Emma Blake

Emma Blake is a Professor of Anthropology and Director of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Arizona’s School of Anthropology. Specializing in Mediterranean archaeology, her research focuses on identities in Italy during the second and first millennia BCE, emphasizing migrations, social memory, and foodways. She co-directs the Arizona Sicily Project excavations at Segesta, exploring non-elite households over millennia to understand indigenous Elymian identity within Greek and Roman contexts. Blake also led the Tunisian Influence Survey in western Sicily, funded by an NEH grant, tracing cultural interactions from Epigravettian to contemporary migrant crossings.

Her educational contributions include teaching courses like Archaeology of Food and Archaeology of Death, as well as directing field schools training students in excavation and analysis. Blake’s work integrates spatial theory, network analysis, and material culture studies, with a focus on long-term social dynamics. She co-edits the American Journal of Archaeology and has authored influential books including Social Networks and Regional Identity in Bronze Age Italy (2014) and Identity Studies in Archaeology (2024).

Her field projects emphasize interdisciplinary methods, combining archaeological excavation with historical and ethnographic perspectives. Blake’s research has examined Sardinian nuraghi, Sicilian settlement patterns, and the intersection of ancient and modern migrant journeys. Grants and collaborative projects reflect her commitment to understanding human mobility and cultural resilience across time.