707-723.
• Dolfini A, Dolci M, Ravasi T. Il survey della Laguna di Orbetello: per un’archeologia dei paesaggi relitti. In: Preistoria e Protostoria in Etruria. Atti dell’VIII Incontro di Studi. 2008, Milan: Centro Studi di Preistoria e Archeologia.
• Dolfini A. Embodied inequalities: burial and social differentiation in Copper Age Central Italy. Archaeological Review from Cambridge 2006, 21(2), 58-77.
• Dolfini A, Malone C, Stoddart S. Searching for ritual in the Bronzo Finale: The example of Gubbio. In: Studi in onore di Renato Peroni. Florence: All'Insegna del Giglio, 2006, pp.663-665.
• Dolfini A. L’inumazione primaria come sistema simbolico e pratica sociale. In: Atti del VII Incontro di Studi Preistoria e Protostoria in Etruria. 2006, Milan: Centro Studi di Preistoria e Archeologia.
• Dolfini A. La necropoli di Rinaldone (Montefiascone, Viterbo): rituale funerario e dinamiche sociali di una comunità eneolitica in Italia centrale. Bullettino di Paletnologia Italiana 2004, 95, 127-278.
• Dolfini A. Lo spazio abitativo come spazio sociale: le case di Sorgenti della Nova nel quadro della protostoria italiana. In: Papers in Italian Archaeology VI. 2005, Oxford: Archaeopress.
• Dolfini A. Le abitazioni a pianta ellittica del settore III. Milan: Centro Studi di Preistoria e Archeologia, 2002.