Bioarchaeology of the Eastern Mediterranean

This broad thematic encompasses a number of sub-projects, partly supported by STARC graduate students. The focus is on human osteoarchaeological assessments of migration, kinship, diet, activity and pathology, captured under the broad themes of physical and social mobility. Temporally this study covers the Archaic to post-Roman times, with most of the assemblages dating to the Hellenistic period and Roman era. The aim is to gradually build an open-access database of Eastern Mediterranean human osteoarchaeological data that will allow exploring key questions pertaining to migration patterns in the Roman Empire, social stratification in ancient Greece beyond Athens and many others, complementing historical sources and other archaeological lines of evidence.


In the context of Promised, University of Cambridge faculty will share their expertise in C and N isotopes with CyI project members, a key method for exploring ancient diet.

Relevant dissemination


  • Invited talk to the 11th meeting of the Hellenic Association of Bioscientists titled: ‘Bioarchaeology: A window to the diachronic interplay between diet, environment, health and disease’, 15th December 2018, Athens.
  • Nikita, E., Stiles, K. Family Matters: Bioarchaeological Perspectives into Mycenaean Kinship. Podium presentation, 121st Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, Washington, D.C., 2–5 January 2020.
  • Karligkioti, A., Christofi, P., Helgeson, K., Mavroudas, S., Constantinou, F., Cruz, K., Nikita, E., Herrmann, N. The inhabitants of ancient Kition: Preliminary insights. Poster presentation, 2nd International Congress on Archaeological Sciences in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, Nicosia, 12th-14th November 2019.
  • Mardini, M., Nikita, E., Doumit, G., Zaven, T., Ghadban, M. Social Mobility and Life Quality in Roman Byblos: Comparative Analysis of Cross-Sectional Geometry, Degenerative Joint Disease, Entheseal Changes, Cemetery Clustering, and Tomb Typology. Poster presentation, 2nd International Congress on Archaeological Sciences in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, Nicosia, 12th-14th November 2019.
  • Ventura Abade, C., Lucy Lawrence, L., Sabetai, V., Nikita, E. Dental microwear as evidence of human diet in the Classical World: A pilot study. Podium presentation, 19th International Congress of Classical Archaeology, Cologne/Bonn, 22nd – 26th May 2018.
  • Vergidou, Ch., Karamitrou-Mentesidi, G., Voutsaki, S., Nikita, E. Investigating oral pathologies and their implications at the Imperial Roman Province of Upper Macedonia. Poster presentation, 2nd International Congress on Archaeological Sciences in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, Nicosia, 12th-14th November 2019.
  • Schrock, C., Sabetai, V., Vlachogianni, E. Nikita, E. Humanizing Antiquity: Biocultural Approaches to Identity Formation in Ancient Boeotia, central Greece. Podium presentation, 19th International Congress of Classical Archaeology, Cologne/Bonn, 22nd – 26th May 2018.
  • Nikita, E. Exploring diet from the micro- to the macro-bioarchaeological scale: A case study from ancient Boeotia. Podium presentation, Food and… Conference, Texas Tech University, 29th-31st March 2018