Dr Ruth Westgate

Cyhoeddiad

• Date
• Type

Ymchwil

My research is primarily concerned with the architecture and decoration of Greek and Roman houses, and the relationship between houses and the society, politics and economy of the ancient world.

Greek mosaics of the Classical and Hellenistic periods

I am working on a monograph about decorated mosaics in the Greek world from the fifth century to the early first century BC, covering pavements of pebbles, tesserae, stone chips and various combinations of materials. This will be the first comprehensive study of Greek mosaics since the 1930s, ranging from the pebble mosaics of the Classical period to the late Hellenistic pavements of Delos and Pompeii, and including a corpus of decorated mosaics which will enable scholars to get a reliable overview of this material for the first time. The book will survey the techniques, materials and design of the mosaics, and will re-evaluate the prevailing models of their stylistic and technical development, considering each pavement in its architectural and regional context. But it also goes beyond conventional art-historical concerns to explore the changing ways in which mosaics and other decoration were used to structure the space in houses, and thus to gain insights into social and economic trends in the Classical and Hellenistic periods.

Domestic space in Archaic–Hellenistic Greece

Another strand of my work examines the relationship between domestic space and socio-political organisation in the Greek world. At present I am exploring the ways in which the development of social and political complexity in the Aegean was played out in the architecture of houses from the Early Iron Age to the Classical period, looking at how social roles and status distinctions within and between households shaped the architecture and decoration of houses.

I am particularly interested in Classical and Hellenistic houses in Crete, which are strikingly different in their form and appearance from the courtyard houses found elsewhere in the period. The differences may be related to a different form of social organisation on Crete, which is attested by the literary sources; the austere, backward-looking appearance and furnishings of Cretan houses in this period suggest a desire to suppress or deny social change.

Addysgu

Israddedig

• Archaeoleg Cymdeithasau Môr y Canoldir
• Gwrthrychau Hynafol: Bryd hynny a Nawr
• Cyflwyniad i Gelf ac Archaeoleg Groeg
• Bywyd yn Rhufain Hynafol
• At Home with the Romans: Domestic Space and Society

Bywgraffiad

Addysg a chymwysterau

• 1995 PhD, Hanes Celf, Prifysgol Manceinion (Mosaigau Groeg y Cyfnodau Clasurol a Helenistaidd)
• 1988 BA Clasuron, Coleg Clare, Caergrawnt

Trosolwg gyrfa

• 2019–2023 Pennaeth Hanes a Chrefydd yr Henfyd, Prifysgol Caerdydd
• 2013–presennol Uwch Ddarlithydd mewn Archaeoleg a Hanes yr Henfyd, Prifysgol Caerdydd
• 2004–2013 Darlithydd mewn Archaeoleg a Hanes yr Henfyd, Prifysgol Caerdydd
• 1998–2004 Cymrawd Ymchwil/Darlithydd mewn Archaeoleg a Hanes yr Henfyd, Prifysgol Caerdydd
• 1996 Darlithydd Cyswllt, Adran y Clasuron, Coleg y Brenin Llundain
• 1993–1995 Myfyriwr Macmillan-Rodewald, Ysgol Brydeinig yn Athen
• 1992–1993 Myfyriwr Ysgol, Ysgol Brydeinig yn Athen

Cyflawniadau nodedig

• Cymrodoriaeth Absenoldeb Ymchwil Prifysgol Caerdydd 2017
• 2008 Cymrodoriaeth Ymchwil Leverhulme am waith ar fonagraff ar fosaigau Groeg.
• 2001 Prif drefnydd y gynhadledd 'Building Communities: House, Settlement and Society in the Aegean and Beyond'.

Aelodaethau proffesiynol

• Publicity Officer and Committee member, Association for the Study and Preservation of Roman Mosaics
• Member of Standing Commitee, Council of University Classical Departments
• Member of Council, Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, 2007–2010
• Secretary, Cardiff and District Classical Association, 2001–2010
• Member, Association International pour l'Étude de la Mosaïque Antique
• Member of Council, British School at Athens, 1996–1998

Meysydd goruchwyliaeth

Ardaloedd dan oruchwyliaeth

Byddai gen i ddiddordeb mewn goruchwylio prosiectau PhD ar:

• Tai ac aelwydydd Groegaidd a Rhufeinig
• Mosaigau a phaentio hynafol
• Celf a phensaernïaeth Groeg a Rhufeinig, yn enwedig o'r cyfnodau Clasurol, Helenistaidd ac Ymerodrol cynnar
• Archaeoleg Groeg a hanes cymdeithasol

Myfyrwyr PhD presennol

• Alexia Miltiadous-Johansson, Tai ac Aelwydydd yng Nghreta Helenistaidd-Rhufeinig Creta a Chyprus; cyd-oruchwyliwr gyda Guy Bradley

Prosiectau'r gorffennol

• Karen Gregory, Mapio Mosaigau ym Mhrydain Rufeinig y Bedwaredd Ganrif: Patrymau Rhanbarthol a Rhwydweithiau Elitaidd; cyd-oruchwyliwr gyda Martin Pitts (Prifysgol Caerwysg) (dyfarnwyd 2025)
• Vasiliki Kontogianni, Haenau Hydroffobig ac Ychwanegion Organig mewn Morterau Helenistaidd-Rhufeinig: Astudiaeth Achos Creta; trydydd goruchwyliwr gyda David Watkinson a Nicola Emmerson (dyfarnwyd 2022)
• Nadia Randle, Triumphabant aeternae domus: Motiffau Arfbais mewn Addurn Domestig Rhufeinig; cyd-oruchwyliwr gyda Guy Bradley (dyfarnwyd yn 2015)
• Mark Woolmer, Inter-regional Merchants in the Greek World: A Reappraisal of their Social, Political and Legal Status during the Archaic and Classical Periods; cyd-oruchwyliwr gyda Louis Rawlings (dyfarnwyd 2009)
• Janett Morgan, Cwlt Domestig yn y Tŷ Groeg Clasurol; cyd-oruchwyliwr gyda Nick Fisher (dyfarnwyd yn 2005)