Alessandro Vanzetti
Associate Professor
University of Rome "La Sapienza"
Alessandro Vanzetti
Languages
Italian, Atlantic English, (French), ((German))
About me
I am an archaeologist, fully committed to critical thinking in the discipline.
I am not married (but I have a stable relation) and have no sons.
I enjoy -the right word- teaching and discussing with students and colleagues, and I believe that archaeological research is a good example of (positive) social practice, as using history and materiality, as well as theory and hard science.
Past Work Experience
- 1999-2002: Prehistoric Archaeologist of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, at the National Prehistoric and Ethnographic Museum “L.Pigorini”, Rome
- 2002-2019: Assistant Professor - University of Rome "La Sapienza"
- 2012-2026: Italian habilitation as Associate and Full Professor
- 2019-present: Associate Professor of Pre- and Protohistory in the University of Rome "La Sapienza"
My Education
- Graduated 1991, Univ. of Rome "La Sapienza", MA Classics, Distinction (110 cum laude); tutors: Renato Peroni; Giovanni Leonardi. "Cremation multiple burials in the Protohistory of NE Italy"
- PhD (Course 1994-1997, full tuition) at Univ. of Rome "La Sapienza", in Archaeology (Prehistory); tutor: Renato Peroni. "Funerary evidence and social personae in the Bronze and Early Iron Ages of Italy"
Specialisation
Other Specialisation
Anthropology - Physical/Biological, Anthropology - Social/Cultural, Archaeological Method and Theory, Ceramic Studies, Ethnoarchaeology, Field Archaeology, Geoarchaeology, Heritage Management, History of Archaeology, Mortuary Studies, Museum, Public Archaeology, Settlement Archaeology
Chronological Focus
Bronze Age, Iron Age, Protohistory
Geographical Field
Africa, Anthropology - Cultural, Southern Europe, Western Europe
Institute
University of Rome "La Sapienza"
_
Vanzetti A. (2002). Results and problems of some current approaches to protohistoric centralization and urbanization in Italy. In: P. Attema, G.-J. Burgers, E. van Joolen, M. van Leusen, B. Mater (eds.) New Developments in Italian Landscape Archaeology, Proceedings of the three-day conference of the Regional Pathways to Complexity (RPC) Project (Groningen, NL, 13-15.04.2000), British Archaeological Reports i.s.1091, Oxford: Archaeopress, pp. 36-51. ISBN 1-84171-469-0.1.00535802155
Vanzetti A., Vidale M., Gallinaro M., Frayer, D.W., Bondioli L. (2010). The Iceman as a burial. Antiquity, vol. 84, pp. 681-692. ISSN: 0003-598X; https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X0010016X.2.00535802156
Vanzetti A. (2013). 1600? The rise of the terramara system (Northern Italy). In: H. Meller, F. Bertemes, H.-R. Bork, R. Risch (eds.), 1600 – Kultureller Umbruch im Schatten des Thera-Ausbruchs? / 1600 – Cultural Change in the shadow of the Thera-Eruption?, Proceedings of the 4. Mitteldeutschen Archäologentag / 4th Archaeological Conference of Central Germany (Halle, DE, 14-16.10.2011), Tagungen des Landesmuseums für Vorgeschichte Halle 9, Halle: Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte, pp. 267-282. ISBN 978-3-944507-00-2; ISSN 1867-440.3.00535802157
Vanzetti A., Alessandri L., Bettelli M., Campanella R., Castagna M. A., Di Renzoni A., Ferranti F., Gennusa R., Pizzitutti G., Schiappelli A., Pulitani G. (2014). The Broglio experiment in reproducing “Italian mixed products”. In: R. Jones, S.T. Levi, M. Bettelli, L. Vagnetti (eds.), Italo-Mycenaean Pottery: the Archaeological and Archaeometric Dimensions, Incunabula Graeca 103, Roma: CNR-ISMA, pp. 393-402. ISBN: 9788887345209; ISSN: 1126-7348.4.00535802158
