Ernestine S. Elster

Ernestine S. Elster is a Researcher at the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California Los Angeles, with a career spanning over four decades. She held previous roles including Visiting Assistant Professor (2012-2017), Cotsen Fellow (2010-2012), and Director of Publications (1979-1993).

• Education: MA (1971) and PhD (1977) in Archaeology from UCLA, supervised by Marija Gimbutas.

Her research focuses on Mediterranean Prehistory, particularly the European Neolithic and Prehistory of Southeast Europe (Greece, Italy, Balkans), with emphasis on prehistoric technology and ritual practices. She has led major publications on sites like Grotta Scaloria and Sitagroi, addressing the discipline's crisis of abandoned excavations.

Her publications and symposia integrate bioarchaeology, artifact analysis, and theoretical frameworks, often combining regional case studies with methodological innovation. She pioneered the digitization of archaeological materials through the Cotsen Digital Archaeology series.

• Scientific Awards:
  • Invited National Speaker, Archaeological Institute of America
  • Grants from NSF, NEH, Ahmanson Foundation, INSTAP, and Cotsen Institute

Elster organized international collaborations (England, Italy, Hungary) to synthesize legacy data from Grotta Scaloria excavations (1978-79), and co-edited foundational works like Sitagroi: Excavations in Northeast Greece and Grotta Scaloria: Ritual in Neolithic Southeast Italy.