Angelos Gkotsinas

Research topic during fellowship: Reconstructing Middle Helladic Central and Northwest Greece: Unearthing Ancient Socioeconomic Insights through Animal Diet, Seasonality and Mobility

Angelos Gkotsinas studied Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of the Aegean and continued his studies with an MSc in Environmental Archaeology and Palaeoeconomy at the University of Sheffield, specializing in zooarchaeology. He holds a PhD in Prehistory, Protohistory, and Paleoenvironment of the Mediterranean and Africa from École Doctorale 60, University Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3, France, in partnership with the University of Montreal, Canada. His doctoral research delved into the study of animal bone assemblages from various sites in North Greece, investigating the animal management and diet in the North Aegean during the first millennium BCE. He is a scientific collaborator in several excavations and research projects across Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean, specializing in the study of terrestrial faunal remains from Prehistory to Late Antiquity. His main research interests focus on the exploitation of domestic and wild animals to shed light on the pastoral strategies, economies, dietary habits, cooking practices, and ritual acts of past human societies in Greece and beyond. This focus has led to the publication of his articles in international journals, contributions to book chapters, and conference proceedings. He currently works as an archaeologist at the Ephorate of Antiquities of Elis, where he is involved in the restoration program of the "Phidias workshop-Paleochristian Basilica" in Ancient Olympia. As a Harvard CHS Fellow, he is undertaking a groundbreaking study into the socio-political and economic dynamics of Middle Helladic societies in Central and Northwest Greece. His approach, which focuses on animal management practices, promises to shed new light on the intricacies of Middle Bronze Age Greece.