Azzurra Scarci

Dr. Azzurra Scarci is a Research Associate at the Leibniz Centre for Archaeology (LEIZA) in Mainz, Germany, specializing in Iron Age and Archaic Period Mediterranean archaeology with a focus on Greek sanctuaries, religious practices, and material culture. She holds a Visiting Professor position at the University of Milan and is completing her habilitation at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Her current research centers on the fragmentation of votive offerings in Greek sanctuaries, particularly at Olympia, investigating this phenomenon as a potential ritual practice.

Dr. Scarci's research interests encompass sanctuaries and religious practices in the Greek world, intercultural interactions, material culture analysis, small metal finds, ancient weapons and warfare, and the archaeology of Southern Italy. Her work bridges archaeological, anthropological, and historical approaches, with particular emphasis on ritual theory and material culture studies. She has conducted extensive research on metal votive offerings from Sicilian Greek colonies like Monte Casale (ancient Kasmenai) and Metapontum, analyzing how these artifacts reflect cultural interactions between Greeks and indigenous populations.

Her recent publications (2021-2024) demonstrate a strong focus on the fragmentation of votive offerings at Olympia, metal finds from Greek sanctuaries in Sicily, and methodological approaches to ancient warfare research. These works reveal consistent themes of ritual practices, material culture analysis, and cultural interactions in the ancient Mediterranean. Dr. Scarci's research combines traditional archaeological documentation with technological analysis, GIS spatial mapping, and interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks.

Research Funding:

• DFG project: €260,000 (current, 2022-2025)
• German Archaeological Institute (DAI) Athens: €11,000
• Fritz Thyssen Foundation research grant: €65,000
• Fritz Thyssen Foundation conference/publication grants: €9,150
• University of Pisa doctoral scholarship: €40,000

Dr. Scarci actively supervises research projects and has presented at numerous international conferences, including the 22nd International Congress on Ancient Bronzes (Athens, 2024) and the 30th EAA Annual Meeting (Rome, 2024). She also organizes academic events, such as the 2023 conference 'An interdisciplinary approach to the practice of fragmentation in Greek sanctuaries.' Her work connects Greek religious practices with broader European Bronze/Iron Age hoard studies, offering new insights into ancient ritual behaviors and cultural transmission across the Mediterranean.