Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology
Research
Research Students: The Hilti Foundation Scholars
In 2004 three scholars were awarded Hilti Foundation Scholarships to undertake
postgraduate work at Oxford University on the material from underwater
excavations in Heracleion and the Canopic Region.
Emma Libonati (D.Phil)
The Statues of Heracleion and the Canopic Region.
The aim of Emma's research is to provide a complete catalogue of the sculptures
and sculptural fragments that have been recovered from Franck Goddio's and the
Hilti Foundation's excavations in Canopus and Heracleion. Already, tantalizing
glimpses of the high quality pieces that have been recovered from the sites
have been published or shall be soon; but there also exist a substantial number
of sphinxes, portraits of private individuals and other miscellany, which will
contribute to the understanding of the decorative statuary program of sacral
spaces in Late Period Egypt. Additionally, this thesis will be focusing on
statues taken from the Canopic Region over the centuries that may be associated
with the underwater sites.
Yvonne Stolz (D.Phil)
Byzantine Jewelry
Yvonne Stolz studied in Mainz and Vienna, and graduated in 2002 with a Master
thesis on the contexts of a necklace from the late antique treasure of Assiût
in Upper Egypt. In 2002 and 2003 she enhanced her knowledge on Byzantine
jewellery by undertaking a research project, which included visits to different
museums and collections. Since October 2004 she is living in Oxford and
researching the jewellery finds from Canopus. Her research on the jewellery
from Canopus has three main aims: First, to catalogue the finds, second, to
integrate them into an art history of Byzantine gold jewellery and third, to
interpret their contexts. All this should lead to a broader understanding of
Byzantine jewellery in particular, Byzantine art in general, and the role Egypt
and Alexandria played in late Antiquity.
Zoe Cox (M.St)
Ritual Furniture and Bronze Objects.
The metal finds from Thonis-Heracleion provide us with a rare opportunity to
see something of the range of vessels and associated objects outside of the
tomb. For the greater part they are not objects that would have been considered
valuable enough to warrant inclusion in buried hoards. Instead they form a
coherent body of evidence for the daily use of metal objects, both religious
and secular, in an Egyptian town. My research focuses on the finds, not only as
functioning individual pieces of craftsmanship, but also on the way in which
the metal vessels relate to each other and to the society that created and used
them, treating the finds as a socio-historical source and integrating them with
their surrounding environment.
