Excavation and survey team – Ostia Forum Project

I. Permanent team (38, in chronological order)

Prof. dr. Axel Gering

Project and field director

Axel is director of the project. He was born in Munich, Germany, which is also where he undertook his academic studies. He currently teaches at the Humboldt University in Berlin (HU), a post he took up around 12 years ago. Since 2007 he is Privat Dozent at the HU. His main interest regards the study of urbanism from the ancient Near East to the Roman West. This initially focused on the early imperial Roman period, but he has now moved on to specialise in the late antique period. His favourite archaeological find was the discovery of the street blockings at Ostia, and more recently the discovery of the previously untouched late antique Forum pavement.

Daniel Damgaard, ph.d. student

Field archaeologist since 2011, finds manager in 2012, supervisor and research assistant since 2013

Daniel is finds manager on site, supervisor of the Danish sub-team and research assistant (see “Post-Excavation Team”). He was born in Horsens, Denmark, and undertook his academic studies at the University of Aarhus. He finished his Masters degree in January 2014. During his Masters studies he participated in the Humboldt-Ostia-Forumproject (HOF) 2011-2014, where he was an intern in the autumn of 2012. He continues to work for the Ostia-Forum-Project (OFP). His most significant contribution to the project so far is the typology of and work on Ostian marble roof tiles found in the late antique pavement (see “Ostian Marble Roof tiles: a typology“).

Alex Whitford

Field archaeologist since 2008, technical manager, responsible for equipment and conservation

Alex is the coins manager on site, and equipment supervisor, responsible for all technical installations. He was born in Rosepark, Australia, and currently lives in Berlin. He worked for construction companies in Australia, where he acquired his skills for carpentry and putting up scaffolds and measuring & drawing detailed architectural plans by hand. His favourite archaeological finds are coins, of course, but he still likes to create plans in the good old fashioned way too.

Johannes Trockels

Field archaeologist and trench-master since 2010, trench-master in MFP-apse in 2010-2011, pottery studies and drawing in 2010-2011

Johannes took part in the campaigns 2010, 2011 and 2013 as field archaeologist. In his first two campaigns he was responsible for the excavation of the so-called apse. The apse is situated in the central part of MFP, and was then subject of his Bachelor thesis. Besides this contribution to the excavation, Johannes was and is still in process of researching on the ceramics. He was born in 1987 in Essen and lived for some time in Switzerland and France before he moved to Berlin. He finished his BA in 2012 at the Humboldt-Universität in Berlin, where he is currently also doing his Masters degree.

Lydia Schallenberg

Field archaeologist since 2010, finds manager and photographer in FSE in 2009-2010, finds manager in MFP-apse in 2010-2011, ceramic-drawing in 2013

Lydia joined the excavation in 2009, and is therefore one among few persons who was able to witness the huge progress within the project since then. She was born in Westberlin in 1985, but started her academic studies in Konstanz. She returned to Berlin and finished her Bachelors degree writing about graffiti from Pompeii, which appeared in the trailer of the series “Rome”. She is right now finishing her Masters degree at Humboldt-Universität and wrote about the Grotta Azzurra in Capri.

Lena Kaumanns

Field archaeologist in 2009-2013, trench-master in FSE until 2010, trench-master in ADB and CDB in 2011-2013, epigrapher 2009-2013

Philipp Schmidt

Field archaeologist since 2008, trench-master in MFR in 2010-2011, topographer in MFP in 2012, trench-master in MFP in 2012-2013

Michael Joyce

Field archaeologist in 2008-2011, trench-master in FSE in 2009, contextualizing in MFP in 2009-2011, post-excavation work (see “Post-Excavation team“)

Michael studied archaeology at the University of Kent, England, doing his undergraduate and masters degree at the university. He was an excavator with the team for four seasons, and later spent six months working with Axel on the post-excavation work of 2009. Following his work in Ostia, Michael has continued excavating with commercial archaeology companies in England. He is currently employed by Cotswold Archaeology in the south west of England as a field archaeologist.

Bonnie Knapp

Field archaeologist in 2008-2011

Christopher Spence

Field archaeologist in 2009-2011, topographer in MFP in 2009-2011

Anders Olesen

Field archaeologist in 2010-2012 and 2014, finds manager in MFW in 2011, topographer in MFP in 2012, finds manager in MFP in 2012

Anders is from Denmark, is 26 years old, and has been working in Ostia on three different campaigns. First in 2010 as field archaeologist under the British excavation team (BKO), then in 2011 as finds manager under the German excavation team and as of late in 2012, again as finds manager under the German excavation team. Anders is currently finishing his Masters degree in Religious Science at Aarhus University, but has a Bachelor degree in Classical Archaeology (also from Aarhus University). Anders will be continuing to work with the Ostia-Forum-Project in the future, and will be attending the 2014 campaign.