Ialongo N., Vanzetti A. (2016). The intangible weight of things: approximate nominal weights in modern society. In: S. Biagetti, F. Lugli (eds.), The intangible elements of culture in ethnoarchaeological research, Proceedings of the Conference (Roma, IT, 21-23.11.2012), Cham: Springer, pp. 283-291. ISBN: 978-3-319-23152-5; doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-23153-2.5.00535802159
Levi S.T., Vanzetti A., De Miro E. (2017). Cannatello, Sicily: the connective history of the LBA central Mediterranean hub. In: M. Fotiadis, R. Laffineur, Y. Lolos, A. Vlachopoulos (eds.), Hesperos - The Aegean seen from the West, Proceedings of the 16th International Aegean Conference (Ioannina, GR, 18-21.05.2016), Aegaeum, Leuven-Liège: Université de Liège, pp. 123-129. ISSN: 0776-3808.6.00535802160
Babic´ S., Karl R., Milosavljevic´ M., Mizoguchi K., Paludan-Müller C., Murray T., Robb J., Schlanger N., Vanzetti A. (2017). What is “European Archaeology”? What Should it be?’, European Journal of Archaeology 20/1, pp. 4–35. ISSN: 1461-9571; https://doi.org/10.1017/eaa.2016.12.7.00535802161
Vanzetti A., Marzocchella A., Saccoccio F. (2019). The Campanian agrarian systems of the late Copper-Early Bronze Age (ca. 4.550-3.850 BP): a long-lasting agrarian management tradition before the Pomici di Avellino eruption. In: J. Sevink (ed.), Preindustrial Volcanic Eruptions, Proceedings of the Workshop (Ercolano, IT, 5-7.06.2016), Quaternary International 499, part B, pp. 148-160. ISSN 1040-6182; DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2018.09.0348.00535802162
Driessen J., Vanzetti A. (eds.) (2020). Communication uneven: acceptance of and resistance to Foreign Influences in the connected Ancient Mediterranean. Proceedings of the Session held at the 24th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists (Barcelona, ES, 8.9.2019). AEGIS 20, Louvain-La-Neuve: Louvain University Press, ISBN: 978-2-39061-087-8.9.00535802163
Vanzetti A. (2021). Populism in Italian Archaeology. In: D. Hofmann, E. Hanscam, M. Furholt, M. Baca, S. Reiter, A. Vanzetti, K. Kotsakis, H. Petersson, E. Niklasson, H. Hølleland, C.J. Frieman, Forum: Populism, Identity Politics, and the Archaeology of Europe, European Journal of Archaeology 24/4, pp. 534-537. ISSN: 1461-9571 (Print), 1741-2722 (Online); https://doi.org/doi:10.1017/eaa.2021.29.10.00535802164
Rodriguez Salinas L.W., Vanzetti A. (2023). Radiocarbon evaluation of plague epidemic outbreaks in prehistoric Eurasia. Origini 47, pp. 139-160. ISSN 0474-6805, https://iris.uniroma1.it/handle/11573/1731904.11.00535802165
Schirru D., Vanzetti A. (2023). Climbing the Giara: a quantitative reassessment of movement and visibility in the Nuragic landscape of the Gesturi plateau (South-Central Sardinia, Italy). Plos One 18/8: e0289023, pp. 1-36. ISSN 1932-6203 [10.1371/journal.pone.0289023]. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289023.12.00535802166
Gallinaro M., Vanzetti A. (2024), The remains of a whole. Multi-materiality of prehistoric figurines. In Kobylinski Zb., Metzner-Nebelsick C., Pare Ch., Tessmann B., Zdeb K. (eds.), Archaeology without borders. Papers in honour of Louis Daniel Nebelsick, Archaeologica Hereditas 23, Warszawa: Res Publica Multiethnica Foundation, pp. 97-107. ISBN 978-83-8281-491-0; ISSN 2451-0521.13.00535802167
Marino S., Kelany A., Vanzetti A. (eds.) (2025), Modern Quarries and Archaeology. Protection issues, regulations, methodologies, impact, sustainability. British Archaeological Reports i.s. S3205, Oxford. ISBN 9781407362434.14.00535802168
Stuart E., Di Renzoni A., Esposito C., Bondioli L., Cipriani A., Nava A., Lugli F., Vanzetti A. (2026), Walking through the landscape: A different approach to mobility through 87Sr/86Sr isoscapes, Journal of Archaeological Science 190, 106561. ISSN 0305-4403; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2026.106561.15.00535802169