A lecture by
Dean Katerina Thomas

When: Monday, November 14, 15:00 – 15:50

Where: Deree Faculty Lounge

Organized by: Faculty Research Seminars 2016-17 Series

The site of Tongobriga, a Portuguese National Monument located to the east of the city of Porto, has been partly excavated by Professor Lino Dias who uncovered a number of important public spaces and buildings dating to the Roman period such as the forum and the thermae. In 2004 and for several seasons subsequently, a Brown University team under the direction of Professor Rolf Winkes and in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, focused on the exploration of a residential area, a defensive wall and a necropolis all belonging to the Castrejo culture (Castro culture). This was the characteristic pre-Roman culture in the NW part of the Iberian Peninsula. Although many Castro settlements have been identified and several have been investigated in Portugal, there is still much to learn about chronological, social and economic issues pertaining to this culture.

This lecture will provide some background information on both the Castrejo culture and Roman Portugal and will concentrate on presenting some of the important finds and preliminary conclusions of the Brown University excavations as well as a number of questions that will be eventually addressed in the study of the discovered material.

Bio

Dean Katerina Thomas received her PhD in classical archaeology from Brown University, her MA in classical archaeology from Tufts University and her BA with Honors in Mediterranean Studies and Classical Civilization from Brandeis University. Since 1988 she has been teaching Art History courses at Deree where she has also held a number of administrative positions. She is currently the Dean of the Frances Rich School of Fine and Performing Arts. K. Thomas has extensive archaeological field experience having participated in excavations at Kalavasos-Tenta and Kalavasos-Ayious in Cyprus, La Muculufa in Sicily, Lepreon in the Peloponnese, Eleusis, Kasfiki in Corfu and Tongobriga in Portugal. The archaeological project at the site of Kasfiki in Corfu (1989-1997) was a collaboration between Brown University, the Greek Archaeological Service and the University of Louvain-la-Neuve while the project at Tongobriga (2004-2009) was a collaboration between a Brown University team led by Professor Rolf Winkes and the Portuguese Ministry of Culture.