Dr Milena Melfi

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Academic Background

I am an archaeologist of the ancient Greek world. I received my education in Classics at the University of Pisa and in Classical Archaeology at the University of Messina. Prior to coming to Oxford I was a Fellow of the Italian and British Schools of Archaeology in Athens, of the American Academy in Rome and of the Center for Hellenic Studies at Harvard University. I have worked on surveys and excavations in Greece, Sicily and Albania. Since 2004, I am the assistant curator of the collection of casts of Greek and Roman sculptures at the Ashmolean Museum, and I teach Classical archaeology for the Faculty of Classics and  New College.

Research Interests

My main research focuses on the redefinition of the role, functioning and frequentation of Greek religious sites, starting from the combined study of material and written sources. From 2016 I run a field project in the Plutonium or Sanctuary of Hades at Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli (Rome) and in 2017-18 I worked at the sanctuary of Poseidon in the Greek island of Tenos. I am also involved in research on the archaeology and history of ancient Epirus. From the early 2000 I have been studying the site and territory of Butrint, and from 2008 I direct a team from the University of Oxford in the joint Italian-Albanian-UK excavations at the Hellenistic and Roman site of Hadrianopolis (Albania).

Publications

Full Publications: milena_melfi_publications_2021.docx

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