We are kicking off the 2025/26 academic year over here at Peopling the Past with a blog by Lylaah L. Bhalerao, a PhD Candidate at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University. Here, she takes us through her research on elephants in the ancient world and the way that serendipity and Sanskrit have informed her current research.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Blog #108: Everyday Orientalism with Katherine Blouin
In this week’s blog post, Katherine Blouin takes us through the inception and current direction of her project Everyday Orientalism (founded and co-edited with Usama Ali Gad and Rachel Mairs). Here, she discusses the collaborative nature of the project which centres voices and topics outside the hegemonic and ‘Classical’ canon. She also reflects on the project’s current focus on the history and cultural heritage of Palestine, providing a platform for scholars and activists to speak out about the atrocities currently plaguing the region, while also sharing resources on Palestine’s complex, rich, and layered history.
Blog Post #107: Tomb Robbers, Warehouses, and Vases: Giving Looted Antiquities a New Life with Marie Hélène van de Ven
In this week’s blog post, Marie Hélène van de Ven, a PhD student at Aarhus University, explores the ethics of studying looted artefacts without reinforcing the very networks through which they were illegally acquired. Here, she shares a component of this research based on her work with the Illicit Antiquities in the Museum project at Antikmuseet, Aarhus University.
Podcast Season 4, Episode 2: Fragments and Falsehoods: The Papyrus Trade with Roberta Mazza
In this week’s instalment of the podcast, we are joined by Roberta Mazza, papyrologist and Associate Professor at the University of Bologna.
Listen in, as Dr. Mazza discusses the antiquities trade, both past and present, and the ethics behind papyrology, especially highlighting her experience with the illicit papyrus trade in academia.
Blog Post #106: Breaking Barriers to Participation: Archaeology and Wellbeing in the Mediterranean
In this blog post, Francesco Ripanti talks about the importance of linking archaeology and cultural heritage with wellbeing. Here he takes us through his work on the Linking Community Archaeology and Wellbeing in the Mediterranean (LOGGIA) project and the ways in which an engagement with cultural heritage can have positive impacts on vulnerable groups.
Blog Post #105: The Gaza Maritime Archaeology Project (GAZAMAP)
Join us for an interview with Yasmeen Elkhoudary and Georgia Andreou, where they discuss the creation and evolution of The Gaza Maritime Archaeology Project (GAZAMAP). Focused on monitoring coastal heritage and training professionals, GAZAMAP shifts the study of heritage to the voices of those most impacted by ongoing humanitarian crises.
Blog Post #104: EAMENA Project: Ten Years Documenting Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa with Mohamed Kenawi
In this blog post, Mohamed Kenawi discusses the work of the Endangered Archaeology of the Middle East and North Africa (EAMENA) Project and the important work they are carrying out documenting the endangered heritage of the MENA region using advanced recording methods.
Blog Post #103: Looting and the Antiquities Market with Cara Tremain
This week on the blog we interview Dr. Cara Tremain, an Assistant Professor at Simon Fraser University, whose research on looting and the antiquities market sheds light on the ethical challenges that museums and institutions face when dealing with trafficked culture and the importance that provenance research plays in the fight against the illicit antiquities market.
Blog Post #102: The Mediterranean Antiquities Provenance Research Alliance with Mireille Lee
In this week’s blog post we interview Dr. Mireille Lee on her work with the Foundation for Ethical Stewardship of Cultural Heritage (FESCH) and the Mediterranean Antiquities Provenance Research Alliance (MAPRA). Here, she takes us through the issues with undocumented antiquities and the ethical issues that arise when looted objects end up in university and museum collections.
Blog Post #101: Peopling the Past Celebrates “Ancient Pasts for Modern Audiences” at the AIA
Join us at the Archaeological Institute of America Annual Meeting (hybrid!) as we celebrate the release of the upcoming open-access volume, “Ancient Pasts for Modern Audiences: Public Scholarship and the Mediterranean World.”
Peopling the Past 