Justin Leidwanger
Associate Professor of Classics and, by courtesy, of Oceans
Bio
Justin Leidwanger's work focuses on Mediterranean mobilities, interaction, and maritime heritage. Ships and ports, especially in southeast Sicily and southwest Turkey, are central to exploring these themes in the field, providing evidence for connections and the long-term dynamics that shaped communities amid the economically, socially, and politically changing worlds from the rise of Rome through late antiquity and beyond.
Between 2013 and 2019, he led investigations of the 6th-century Marzamemi 2 “church wreck” (Sicily), which sank while carrying nearly 100 tons of marble architectural elements. Work continues through underwater survey, 3D analysis, and publication as well as immersive museum-based and pop-up exhibits and other initiatives. Project 'U Mari extends this collaborative and community-based field research across southeast Sicily, interrogating the heritage of diverse but co-dependent interactions with and across the sea that have long defined the central Mediterranean. These connections offer a resource for deeper critical engagement with the past, more meaningful identities in the present, and more sustainable development in the future. One facet of this work examines the socioeconomic dynamics spanning three millennia of tuna fishing through maritime landscape archaeology and documentation of the fading material culture and traditional knowledge of the mattanza. Another mobilizes archaeology to better understand the creation and circulation of plastics as maritime material assemblages, offering a window into socio-environmental systems. These efforts simultaneously foreground heritage activism through community-based archaeology of the spaces, materialities, and memories of contemporary journeys of forced and undocumented migration across these waters.
Justin teaches courses and advises students on topics in Hellenistic, Roman, and Late Antique archaeology, Mediterranean heritage, economies and interaction, port networks, ceramic production and exchange, and Greco-Roman architecture and engineering. The Maritime Archaeology & Digital Heritage Lab (MEDLab) at the Archaeology Center serves as a fieldwork base and collaborative resource for digital modeling (structured light scanning, laser scanning, photogrammetry, GIS, network analysis) and pottery analysis (petrography, pXRF, computational morphological analysis).
Author of Roman Seas: A Maritime Archaeology of Eastern Mediterranean Economies (Oxford), and editor or co-editor of five more volumes, including Regional Economies in Action (Vienna) and Maritime Networks in the Ancient Mediterranean World (Cambridge), he is currently working on two books. The first, entitled Fluid Technologies: Innovation on the Ancient Mediterranean, arises from research with students in the field, lab, and museum, analyzing transport amphoras, port infrastructure, and other clues to ancient technologies of distribution. The second, The Tuna Trap, explores the entanglement of mobilities that have and continue to bind the shores surrounding the Strait of Sicily.
Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations
-
Faculty Member, Stanford Archeology Center, Stanford University
-
Affiliated Faculty, Institute of Nautical Archaeology
-
Consulting Scholar, Mediterranean Section, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
-
Co-Director, Excavations of the 6th-century AD Marzamemi “church wreck," coast of Sicily, Italy
-
Member, Marzamemi Maritime Heritage Project
-
Co-Director, Excavations in the Archaic through late Roman harbors of Burgaz, coast of Datca peninsula, Turkey
-
Director, Maritime landscape surveys, coast of Cyprus (2003 - 2009)
Professional Education
-
Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, Art and Archeology of the Mediterranean World (2011)
