Affiliation: University of Minnesota
Ron Marchese is Professor of Ancient History and Archaeology in the Department of Sociology & Anthropology at the University of Minnesota at Duluth. He was also a member of the Center for Ancient Studies and the Interdisciplinary Archaeological Studies Program at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus. Marchese has conducted archaeological research, both excavations and survey, in numerous locales in the eastern Mediterranean, including Greece, Turkey, and Israel. Marchese, a two-time recipient of a Fulbright-Hays award for the international exchange of scholars, has also conducted extensive ethno-archeological research on nomadic material culture in the Middle East, especially in Turkey. He has lectured on nomadic material culture in the Middle East and Persian Gulf, including exhibitions of nomadic weavings. Marchese is currently involved in geophysical research and survey at the ancient site of Plataiai in Greece, the systematic study of Armenian Orthodox sacred art from the Armenian Patriarchate in Istanbul, Turkey, as well as continuing his work in ethno-archaeology on village culture and the disappearing world of nomads in eastern Turkey. He has held numerous academic awards and research grants over the past thirty years as well as presented and published articles and books on various topics of the ancient world and its modern equivalents. The volume, Splendor and Pageantry: Textile Treasures from the Armenian Orthodox Churches of Istanbul, which he co-authored with Marlene Breu and the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul, is the recipient of the R.L. Shep Ethnic Textiles Book Award for 2011, from the Textile Society of America. Most recently he has co-authored the report on the multinational excavations and geo-physical survey of the ancient site of Plataiai, published in 2013 by the Austrian Archaeological Instititue (OAI).
