Ricerc@Sapienza

Francesca Balossi Restelli is Full Professor of Prehistory and Protohistory of southwestern Asia (ARCH-01/A) in the Department of Antiquities at Sapienza University of Rome; she is Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, member of the faculty board of Sapienza’s PhD School in Archaeology, and coordinator of the Archaeology section of the Department of antiquities. She directs excavations and research at the UNESCO site of Arslantepe in eastern Türkiye, where she has worked since 1996, and she collaborates actively with the Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of the Republic of Türkiye on site management and the dissemination of research results. She has obtained both public and private research funding, carrying out her work primarily in an international context. She serves on the scientific/editorial boards of several journals and regularly participates in international conferences. Her research interests comprehend the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods in southwestern Asia, domestication, development of complex societies, specialization of craft production, commensality as an instrument of social cohesion and/or social success, and as expression of socio-cultural identity.