Serena Sabatini
Researcher
Department of HistoricalAbout Serena Sabatini
Serena is Associate Professor of Archaeology at the University of Gothenburg and a scholar of European and Mediterranean Bronze and Early Iron Age Studies. Her research focus stretches from the study of long distance trade and exchange, to wool economy, textiles and metal production, burial traditions and issued of social complexity and identity.
Serena received a Master Degree in European Protohistory (1999) from the University of Rome La Sapienza and a PhD in Archaeology (2007) from the University of Gothenburg. The PhD dissertation (House urns. A European Late Bronze Age Trans-cultural Phenomenon) provides a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the so-called Late Bronze Age North European house urns, discussing at the same time issues of transculturality and of the impact of long-distance relations on local practices.
In 2012, after a number of short terms research projects, teaching experience, and maternal leave, she became a full time researcher at the University of Gothenburg. Since then she has been involved in a number of international projects (see below). She also carried out a substantial teaching activity as lecturer in both Archaeology and Classical Archaeology and Ancient History at the Department of Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg (see below).
Current Research Projects
2022-2026. Coordinator of the Corex project From Correlations to Explanations: towards a new European Prehistory, financed by an ERC Synergy grant and directed by Prof. Kristian Kistiansen.
2020-2025. PI of the project The missing link? Sardinia and the Bronze Age Metal Trade between Scandinavia, Atlantic Europe and the Mediterranean (Missing Link) financed by the Swedish Research Council. This project aims to investigate the role of Sardinia in the metal trade between Scandinavia, Atlantic Europe and the Mediterranean during the Bronze Age.
2020-2024 Swedish representative in the Management Committee for the EuroWeb COST action CA19131 - Europe through Textiles: Network for an integrated and interdisciplinary Humanities (EuroWeb).
2017-2022. Researcher within the The Rise II project (Towards a new European Prehistory. Integrating aDNA, isotopic investigations, language and archaeology to reinterpret key processes of change in the prehistory of Europe) directed by Professor Kristian Kristiansen and financed by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond.
2018-today Scientific director of the Understanding Urban Identities (UUI) project, the aim of which is to investigate the urban development in Southern Etruria over the long durée from the Bronze Age until Late Antiquity. The UUI is a research program (in progress) aiming to anchor the study of the broader historical processes with the archaeological record from the site of Vulci (Southern Etruria, Italy), which constitute the main focus of the UUI fieldwork activity.
Recently Concluded Projects
2016-2019. In 2015, together with Sophie Bergerbrant (University of Gothenburg), and Karin M. Frei (National Museum of Denmark) she carried out the project Bronze Age wool economy: production, trade, environment, husbandry and society (THESP), funded by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond. The project has been characterized by a completely new approach to the issue of wool production and trade which takes into account and explores the human animal relation and the complex interplay between environment, culture and society beyond wool economy. Serena's main contribution has been to shed light on the significance of Bronze Age wool economy at both a macro and micro scale in particular drawing upon the well-documented material from Montale in northern Italy.
2012-2016. Researcher within The Rise of Bronze Age societies project directed by Prof. Kristian Kristiansen and financed by an ERC advanced grant.
Teaching
List of courses in which I work/worked as course coordinator (including teaching, examinations, coordination of seminars, and of student excursions):
- Nordic and European Bronze Age
- European and Mediterranean Bronze Age
- Introduction to archaeology
- Archaeology: Intermediate course - Archaeology and society
- Children, Youth and Archaeology
- Mediterranean Prehistory
- Archaeology: Introductory course - Nordic Prehistory and Early history
- Classical Archaeology and Ancient History: Intermediate course - Individual scientific assignment
List of courses in which I am/have been actively involved for specific sub-courses or classes:
- Textiles in pre-modern societies
- Archaeological fieldwork in the Mediterranean regions
- Archaeology: Introductory course
- Archaeology: Intermediate course: Individual Student essays
- Archaeology: Advanced course
- Classical Archaeology and Ancient History: Intermediate course - Ancient Art and Archaeology
- Classical Archaeology and Ancient History: Intermediate course - Individual Student essays
- Classical Archaeology and Ancient History: Introductory course - Italic and Roman culture and society
- Fashion and clothing history: from prehistory to 1900
- Man and Sea: Historical and Archaeological Perspectives
-
The missing link: Re-theorising the role of Sardinia in a global political economy between the Mediterranean and Atlantic
Europe
Serena Sabatini, Kristian Kristiansen
In Perra, M. Lo Schiavo, F. (eds.), Contacts and exchanges between Sardinia, continental Italy and the north-western Europe in the bronze age (18th-11th c. bc): the “copper route”, the “amber route”, the “tin route” - 2023 -
Burials, individuals, and society. The case of the Late Bronze Age cemetery at Simris II in
south-eastern Sweden.
