I am an archaeologist interested in studying human-environment relationship in the past, across the different levels of cultural experience and practice. I received my PhD from New York University in 2022, a MA degree in Archaeology (2012) and a BA degree in Cultural Heritage Studies (2008) from University of Milan (Italy). I am currently a Postdoctoral Lecturer in Archaeology at NYU’s Department of Anthropology and at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World.
As part of an overarching interest in the study of the relationships between people and the environment, my current research concentrates on the study of ancient agricultural systems, with a specific focus on Western Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean. I am particularly interested in the interplay between variation in agricultural strategies and political complexity, in the impact of climatic and environmental change on agricultural systems, and in long-term patterns of change in landscape history. I take a markedly interdisciplinary approach to scholarship, benefiting from extensive training and experience in Archaeological Methods and Theory, Archaeobotany, Paleoenvironmental Research, and Ancient Western Asia Studies. I had the opportunity to participate in archaeological field work and research in a variety of chronological and cultural contexts – in Italy, Egypt, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and China. Since 2015 I am directing the excavations on the southern slope of the multi-period site of Niğde-Kınık Höyük (Turkey).