Eva Karina Jørgensen

Field archaeologist in 2010-2014

Katrin Janeczka

Field archaeologist in 2009-2010, finds manager in MFP in 2010

Antje Hemling

Field archaeologist in 2010, work on programming an application for finds in 2012-2013, see section “Post-Excavation team“

Lydia Kappa

Field archaeologist and trench-master in MFR in 2010

Christian Krug

Aerial-photography in 2010

Gunnar Sperveslage

Field archaeologist in 2009-2010, topographer in MFP in 2010, finds manager in ADB and CDB in 2010-2011

Julia Pohlenz

Field archaeologist in 2010

Jördis Vieth

Field archaeologist in 2010

Felix Hülsebeck

Field archaeologist since 2011, trench-master in MFP in 2011-2012, topographer, measuring and drawing in MFP and MFD in 2012-2013

Laura Pecchioli

Field archaeologist since 2015, 3-D recording on site in 2016

Laura Pecchioli is an architect specialized in archaeological restoration with a PhD on a system for management of 3D data in cultural heritage. From January 2017 she works on an habilitation project in„ Präventiver Erdbebenschutz und historische Reparaturen von Mauerwerk. Drei Fallstudien: Tempio Rotondo, Forumsthermen und Caseggiato della Cisterna (Ostia)“ at Technische Universität Berlin, FG Historische Bauforschung und Baudenkmalpflege (www.hbf-msd.tu-berlin.de ) and in collaboration with OFP – Humboldt Universität, Winckelmann-Institut/Klassische Archäologie with a grant of the Gerda Henkel Stiftung.

Tyrell Huppert

Field archaeologist in 2011

Akiko

Field archaeologist in 2011

Signe Koch

Field archaeologist in 2011

Sophie Horacek

Field archaeologist in 2012, topographer, measuring and drawing MFP 2012, 3-D reconstruction 2012 (see “Post-Excavation team“)

Henriette Engels

Field archaeologist in 2012, topographer, measuring and drawing in MFP 2012, 3-D reconstruction 2012 (see “Post-Excavation team“)

Kristina Junker

Field archaeologist in 2013, topographer, measuring and drawing in MUN in 2013

Christin Rochlitzer

Field archaeologist in 2013, photographer in MFD, MUN and MFP in 2013, finds photographer in 2013

Wiebke Lepke

Field archaeologist in 2012-2013, finds manager in MFD and MUN in 2013, pottery studies and drawing in 2013

Wiebke Lepke was born in Berlin and have been studying Classical archaeology at the Humboldt-University since 2010. She will be starting her masters degree studies in October 2014. She has been on two campaigns so far, 2012 and 2013.

Helge Martens

Field archaeologist since 2013, topographer in MFD in 2013, measuring and drawing in MUN and MFP in 2013

Evelyn Beckers

Field archaeologist in 2012-2013

Simone Mulattieri

Field archaeologist in 2012

Rikke Egelund Lind

Field archaeologist in 2012, logistics in 2013, photographer in 2013, webmaster (see “Post-Excavation team“)

Rikke is born in Horsens, Denmark, and currently undertakes her master’s studies in Digital Design at Aarhus University. She has a bachelor degree in International Communication and Multimedia from Aarhus University (Department in Herning). She was an exchange student at Karlshochschule International University, Karlsruhe in the spring of 2014.

Simon Nissen

Field archaeologist in 2012, photographer in MFP in 2012

David Bennetsen

Field archaeologist in 2012, trench-master in MFP in 2012

David completed his Bachelor degree in Prehistoric Archaeology at the University of Aarhus in 2013.

Mette Pedersen

Field archaeologist in 2013, ceramic drawing in 2013

Mie Egelund Lind

Field archaeologist in 2013, ceramic drawing in 2013

Line Nielsen

Field archaeologist in 2013, ceramic drawing in 2013

Line was a part of the excavation in 2013. She is born in 1992 in Viborg, Denmark. She started her studies in Classical Archaeology at University of Aarhus in 2011, and will get her Bachelor degree in 2015, and thereafter continue with her master, also in Classical Archaeology.

Sissel Rasmussen