Serena Sabatini
A. Tornberg, A. Svensson, J. Apel (eds.) Life and afterlife in the Nordic Bronze Age. Proceedings of the 15th Nordic Bronze Age Symposium held in Lund, Sweden, June 11-15, 2019. - 2022 -
Investigating sheep mobility at Montale, Italy, through strontium isotope
analyses
Serena Sabatini, K. M. Frei, J. De Grossi Mazzorin, A. Cardarelli, G. Pellacani, R. Frei
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports - 2022 -
History and Archaeology at Vulci: Old Evidence and New Data from a Geophysical Investigation in the Urban
Area
Serena Sabatini, Kristian Göransson, Anna Gustavsson, Stephen Kay, Elena Pomar, Irene Selsvold, Lewis Webb
Bollettino di Archeologia - 2021 -
Geophysical survey at Vulci (comune di Montalto di Castro,
provincia di Viterbo, regione
Lazio)
Serena Sabatini, Stephen Kay, Elena Pomar, Kristian Göransson
Papers of The British School at Rome - 2021 -
Revisiting Vulci: new data from a geophysical invistigation
in the urban
area
Stephen Kay, Serena Sabatini, Elena Pomar, Kristian Göransson
ArcheoSciences Revue d'archéométrie - 2021 -
Contrasting Bronze Age textile production in the Terramare region, Mycenaean Greece and in Cyprus: reflections and ideas/ La produzione tessile nelle Terramare, in ambito miceneo ea Cipro a confronto: riflessioni e
spunti,
Serena Sabatini, Maria Emanuela Alberti
Cultural contacts and trade in nuragic Sardinia : the southern route (Sardinia, Sicily, Crete, Cyprus) : proceedings of the Fourth Festival of the Nuragic Civilization (Orroli, Cagliari). - 2021 -
Testing Late Bronze Age mobility in southern Sweden in the light of a new multi-proxy strontium isotope baseline of
Scania
Pernille Ladegaard-Pedersen, Serena Sabatini, Robert Frei, Kristian Kristiansen, Karin Margarita Frei
PLoS ONE - 2021 -
Bronze Age textile economies and practices side by side: the Terramare region in Northern Italy and Mycenaean
Greece
Maria Emanuela Alberti, Serena Sabatini
Borgna, E., Corazza, S. (eds.) Dall’Adriatico all’Egeo scritti di Protostoria in onore di Paola Càssola Guida - 2021 -
Cyprus and Sardinia in the Late Bronze Age: Nuragic table ware at Hala
Sultan
Tekke
Maria Gradoli, Paula Waiman Barak, Teresa Bürge, Zachary Dunseth, Johannes Sterba, Fulvia LoSchiavo, Mauro Perra, Serena Sabatini, Peter M. Fischer
Journal of Archaeological Science - 2020 -
Clay, Burial Urns, and Social Distinction in Late Bronze Age Southern
Scandinavia
Serena Sabatini, Torbjörn Brorsson, Peter Skoglund
Knut Ivar Austvoll, Marianne Hem Eriksen, Per Ditlef Fredriksen, Anne Lene Melheim, Lisbeth Prøsch-Danielsen and Lisbeth Skogstrand (eds.), Contrasts of the Nordic Bronze Age. Essays in Honour of Christopher Prescott - 2020 -
Två nya husurnor från
Gotland
Joakim Wehlin, Serena Sabatini
Fornvännen - 2020 -
Late Bronze Age Metal Exploitation and Trade: Sardinia and
Cyprus
Serena Sabatini, Fulvia Lo Schiavo
Materials and Manufacturing Processes - 2020 -
Modelling Bronze Age sheepherding and wool production: The case of the Terramara settlement at Montale,
Italy
Serena Sabatini
Prahistorische Zeitschrift - 2020 -
Appendix: The Typology and Petrography of Nuragic
Ceramics
Serena Sabatini, Mauro Perra, Maria Giuseppina Gradoli
Egypt and the Levant - 2020 -
Weaving in Bronze Age Italy: the Case of the Terramare settlement at
Montale
Serena Sabatini
The Textile Revolution in Bronze Age Europe / edited by Serena Sabatini, Sophie Bergerbrant. - 2020 -
Textile Production and Specialisation in Bronze Age
Europe
Serena Sabatini, Sophie Bergerbrant
The Textile Revolution in Bronze Age Europe: Production, Specialisation, Consumption / edited by Serena Sabatini, Sophie Bergerbrant. - 2020 -
The Textile Revolution in Bronze Age
Europe
Serena Sabatini, Sophie Bergerbrant
2019 -
Välkommen till
ullåldern
Sophie Bergerbrant, Serena Sabatini
Populär arkeologi - 2019 -
Approaching sheep herds origins and the emergence of the wool economy in continental Europe during the Bronze
Age
Serena Sabatini, Sophie Bergerbrant, L. Brandt, A. Margaryan, M. E. Allentoft
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences - 2019 -
Textile productions
tools
Serena Sabatini
Two Late Cypriot City Quarters at Hala Sultan Tekke. The Söderberg Expedition 2010—2017 (Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology 147) - 2018 -
Late Bronze Age long distance exchanges, agency, and the house urn from the so-called Wickbold 1
mound.
