![Carmen Esposito](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/10455?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Dr Carmen Esposito
(she/her)
Teams and roles for Carmen Esposito
Research Associate
School of Global Humanities
Overview
I am currently a Research Associate for the ERC-funded FRAME project led by prof. Richard Madgwick, working on multi-isotope analysis of animal bones and cereals to uncover the strategies that supported Roman soldiers across frontiers in Europe.
My research combines multi-isotope analysis of bio-archaeological remains, human osteology and archaeological data to reconstruct human mobility in the past, with a particular but not exclusive focus on Iron Age Italy. I have recently concluded my Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowship project TULAR at the University of Bologna, exploring human mobility in Proto-Etruscan/Villanovan sites across the Italian Peninsula.
I was previously a Rome Fellow at the British School at Rome (BSR), and a Research Associate at Cardiff University working on the AHRC-funded FEASTNET project on multi-isotope analysis of animal bones from the British Bronze – Iron Age.
My research interests include:
• Multi-isotope analysis of human (cremated and inhumed) and animal remains
• Villanovan culture and Etruscan of pre-Roman Italy
• Human mobility and permeable frontiers
• Life history reconstruction
• Advances in Human osteology
Publication
2026
- Stuart, E. et al., 2026. Walking through the landscape: A different approach to mobility through 87Sr/86Sr isoscapes. Journal of Archaeological Science 190 106561. (10.1016/j.jas.2026.106561)
- Germano, R. et al., 2026. Health and lifestyle in the Iron Age Italian community of Pontecagnano (Campania, Italy, 7th-6th century BCE). PLoS ONE 21 (1) e0338448. (10.1371/journal.pone.0338448)
2025
- Mahoney, P. et al., 2025. Variation in modern human deciduous molar enamel formation time. American Journal of Biological Anthropology 188 (3) e70156. (10.1002/ajpa.70156)
- Esposito, C. et al. 2025. Diverse feasting networks at the end of the Bronze Age in Britain (c. 900-500 BCE) evidenced by multi-isotope analysis. iScience 28 (9) 113271. (10.1016/j.isci.2025.113271)
- Stoddart, S. et al., 2025. The process of nucleation amongst the early cities of central Italy in the first millennium BC. Frontiers in Human Dynamics 7 1569997. (10.3389/fhumd.2025.1569997)
- Gigante, M. et al., 2025. Where Typhoeus lived: 87Sr/86Sr analysis of human remains in the first Greek site in the Western Mediterranean, Pithekoussai, Italy. iScience 28 (3) 111927. (10.1016/j.isci.2025.111927)
2024
- Esposito, C. et al. 2024. NOthing goes to WAste (NOWA): A protocol to optimise sampling of ancient teeth. Journal of Archaeological Science 171 (106087) 106087. (10.1016/j.jas.2024.106087)
- Bagnasco, G. et al., 2024. Bioarchaeology aids the cultural understanding of six characters in search of their agency (Tarquinia, ninth–seventh century BC, central Italy). Scientific Reports 14 (1) 11895. (10.1038/s41598-024-61052-z)
- Esposito, C. and Stoddart, S. 2024. The Etruscans. In: Maiuro, M. ed. The Oxford Handbook of Pre-Roman Italy (1000--49 BCE). Oxford University Press. , pp.342-367. (10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199987894.013.18)
2023
- Madgwick, R. , Esposito, C. and Lamb, A. 2023. Farming and feasting during the Bronze Age–Iron Age transition in Britain (ca. 900–500 bce): multi-isotope evidence for societal change. Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology 2 122158. (10.3389/fearc.2023.1221581)
- Esposito, C. et al. 2023. Intense community dynamics in the pre-Roman frontier site of Fermo (ninth–fifth century BCE, Marche, central Italy) inferred from isotopic data. Scientific Reports 13 (1) 3632. (10.1038/s41598-023-29466-3)
2022
- Leppard, T. P. , Esposito, C. and Esposito, M. 2022. Issues in meta-analysis of strontium isotope data: A reply to Perry et al.. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 35 (1), pp.120-132. (10.1558/jma.23772)
2021
- Parkinson, E. W. et al., 2021. Radiocarbon dated trends and central Mediterranean prehistory. Journal of World Prehistory 34 , pp.317-379. (10.1007/s10963-021-09158-4)
- Gigante, M. et al., 2021. Who was buried with Nestor’s Cup? Macroscopic and microscopic analyses of the cremated remains from Tomb 168 (second half of the 8th century BCE, Pithekoussai, Ischia Island, Italy). Plos One 16 (10) e0257368. (10.1371/journal.pone.0257368)
- Leppard, T. P. , Esposito, C. and Esposito, M. 2021. The bioarchaeology of migration in the ancient Mediterranean: Meta-analysis of radiogenic (87Sr/86Sr) isotope ratios. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 33 (2), pp.211-241. (10.1558/jma.18784)
- Grilli, F. et al., 2021. Fermo: la storia infinita. Archeologia Viva 207
- Miranda, P. and Esposito, C. 2021. Sulla periodizzazione delle necropoli protostoriche di Fermo. Mitteilungen Des Deutschen Archaologischen Instituts Romische Abteilung 127 , pp.62-109.
