University Professors
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Erich Kistler
Archaeology of the Ancient Mediterranean
phone: +43 512 507 37550
Main Research Topics
- The Early Iron Age and Archaic period, including orientalising elites, feasting as a political tool, consumption as the resetting of exotic items in the Mediterranean basin and the interplay between local settings and global dynamics in ancient Sicily
- Visual communication:
a) the encoding and decoding of paintings on archaic and classical vases and
b) the use of the representation of barbarians to transmit norms and values in the Hellenistic world
Professional Activities
1992 ‐ 2008
Annual participation in the excavation on Monte Iato, Institute of Classical Archaeology, University of Zurich
1995 ‐ 2001
Research Assistant, Institute of Classical Archaeology, University of Zurich
2005
Acting chair of the Institute of Archaeology of the Ancient Mediterranean, University of Bern
2005 ‐ 2008
Lecturer in Classical Archaeology, University of Zurich
2006 ‐ 2008
Co‐Director of the Ietas‐Excavation (Sicily) of the University of Zurich (Swiss National Science Foundation nr. 101212‐109600
2008 ‐ 2010
Professor for Classical Archaeology at the Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Ruhr‐University, Bochum
2008 ‐ 2009
Co‐Director of the Miletos‐Excavation (Turkey) of the DAI and the Ruhr‐University, Bochum. Reorganization of the researches in Miletos, and application to the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) for the project “Living in Post‐archaic Miletos”
Since 2010
Professor for Classical Archaeology at the Institute for Archaeologies, Leopold‐Franzens University, Innsbruck
Since 2010
Director of the Innsbruckian Monte Iato Project (Western Sicily)
2010 ‐ 2018
Member of the Advisory Board for Qualification Agreements on tenure-track Positions at the Faculty of Philosophy and History
2010 ‐ 2018
Member of the Curriculum Commission at the Faculty of Philosophy and History
2011‐ 2017
Elected Speaker of the “Atriumsrat” of the Centre for Ancient Cultures at the Leopold‐Franzens University Innsbruck
2012 ‐ 2015
Speaker of the interdisciplinary doctoral college “Figuration Counter-Culture” at Leopold‐Franzens University Innsbruck
2012
Refusal of an appointment as Professor for Classical Archaeology at Heidelberg University
2017 ‐ 2021
Head of the Department of Archaeology at Leopold‐Franzens University Innsbruck
since 2022
Head of the Doctoral College "Entangled Antiquities" at the Research Centre "Ancient World Studies", University of Innsbruck
Academic Endorsements, Selected Projects
- FWF Austrian Science Foundation: The Parochial City at Hellenistic Monte Iato and the World beyond Peristyle House 1 (Western Sicily, 300-190/80 BC) P 34941 (2021-2024: 601428,24 €)
- FWF Austrian Science Foundation: „Potter’s Reactions on Local Demands: Comparing Indigenous Monte Iato (Sicily), Ascoli Satriano (Apulia) and Ripacandida (Basilicata), 7th – 3rd cent. BC” P 33350 (2020-2024: 404.038,95 €)
- Science Communication Award of the FWF Österreicher Wissenschaftsfond: “Narrative Consumerscapes between Modernity and Traditionality - A Virtual Encounter with the Archaic Monte Iato, Sicily (6th/5th c. B.C.)” (WKP 151, 2021-2022: 49.871,54 €)
- FWF Austrian Science Foundation: „Between Aphrodite‐Temple and Late Archaic House I‐III (Monte Iato)” P 22642 (2010‐2013: 318,201.63 €), P 27073 (2014‐2017: 429,182.11 €), and P 30478 (2017-2021: 396,045.72 €)
- Research Network DFG (co‐applicant) “Konkurrenz und Institutionalisierung in der griechischen Archaik“ (projekt 269125951: EUR 28,750).
- Co‐applicant (together with N. Dabag, N. Jaspert and D. Haller) for the Center for Mediterranean Studies at the Ruhr‐University Bochum, approved by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research on 9/12/2009 (EUR 2.200.000).
Selected key note lectures (last 5 years)
- Oversizing the middle. The powerful fat ones in Archaic Greece. Performing Luxury and Austerity in Archaic Greece and Beyond, Berlin, 16.05.2019 (key note)
- together with Thanheiser, Ursula; Forstenpointner, Gerhard; Weissengruber, Gerald: Feasting at the edge – modern versus traditional consumptionscapes at Archaic Monte Iato (sixth to fifth century BC). Feasting with the Greeks: Towards a Social Archaeology of Ritual Consumption in the Greek World, Oxford, 13.03.2019
- The creation of the local - a new perspective in archaeology? Connectivity and localism. Architecture, urban planning and social interaction in Greek archaic communities of the nothern Peloponnese, southern Italy and Sicily, Athen, 22.11.2018 (key note)
- Consumption habits and and ceramic fingerprints on the Archaic Monte Iato (6th/5th cent. B.C.). 19. Internationaler Kongress der Klassischen Archäologie (AIAC 2018), Bonn, 25.05.2018
- with Öhlinger, Birgit; Mohr, Martin: Rituals of indigeneity and empowerment on late Archaic Monte Iato. International Conference: The production of locality and empowerment in the archaic western mediterranean, Innsbruck, 10.05.2017
Editorial boards
- Italiká
- Analysis Archaeologica: An International Journal of Western Mediterranean Archaeology
- Tübinger Archäologische Forschungen
Awards
2012
Call to a Chair of Classical Archaeology at the Univ. of Heidelberg (declined)
2016
Winner of the Research Prize of the Foundation of the Südtiroler Sparkasse at the Leopold Franzens University Innsbruck for the Innsbruckian Monte Iato Project
2018
Winner of the Science Award for exceptional research achievements of the Südtiroler Sparkasse at the Leopold Franzens University Innsbruck
Referee activities
- Reporter of the FWF Der Wissenschaftsfond (Classical Studies)
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds
- Jubiläumsfond der Österreichischen Nationalbank
- Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft Forschung und Wirtschaft
Memberships in scientific organisations/ scientific boards
- Co‐organiser together with Michael Kerschner of the think‐tank “Cultural Encounters and Transfers in the Early Mediterranean (1000‐400 B.C.)”; members and discussants: Holger Baitinger, Jan Paul Crielaard, Gunnel Ekroth, Irene Lemos, Catherine Morgan, Simon Rainer and Karl Reber, since 2014
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Council of CORO, Centrum Orbis Orientalis et Occidentalis at the Georg‐August‐University Göttingen, since 2012
- Member of the Center for Mediterranean Studies at the Ruhr‐University Bochum, since 2009
- Member of “Deutscher Archäologenverband”, since 2000
Public Outreach Work and Scientific Communication
- “Looking for clues in the remnants of feasts”, scilog 3.12.2018
- Organisation of international conferences and workshops in Innsbruck
- Co‐Editor of „ATRIUM. Perspektive Zentrum für Alte Kulturen“
- Popular Scientific Lectures and Interviews in Radio and TV