Valerio Gentile

Valerio Gentile is a postdoctoral researcher at the Seminar für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Universität Göttingen, specializing in Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe. His research focuses on armed conflict in pre-state societies, integrating material culture studies, microscopic analysis, and experimental archaeology to explore weapon functionality, social identity, and ideological implications of warfare. He has secured prestigious NWO and DFG grants for his work.

• Education: BA Cum Laude in History and Preservation of Artistic and Archaeological Heritage (University of RomaTre, 2013); Research Master (Leiden University, 2017); PhD (Leiden University, Material Culture Studies, 2020).

His research spans from warrior burials in Central Italy to weapon depositions in the Low Countries, with a current focus on Bronze Age swords and spears in Germany and Central Europe. He emphasizes methodological innovation through multi-stage experiments and wear analysis.

His publications highlight interdisciplinary approaches, combining skeletal data with grave goods and applying experimental archaeology to combat trace interpretation. Trends in his work include the study of weapon circulation, ritual depositions, and the evolution of martial practices across time and space.

Scientific Awards

• Best research presentation at SOJA (2015)
• W.A. van Es Prize for outstanding Master thesis (2017)

Gentile’s methodological contributions involve advancing microscopic analysis and experimental archaeology frameworks for metallic artifacts, supported by grants from the Netherlands and Germany. His collaborations with institutions like the Leiden Museum of Antiquities underscore his role in shaping European prehistoric archaeology.