Dr Angela Pola

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Departmental Lecturer in Classical Archaeology
angela.pola@classics.ox.ac.uk

Qualifications: BA (Università degli Studi di Pavia), MA (Università degli Studi di Pavia), Scuola di Specializzazione (Università degli Studi di Milano), PhD (Sapienza, Università di Roma)

ORCID: 0000-0002-8023-0652

Link to college page: 

 

Academic Background

I studied Classical Archaeology at the Università degli Studi di Pavia (BA, MA) and at the Università degli Studi di Milano (post-MA), and I hold a PhD in Archaeology (Etruscan and Italic Studies) from Sapienza Università di Roma (2016). My doctoral and postdoctoral training included research periods at the Scuola Italiana di Archeologia di Atene (SAIA), the École Française d’Athènes (EfA), the Institute of Classical Studies (ICS), London, and the Getty Research Institute.

I have held academic positions at UK and European institutions, including a Departmental Lectureship in Etruscan and Early Italic Archaeology at the University of Oxford (2022–2023), an Assistant Professorship/Researcher position in Classical Archaeology at the Università degli Studi di Pavia (2023–2025), and a BeforERC fellowship at Sapienza Università di Roma. In 2025, I obtained the Italian National Scientific Qualification (Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale) as Associate Professor in Archaeology (10/A1).

My research has received international recognition, including the Prix Roger Lambrechts (Académie Royale de Belgique), the European Commission’s Seal of Excellence (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, H2020-MSCA-IF 2019 and 2020), and the C. Maccabruni Prize, and has been supported by competitive international funding and fellowships from the Italian Ministry of University and Research (PNRR Young Researchers Grant), the Ceramica Stiftung Basel, the Istituto Nazionale di Studi Etruschi ed Italici, the Getty Institute, Sapienza Università di Roma, Università degli Studi di Pavia, and the E. Mattei Foundation.

I am the author of a monograph on early Faliscan red-figure pottery and a member of the Faleri Project (Sapienza Università di Roma) and the Tarquinia Project (Università degli Studi di Milano).

Research Interests

My research sits at the intersection of Classical Art and Archaeology and Etruscan and Italic Studies, with a focus on material culture and figured pottery (Attic, Etruscan, and Faliscan). I work interdisciplinarily, combining art-historical and archaeological approaches with contextual and archaeometric analysis.

My work centres on cultural interaction in the ancient Mediterranean, examined through the circulation of objects, ideas, and people, and through the adaptation and reinterpretation of visual and material practices in different cultural environments.

I am currently engaged in the study, attribution, and recontextualization of figured vases from early excavations (late 19th–early 20th century), as well as in the analysis of the uses and functions of figured pottery—both Attic and locally produced—among different populations of pre-Roman Italy, with a particular focus on the Ager Faliscus and the Ligurian territory, in order to address broader questions of artistic production, the mobility of artisans and products, and cultural interaction in the ancient Mediterranean.

Research Keywords

Classical archaeology; Etruscan and Italic Archaeology; Attic, Etruscan, and Faliscan figured pottery; iconography; craftsmanship and production; Attic pottery in the Etruscan-Italic contexts; organic residue analysis

Teaching

I teach classes for the papers “Greek sculpture” and for the MA period paper “Archaic period” and I will offer tutorial teaching in Greek and Etruscan archaeology (“Greek Vases”, “Greek Sculpture”, “Greek Art and Archaeology”, “Etruscan Italy”).

Publications

Full Publications: Angela Pola 2026

Selected Publications: