IPAMAA's Alex Moskowitz successfully defended his dissertation "Fracturing Narratives of Colonization: Views of Early Iron Age Sicily through Metals and Metallurgy" on Wednesday, March 12th.
Alex describes his research as follows: "The study of Greek colonization has tended to explore relationships between Greek and Indigenous communities through the lens of ethnicity. My dissertation charts a new path forward in understanding how communities experienced colonization during this period by reconstructing systems of practice without using ethnic labels. Focused on the island of Sicily between 900 and 500 BCE, I explored the development of local Sicilian communities through their evolving relationships with metals and metallurgy. Informed by postcolonial studies and anthropological theories of craft production, I conducted a systematic reanalysis of evidence for metalworking and the use of metal objects on the island to explore the development of socially embedded practices throughout the period. My research combined a georeferenced database of over 4000 objects with the close study of materials in museum storerooms, where I tested new methods to identify forming traces on objects as evidence for distinct artisanal communities. I structured my dissertation as a series of multi-scalar case studies, layering the discussion of artisanal, religious, and funerary Communities of Practice atop one another to demonstrate the variability of experiences among Sicilian populations and the evolution of local and regional connectivities between the Early Iron Age and Archaic periods. My work identified previously unknown Indigenous religious and craft production traditions that persisted through the 6th century BCE and shaped the development of cities like Gela and Syracuse. Considering religious, funerary, and artisanal communities, I provide new insights into how distinct social groups both appropriated new practices and maintained traditional ones amidst colonization."
Our deepest congratulations, Dr. Moskowitz!