Serena Sabatini
Der Grabhügel von Seddin im norddeutschen und südskandinavischen Kontext : Internationale Konferenz / International Conference, 16. bis 20. Juni 2014, Brandenburg an der Havel (2018) / Svend Hansen und Franz Schopper (Hrsg.) - 2018 -
Textile production
tools
Serena Sabatini
Fischer, P.M. & Bürger, T. (eds), Two Late Cypriot City Quarters at Hala Sultan Tekke. The Söderberg Expedition 2010—2017 - 2018 -
Bronze Age Textile & Wool Economy: The Case of the Terramare Site of Montale,
Italy
Serena Sabatini, Timothy Earle, Andrea Cardarelli
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society - 2018 -
Wool economy during the European Bronze
Age.
Serena Sabatini
Światowit, Annual of the Institute of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw - 2017 -
Intentionally made. Objects as composite indexes of agency and the case of the Late Bronze Age house
urns.
Serena Sabatini
Bergerbrant, S. & Wessman, A. (eds), New Perspectives on the Bronze Age. Proceedings from the 13th Nordic Bronze Age Symposium, held in Gothenburg 9th June to 13th June 2015. - 2017 -
Nordic-Mediterranean relations in the second millennium
BC
Serena Sabatini, Anne Lene Melheim
Bergerbrant, S. & Wessman, A. (eds), New Perspectives on the Bronze Age. Proceedings from the 13th Nordic Bronze Age Symposium, held in Gothenburg 9th June to 13th June 2015. - 2017 -
Revisiting Late Bronze Age oxhide ingots: Meanings, questions and
perspectives
Serena Sabatini
Papers and Monographs from the Norwegian Institute at Athens - 2016 -
Textile tools from the East Gate at Mycenaean Midea, Argolis,
Greece
Serena Sabatini
Opuscula : annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome - 2016 -
Hausurnen – Die Tür zu den
Toten
Serena Sabatini, Jutta Kneisel
Archäologie in Deutschland - 2016 -
Late Bronze Age Oxhide and oxhide-like ingots from areas other than the Mediterranean: problems and
challenges
Serena Sabatini
Oxford Journal of Archaeology - 2016 -
Tracing transculturality in burial contexts: the case of Sala Consilina, Southern
Italy
Serena Sabatini
P. Suchowska-Ducke, S. Scott Reiter & H. Vandkilde (eds), Forging identities. The Mobility of Culture in Bronze Age Europe. Report from a Marie Curie project 2009-2012 with concluding conference at Aarhus University, Moesgaard 2012. Del 2, (BAR Int. s. 2771) - 2015 -
Burial practices as imagined community spaces: the example of the Late Bronze Age house
urns
Serena Sabatini
Alexandersson, H., Andreeff, A. och Bünz, A. (red), Med hjärna och hjärta: En vänbok till professor Elisabeth Arwill-Nordbladh - 2014 -
Historier från havet. Fragment av livsberättelser från yngre bronsålderns
skeppsvrak
Serena Sabatini
Personligt talat : biografiska perspektiv i humaniora / red. Maria Sjöberg - 2014 -
Introduction : Transcultural interaction and local transformations in Europe and the Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to the Iron
Age
Serena Sabatini, Maria Emanuela Alberti
Exhange Networks and Local Transformations - 2013 -
Tales from beech forest: Laser scanning project at Monte Cimino (Italy)
hillfort
Serena Sabatini, Chris Sevara, martin fera, petra schneidhofer, jakob kainz
Counterpoint: essays in archaeology and heritage studies in Honour of Professor Kristian Kristiansen / edited by Sophie Bergerbrant, Serena Sabatini - 2013 -
Exchange networks and local transformations. Interaction and local change in Europe and the Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to the Iron
Age
Maria Emanuela Alberti, Serena Sabatini
2013 -
Local and transcultural burial practices in Northern Europe in the Late Bronze Age: Face, house and face/door
urns
Serena Sabatini
Exchange networks and local transformations. Interaction and local change in Europe and the Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age - 2013 -
'Riflessioni' dal baltico. Scambi e tradizioni durante l'età del bronzo dall'altra parte del
continente
Serena Sabatini
Φιλική Συναυλία Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology for Mario Benzi - 2013 -
Uluburuns och Kap Gelidonyas
skeppsvrack
Serena Sabatini
En maritim värld - från stenåldern till idag - 2013 -
Introduction
Sophie Bergerbrant, Serena Sabatini
Counterpoint: Essays in Archaeology and Heritage Studies in Honour of Professor Kristian Kristiansen - 2013 -
Counterpoint: Essays in Archaeology and Heritage Studies in Honour of Professor Kristian
Kristiansen
Sophie Bergerbrant, Serena Sabatini
2013 -
House urns : a European late Bronze Age trans-cultural phenomenon. Rev.
ed.
Serena Sabatini
2007 -
House urns : Study of a late Bronze Age trans-cultural
phenomenon
Serena Sabatini
2007