-
M.A., Texas A&M University, Nautical Archeology, Anthropology
-
B.A., Loyola University, Chicago, History & Classical Studies
2024-25 Courses
- Ancient Mediterranean Ports
CLASSICS 360 (Spr) - Engineering the Roman Empire
ARCHLGY 118, CLASSICS 168 (Win) - Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Maritime Archaeology of the Ancient Mediterranean
ARCHLGY 145, CLASSICS 154 (Win) -
Independent Studies (4)
- Directed Reading in Classics (Graduate Students)
CLASSICS 298 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Directed Readings (Undergraduate)
CLASSICS 198 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Dissertation Proposal Preparation
CLASSICS 297 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Undergraduate Thesis: Senior Research
CLASSICS 199 (Aut, Win, Spr)
- Directed Reading in Classics (Graduate Students)
-
Prior Year Courses
2022-23 Courses
- Engineering the Roman Empire
ARCHLGY 118, CLASSICS 168 (Spr) - Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Maritime Archaeology of the Ancient Mediterranean
ARCHLGY 145, CLASSICS 154 (Win) - Sicily and the Sea
ARCHLGY 140, CLASSICS 155 (Spr)
2021-22 Courses
- Engineering the Roman Empire
ARCHLGY 118, CLASSICS 168 (Spr) - Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Maritime Archaeology of the Ancient Mediterranean
ARCHLGY 145, CLASSICS 154 (Win) - Sicily and the Sea
ARCHLGY 140, CLASSICS 155 (Spr)
- Engineering the Roman Empire
Stanford Advisees
-
Doctoral Dissertation Reader (AC)
Serena Crosson -
Doctoral Dissertation Advisor (AC)
Beth Minney, Matthew Previto
All Publications
-
Maritime hinterlands and interregional interaction at Late Antique Kekova Adası, Türkiye
JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE-REPORTS
2024; 58
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104709
View details for Web of Science ID 001294487200001
- Regional Economies in Action. Standardization of Transport Amphorae in the Roman and Byzantine Mediterranean Sonderschriften des Österreichischen Archäologischen Instituts edited by Leidwanger, J., González Cesteros, H. Austrian Academy of Sciences. 2023; 63
-
ROMAN PORT SOCIETIES: THE EVIDENCE OF INSCRIPTIONS (Book Review)
JOURNAL OF ROMAN STUDIES
2022
View details for DOI 10.1017/S0075435822000405
View details for Web of Science ID 000836623100001
-
Toward Systematic Underwater Survey of Mediterranean Maritime Activity along the Southern Turkish Coast
JOURNAL OF FIELD ARCHAEOLOGY
2022
View details for DOI 10.1080/00934690.2022.2076189
View details for Web of Science ID 000804612200001
-
Ephemeral Heritage: Boats, Migration, and the Central Mediterranean Passage
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
2022; 126 (1): 79-102
View details for DOI 10.1086/718177
View details for Web of Science ID 000865980900019
-
Wandering Ports on the Datca Peninsula Exploring Regional Mobility in a Maritime Landscape
HOMO MIGRANS
2022: 269-290
View details for Web of Science ID 000973709200014
-
UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT VENDICARI, SOUTHEAST SICILY: A PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE 2018 - 2022 WORK
ARCHAEOLOGIA MARITIMA MEDITERRANEA-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY
2022; 19: 113-120
View details for DOI 10.19272/202204501006
View details for Web of Science ID 000920803700006
-
Welcome from the new editors
JOURNAL OF ROMAN ARCHAEOLOGY
2021; 34 (1): 1-2
View details for DOI 10.1017/S1047759421000398
View details for Web of Science ID 000675421000001
-
The Sixth-Century CE Shipwreck at Marzamemi
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
2021; 125 (2): 283-317
View details for DOI 10.3764/aja.125.2.0283
View details for Web of Science ID 000721332300005
-
A NEW COMPUTATIONAL METHOD TO QUANTIFY MORPHOLOGICAL STANDARDIZATION AND VARIATION WITHIN CERAMIC ASSEMBLAGES
