Megan Daniels

Megan Daniels is an Assistant Professor of Ancient Greek Material Culture in the Department of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, within the Faculty of Arts. She specializes in the archaeology of Greece and the broader eastern Mediterranean from the Late Bronze Age to the Hellenistic Period, with particular expertise in ancient religion, cross-cultural interaction, and digital/data science approaches to the ancient world.

Education:

• B.A. Honours in Archaeology, Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University (2005)
• M.A. in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology, Department of Classical, Near Eastern, and Religious Studies, UBC (2009)
• Certificate in Multimedia and Web Development, UBC (2016)
• Ph.D. in Classics, Department of Classics, Stanford University (2016)

Dr. Daniels' research engages long-term history and the textual and material datasets of the ancient Mediterranean world with questions concerning social complexity, political change, and economic development. Her work expands the geographical and cultural boundaries of the "Classical world" to encompass a broader landscape of cultural and ethnic groups, positioning cross-cultural complexity and interconnectivity as key drivers of ancient Mediterranean history. She incorporates hard sciences, social sciences, and digital humanities into her research methodology. Her current monograph project, "The Queen of Heaven and a Goddess for All the People: Bronze Age Kingships and Their Legacies in Iron Age Greece," examines how Greeks in the Iron Age transformed longstanding ideologies of rulership from the Bronze Age eastern Mediterranean and Near East. She has also edited "Homo Migrans: Modeling Mobility and Migration in Human History," which argues for understanding human history through migration rather than discrete cultures.

Her recent publications reveal a strong focus on interdisciplinary approaches to ancient Mediterranean studies, particularly the intersection of archaeology, digital humanities, and migration studies. There's a consistent pattern of examining cross-cultural interactions, especially between Greek and Near Eastern cultures, and applying innovative methodologies to traditional archaeological questions. Her work on the Neo-Punic tophet at Zita, Tunisia demonstrates her commitment to bioarchaeological analysis and understanding ancient funerary practices.

Scientific Awards and Recognition:

• Public Engagement Award for Partner Organizations, UBC Public Humanities Hub (2024)
• Society for Classical Studies Outreach Prize (2023)
• Elaine Fantham Public Scholarship Award, Classical Association of Canada (2022)
• Women's Classical Caucus Public Scholarship Award, Society for Classical Studies (2021)
• Honourable Mention, Emerging Open Scholarship Award, Canadian Social Knowledge Institute (2021)
• Trudeau Scholar, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation (2012-2016)

Dr. Daniels has received significant research funding including the Killam Faculty Research Award (2025-2026), a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Development Grant for "Re-Orienting 'Orientalizing': Intercultural Iconographies of the Mediterranean Iron Age," and a Connections Grant for "Presenting the Past: Responsible Scholarship and Ancient Mediterranean History." She has supervised multiple graduate students on topics related to Greek art and archaeology, Phoenician/Punic culture, and cross-cultural interactions in the ancient Mediterranean. Her fieldwork experience spans 15+ years across numerous sites in Greece, Italy, Tunisia, and other Mediterranean locations, with particular expertise in ceramic analysis.

She is currently developing research in ancient mobility and migration, digital/data science approaches to the ancient world, and continues her longstanding work on Phoenician/Punic culture. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges traditional archaeological methods with cutting-edge digital humanities techniques to address fundamental questions about social complexity and cultural interaction in the ancient Mediterranean.