Davide Salaris

Dr Davide Salaris is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie European Fellow at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge (Department of Archaeology), funded by UKRI for 2024-2026. His work integrates material culture studies with computational, GIS and remote-sensing approaches to investigate long-term settlement dynamics, landscape management and cultural heritage in the Ancient Near East.

Research Interests
Salaris focuses on the archaeology of south-western and north-western Iran, especially the regions historically known as Elymais and Media Atropatene. Using GIS-based spatial analysis, remote sensing and geoarchaeological field techniques, he explores:

• Settlement patterns from the Bronze Age to the Sasanian period
• Fortified landscapes and territorial control
• Religious architecture and rock-reliefs of the Parthian era
• Cultural interactions between Iranian, Hellenistic and Mesopotamian worlds

His recent projects include reassessments of Masjed-e Soleyman, Salmas Plain, Van Plain and Qara Żīāʾ-al-Dīn Plain, always foregrounding interdisciplinary digital methods.

Scientific Awards

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie European Fellowship (2024-2026), funded by UKRI

Grants & Advising
As an MSCA Fellow, Salaris currently leads a UKRI-funded project examining landscape and power in pre-Islamic Iran. No doctoral or master’s students are explicitly mentioned in the provided materials.

Laboratories & Teams
He is formally affiliated with the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at Cambridge, whose state-of-the-art laboratories (GIS & Remote Sensing Laboratory, Geoarchaeology Laboratory, etc.) support his computational and environmental analyses.