ARCHEOLOGIA E CALCOLATORI
2020; 31 (1): 55–76
View details for DOI 10.19282/ac.31.1.2020.03
View details for Web of Science ID 000605343000003
- Roman Seas: A Maritime Archaeology of Eastern Mediterranean Economies Oxford University Press. 2020
-
MARZAMEMI II 'CHURCH WRECK' EXCAVATION: 2019 FIELD SEASON
ARCHAEOLOGIA MARITIMA MEDITERRANEA-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY
2020; 17: 103–23
View details for DOI 10.19272/202004501004
View details for Web of Science ID 000636558100004
-
Archaeological Investigations in the Harbours of Burgaz, Turkey: 2011-2015 field seasons
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
2019; 48 (1): 103–22
View details for DOI 10.1111/1095-9270.12334
View details for Web of Science ID 000459491400006
-
Knidian "Anyports": a model of coastal adaptation and socioeconomic connectivity from southwest Turkey
MEDITERRANEAN HISTORICAL REVIEW
2019; 34 (1): 9–25
View details for DOI 10.1080/09518967.2018.1535396
View details for Web of Science ID 000474871600002
-
MARZAMEMI II 'CHURCH WRECK' EXCAVATION: 2018 FIELD SEASON
ARCHAEOLOGIA MARITIMA MEDITERRANEA-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY
2019; 16: 13–31
View details for DOI 10.19272/201904501002
View details for Web of Science ID 000565070800002
-
Virtual simulation of a late antique shipwreck at Marzamemi, Sicily: Integrated processes for 3D documentation, analysis and representation of underwater archaeological data
ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROSPECTION
2018; 25 (2): 99–109
View details for DOI 10.1002/arp.1592
View details for Web of Science ID 000434408200001
-
MARZAMEMI II 'CHURCH WRECK' EXCAVATION: 2017 FIELD SEASON
ARCHAEOLOGIA MARITIMA MEDITERRANEA-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY
2018; 15: 37–55
View details for DOI 10.19272/201804501004
View details for Web of Science ID 000456701200004
- Maritime Networks in the Ancient Mediterranean World edited by Leidwanger, J., Knappett, C. 2018
-
New investigations of the 6th-c. AD "church wreck" at Marzamemi, Sicily
JOURNAL OF ROMAN ARCHAEOLOGY
2018; 31: 339–56
View details for DOI 10.1017/S1047759418001368
View details for Web of Science ID 000448487500016
-
From Time Capsules to Networks: New Light on Roman Shipwrecks in the Maritime Economy
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
2017; 121 (4): 595–619
View details for DOI 10.3764/aja.121.4.0595
View details for Web of Science ID 000423056800004
-
MARZAMEMI II 'CHURCH WRECK' EXCAVATION: 2016 FIELD SEASON
ARCHAEOLOGIA MARITIMA MEDITERRANEA-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY
2017; 14: 105–22
View details for DOI 10.19272/201704501005
View details for Web of Science ID 000433428600005
-
GLOBALISATION AND THE ROMAN WORLD: WORLD HISTORY, CONNECTIVITY AND MATERIAL CULTURE (Book Review)
JOURNAL OF ROMAN STUDIES
2017; 107: 378-379
View details for DOI 10.1017/S007543581700017X
View details for Web of Science ID 000413526800049
-
The Making of the Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean from the Beginning to the Emergence of the Classical World (Book Review)
CLASSICAL PHILOLOGY
2016; 111 (4): 465-469
View details for DOI 10.1086/688864
View details for Web of Science ID 000387578800010
-
An Assemblage of Early Modern Ordnance and Ground Tackle from South-west Cyprus
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
2016; 45 (1): 175-180
View details for DOI 10.1111/1095-9270.12142
View details for Web of Science ID 000371242100013
-
MARZAMEMI II 'CHURCH WRECK' EXCAVATION: 2015 FIELD SEASON
ARCHAEOLOGIA MARITIMA MEDITERRANEA-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY
2016; 13: 129-143
View details for Web of Science ID 000433428100008
-
A Late Antique Ceramic Assemblage at Burgaz, Datca Peninsula, South-west Turkey, and the "Normality of the Mixed Cargo' in the Ancient Mediterranean
