Anastasia Solomou
PhD Student, UCLouvain (CEMA-INCAL) – Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3 (ASM)
Osteoarchaeology - Archaeothanatology
Email : anastasia.solomou@etu.univ-montp3.fr See my CV on Orcid
PhD Project
Children’s status in Minoan society. An interdisciplinary and diachronic approach to the study of children in Bronze Age Crete through an osteological and archaeothanatological analysis.
Supervisors : Dr. Prof. Charlotte Langohr (F.R.S.-FNRS - UCLouvain, AegIS) & Dr. Aurore Schmitt (C.N.R.S. - Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3).
Education
Since 2024 : PhD Candidate in Archaeology, specialised in Prehistory, Protohistory, Mediterranean African Palaeoenvironments (joint PhD supervision with UCLouvain) at the University Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3 (UPV – Montpellier, France).
Since 2024 : PhD Candidate in History, History of Art and Archaeology (joint PhD supervision with UPV 3 Montpellier) at the Catholic University of Louvain (UCLouvain – Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium).
2022 : Master of Sciences (the highest distinction), Bioarchaeological and Forensic Anthropology at University College London (UCL – London, United Kingdom).
2019 : Bachelor of Arts, History of Art and Archaeology – specialized in Aegean Prehistory at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (UoA – Athens, Greece).
Research topics
Mortuary practices of perinate individuals and children based on the study of the subadult skeletal remains and the taphonomic processes taking place within the tombs
Macroscopic palaeopathological study of subudalt skeletal remains
Integration of an interdisciplinary approach which compares the available iconographic and textual data with the funerary data produced by the study of the human remains, with a view to obtaining a comprehensive view of the life and death of the children
Contextual analysis of funerary data from the site of Sissi along with contemporaneous Minoan cemeteries
Field projects
Since 2022 : Osteoarchaeologist studying the subadult human remains at the Sissi Archaeological Project (Crete) – UCLouvain and EbA (dir - Prof. Jan Driessen).
2022 : Supervising Archaeologist at the restauration of the Sissia Monastery (Cephalonia) – Ephorate of Antiquities of Cephalonia, ESPA (Partnership Agreement for the Development Framework) 2014-2020.
2021 : Field Archaeologist at the HS2 Rescue Excavation of St Mary's Church Cemetery (Stoke Mandeville, UK) - L-P Archaeology.
2017-2019 : Field intern and field anthropologist at the Rescue Excavation of the Protocycladic Cemetery of Mnimouria-Krassades (Antiparos) – Ephorate of Antiquities of Cyclades (dirs - Dr. Papadopoulou and Dr. Nikolakopoulou).
2015-2019 : Field intern at numerous projects in the Peloponnese, Cyclades, Attica and Crete.
Choice of publications/conferences
Solomou, A.C., 2024, « Fragmentary data and scattered lands: a recording protocol for a comparative archaeothanatological analysis based on archaeological illustrations », Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris (BMSAP), 36(2). DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/12kyz.
Solomou, A.C., 2024, « Thinking through and about anthropomorphic figurines. A cognitive and neuroarchaeological approach to the study of peak sanctuary practices », Les Carnets de l'ACoSt, 24. DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/11ruy.
Vannet, M., Solomou, A.C., 2023, « Prospects in engendering Classical Greece: towards the construction of culturally created engendered bodies and identities through an interdisciplinary approach », European Association for Archaeologists (EAA) Annual Meeting ‘Weaving Narratives’, 2023, Belfast, United Kingdom.
Solomou, A.C., 2022, « Cultural identity and forensic anthropology in the refugee crisis: The impact of local cultural practices, and beliefs in the collection, analysis, and identification of the remains of refugees », British Association for Human Identification (BAHID) 2022 Autumn Conference “Back to Business”, 2022, Moreton-in-Marsh, United Kingdom.
Solomou, A.C., 2022, « Are grave goods any good? A combined post-processual and post-humanist approach to the limitations of using grave goods to infer biological sex and gender », Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG) 43 ‘Revolutions’, 2022, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Watch here.
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