Dr Gianna Ayala

Lecturer

BA (University of Texas at Austin), MA (Università di Roma, La Sapienza), PhD (University of Cambridge)

Telephone: 0114-2222935

Department address: Northgate House, West Street S1 4ET

Biography

After a first degree in archaeological science at the University of Texas at Austin and MA in prehistory at the Università di Roma, La Sapienza I came to the UK to do a doctoral thesis on geoarchaeological approaches to investigating human impact in the Sicilian Nebrodi Mountains (University of Cambridge).

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work for English Heritage as a geoarchaeologist in 2003 before taking my post in the Department of Archaeology in 2004.

Research interests:

Geoarchaeology (landscape and on-site investigations)
Italian and Mediterranean prehistory
Landscape archaeology and field survey techniques

Current research projects / collaborations:

San Vincenzo, Stromboli (Sicily): in collaboration with the Dr. Sara Levi (Università di Modena) and Marco Bettelli (CNR Rome): excavation of a Bronze Age village on the island of Stromboli
Knossos Gypsades Project: directed by Prof. John Bennett (University of Sheffield), Amy Bogaard (University of Oxford), Eleni Hatzaki (University of Cincinnati)
The Bova Marina Archaeological Project (Calabria): directed by Prof. Lin Foxhall (University of Leicester) and Dr. John Robb (University of Cambridge). The fieldwork had been funded by the British Academy.
The Upper Esino Valley Survey: directed by John Pearce (King’s College London), Maria Preztler (Swansea) and Corinna Riva (University College London). Fieldwork has been funded by the British Academy.

Research supervision:

I would be happy to supervise students on topics relating to geoarchaeology, landscape archaeology, and Italian prehistory.

Current students:

Tudur Davies: Early Medieval Penllyn, an environmental landscape study.
Craig Appley: The influence of environmental changes upon occupation practice and land use during the prehistory of the Furness Peninsula, South Cumbria, UK
Samantha Stein: The Geoarchaeology and Micromorphology of Viking and Anglo-Saxon Occupation Sequences: understanding changes in use of space in a Viking camp and Anglo-Scandinavian settlement at Torksey, Lincolnshire

Teaching

Undergraduate

Archaeology in the Field
European Classical Civilisations
Research Skills in Archaeology

Postgraduate

I am programme coordinator of the dual MSc in Geoarchaeology.

Geoarchaeology: Method and Theory and Environmental Archaeology
Theory and Method of Environmental Archaeology
Mediterranean Landscapes
Computing and Data Analysis for Archaeologists

Selected publications

Ayala, G. (2011) Regional Review of the geoarchaeology of the rivers of Southern England, English Heritage.
Special Issue: Geoarchaeology: From Landscape to Laboratory and Back Again, (eds) M. Bateman, G. Ayala, J. Wainwright, November/December 2010, Volume 25, Issue 6, Pages 671–856
Fitzjohn, M. and G. Ayala. (in press) Making sense of a hidden Sicilian landscape: Geoarchaeological and GIS investigations of field survey data. In Van Leusen, P.M., G. Pizziolo & L. Sarti (eds), Hidden
Landscapes of Mediterranean Europe: Cultural and methodological biases in pre- and protohistoric landscape studies. BAR International Series.
Ayala, G. & Fitzjohn, M. (2007) To be seen or not to be: interpretations of survey data and questions of archaeological visibility in upland Sicily, in M. Fitzjohn (ed.) The Uplands of ancient Sicily and Calabria: the archaeology of landscape revisited, Accordia.

Full publications list

Conferences

Geoarchaeology: From Lab to Laboratory and Back Again, Sheffield University (2009) (Co-organiser)
Hidden Landscapes Workshop Sienna (2007) Making sense of the hidden Sicilian landscape: Geoarchaeological and GIS investigations of field survey data

Other professional activities

2004-2009 Committee Member of the AEA

2009- present Ordinary Member of the AEA and the QRA

2002-present Reviewer Geoarchaeology, Journal of Archaeological
Science, Journal of Environmental Archaeology, and Journal of Field Archaeology, Antiquity