2019
- Trentacoste, A. et al., 2019. Heading for the hills? A multi-isotope study of sheep management in first-millennium BC Italy. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 29 102036. (10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.102036)
- Murphy, E. A. et al., 2019. The Landscape Archaeology of Southwest Sardinia Project: New data and method from the insular Mediterranean. Journal of Field Archaeology 44 (6), pp.367-382. (10.1080/00934690.2019.1625247)
Articles
- Stuart, E. et al., 2026. Walking through the landscape: A different approach to mobility through 87Sr/86Sr isoscapes. Journal of Archaeological Science 190 106561. (10.1016/j.jas.2026.106561)
- Germano, R. et al., 2026. Health and lifestyle in the Iron Age Italian community of Pontecagnano (Campania, Italy, 7th-6th century BCE). PLoS ONE 21 (1) e0338448. (10.1371/journal.pone.0338448)
- Mahoney, P. et al., 2025. Variation in modern human deciduous molar enamel formation time. American Journal of Biological Anthropology 188 (3) e70156. (10.1002/ajpa.70156)
- Esposito, C. et al. 2025. Diverse feasting networks at the end of the Bronze Age in Britain (c. 900-500 BCE) evidenced by multi-isotope analysis. iScience 28 (9) 113271. (10.1016/j.isci.2025.113271)
- Stoddart, S. et al., 2025. The process of nucleation amongst the early cities of central Italy in the first millennium BC. Frontiers in Human Dynamics 7 1569997. (10.3389/fhumd.2025.1569997)
- Gigante, M. et al., 2025. Where Typhoeus lived: 87Sr/86Sr analysis of human remains in the first Greek site in the Western Mediterranean, Pithekoussai, Italy. iScience 28 (3) 111927. (10.1016/j.isci.2025.111927)
- Esposito, C. et al. 2024. NOthing goes to WAste (NOWA): A protocol to optimise sampling of ancient teeth. Journal of Archaeological Science 171 (106087) 106087. (10.1016/j.jas.2024.106087)
- Bagnasco, G. et al., 2024. Bioarchaeology aids the cultural understanding of six characters in search of their agency (Tarquinia, ninth–seventh century BC, central Italy). Scientific Reports 14 (1) 11895. (10.1038/s41598-024-61052-z)
- Madgwick, R. , Esposito, C. and Lamb, A. 2023. Farming and feasting during the Bronze Age–Iron Age transition in Britain (ca. 900–500 bce): multi-isotope evidence for societal change. Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology 2 122158. (10.3389/fearc.2023.1221581)
- Esposito, C. et al. 2023. Intense community dynamics in the pre-Roman frontier site of Fermo (ninth–fifth century BCE, Marche, central Italy) inferred from isotopic data. Scientific Reports 13 (1) 3632. (10.1038/s41598-023-29466-3)
- Leppard, T. P. , Esposito, C. and Esposito, M. 2022. Issues in meta-analysis of strontium isotope data: A reply to Perry et al.. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 35 (1), pp.120-132. (10.1558/jma.23772)
- Parkinson, E. W. et al., 2021. Radiocarbon dated trends and central Mediterranean prehistory. Journal of World Prehistory 34 , pp.317-379. (10.1007/s10963-021-09158-4)
- Gigante, M. et al., 2021. Who was buried with Nestor’s Cup? Macroscopic and microscopic analyses of the cremated remains from Tomb 168 (second half of the 8th century BCE, Pithekoussai, Ischia Island, Italy). Plos One 16 (10) e0257368. (10.1371/journal.pone.0257368)
- Leppard, T. P. , Esposito, C. and Esposito, M. 2021. The bioarchaeology of migration in the ancient Mediterranean: Meta-analysis of radiogenic (87Sr/86Sr) isotope ratios. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 33 (2), pp.211-241. (10.1558/jma.18784)
- Grilli, F. et al., 2021. Fermo: la storia infinita. Archeologia Viva 207
- Miranda, P. and Esposito, C. 2021. Sulla periodizzazione delle necropoli protostoriche di Fermo. Mitteilungen Des Deutschen Archaologischen Instituts Romische Abteilung 127 , pp.62-109.
- Trentacoste, A. et al., 2019. Heading for the hills? A multi-isotope study of sheep management in first-millennium BC Italy. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 29 102036. (10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.102036)
- Murphy, E. A. et al., 2019. The Landscape Archaeology of Southwest Sardinia Project: New data and method from the insular Mediterranean. Journal of Field Archaeology 44 (6), pp.367-382. (10.1080/00934690.2019.1625247)
Book sections
- Esposito, C. and Stoddart, S. 2024. The Etruscans. In: Maiuro, M. ed. The Oxford Handbook of Pre-Roman Italy (1000--49 BCE). Oxford University Press. , pp.342-367. (10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199987894.013.18)