Elsa Yvanez

Elsa Yvanez is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Textile Research, Saxo Institute, University of Copenhagen, specializing in textile archaeology of the ancient Nile valley. She leads the Fashioning Sudan. Archaeology of dress practices along the Middle Nile project (ERC Starting Grant 101039416) since 2022.

• Postdoctoral research & PI at University of Warsaw (2021–2022)
• Marie Curie Fellow at University of Copenhagen (2018–2020)
• Doctoral researcher at SFDAS, Section Française de la Direction des Antiquités du Soudan (2009–2010)
• Doctoral student at University of Lille (2009–2015)

Her research focuses on textile production, chaîne opératoire, economic significance of spinning/weaving, and textile use in clothing and burial practices in ancient Sudan and Nubia. She investigates dress practices, funerary textiles, and cultural identity through material culture analysis.

Recent publications and presentations address Meroitic burial rites, Kerma clothing, Fourth Cataract textiles, and sensory archaeology of garments. Her work emphasizes multidisciplinary approaches to textile analysis and in situ documentation protocols for funerary remains.

Scientific recognition:

• ERC Starting Grant 101039416 (Horizon Europe Programme)

She actively participates in academic conferences and research networks, collaborating with institutions in Denmark, Poland, Spain, and Sudan. Her press/media appearances include topics on Textiles and lost civilizations (2020), Blå for Sudan (2019), and the Fashioning Sudan website (2022).