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
2015; 44 (2): 300-311
View details for DOI 10.1111/1095-9270.12110
View details for Web of Science ID 000359419000004
-
MARZAMEMI II 'CHURCH WRECK' EXCAVATION: 2014 FIELD SEASON
ARCHAEOLOGIA MARITIMA MEDITERRANEA-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY
2015; 12: 103-115
View details for Web of Science ID 000453131100004
- Burgaz (Palaia Knidos) 2012 Yılı Çalışmaları Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı 2014; 35 (1): 60-75
- Maritime Networks and Economic Regionalism in the Roman Eastern Mediterranean Les nouvelles de l’archéologie 2014; 135: 32-38
- Implementing Underwater Cultural Heritage ‘Best Practices’ in the Mediterranean: The Noto Meeting International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 2014; 43 (2): 453-455
- A Preliminary Archaeometric Analysis of the Late Roman 1 Amphoras from the Cargo of the Seventh-Century Yassıada Shipwreck, Turkey LRCW 4. Late Roman Coarse Wares, Cooking Wares and Amphorae in the Mediterranean edited by Poulou-Papadimitriou, N. Oxford University Press. 2014: 897–906
- Marzamemi II ‘Church Wreck’ Excavation: 2013 Field Season Archaeologia Maritima Mediterranea 2014; 10: 191-198
- Integrating an Empire: Maritime Trade and Agricultural Supply in Roman Cyprus Skyllis: Zeitschrift für Unterwasserarchäologie 2014; 13 (1): 59-66
- Review of "Trading Communities in the Roman World: A Micro-Economic and Institutional Perspective" Columbia Studies in the Classical Tradition Leiden: Brill. 2014
- Excavating the Harbors of Old Knidos INA Quarterly 2014; 40 (4): 8-13
-
Opportunistic Ports and Spaces of Exchange in Late Roman Cyprus
JOURNAL OF MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGY
2013; 8 (2): 221-243
View details for DOI 10.1007/s11457-013-9118-0
View details for Web of Science ID 000327067900003
- Between Local and Long-Distance: A Roman Shipwreck at Fig Tree Bay off SE Cyprus Journal of Roman Archaeology 2013; 26: 191-208
- Review of "Maritime Technology in the Ancient Economy: Ship-Design and Navigation" Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary Series, American Journal of Archaeology 2013; 117 (2)
- Expanding Contacts and Collapsing Distances in Early Cypro-Archaic Trade: Three Case Studies of Shipwrecks off the Turkish Coast Transport Amphorae and Trade of Cyprus edited by Lawall, M. L., Lund, J. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press. 2013: 21–34
- Modeling Distance with Time in Ancient Mediterranean Seafaring: A GIS Application for the Interpretation of Maritime Connectivity Journal of Archaeological Science 2013; 40: 3302-3308
- Burgaz 2011 Yılı Çalışmaları Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı 2013; 34 (3): 5-24
- Law, Ethics, and Deep-Water Archaeology: the Wreck of Cesnola's Napried IKUWA3: Beyond Boundaries: The 3rd International Congress on Underwater Archaeology edited by Henderson, J. Frankfurt: Roman-Germanic Commission. 2012: 83–88
- Sourcing the Cargos of Three Archaic Shipwrecks: Kekova Adası, Kepçe Burnu, and Çaycağız Koyu Arkeometri Sonuçları Toplantısı 2012; 27: 393-409
-
Mare Nostrum? Ethics and Archaeology in Mediterranean Waters
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
2011; 115 (2): 311-319
View details for Web of Science ID 000289609900013
-
Two Early Archaic Shipwrecks at Kekova Adasi and Kepce Burnu, Turkey
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
2011; 40 (1): 60-68
View details for DOI 10.1111/j.1095-9270.2010.00265.x
View details for Web of Science ID 000286887500005
- Amphoras from an Early Imperial Shipwreck at Fig Tree Bay, Cyprus: International Imports and Local Imitations Rei Cretariae Romanae Fautorum Acta 2010; 41: 9-16
- Toward Best Practices in Mediterranean Underwater Archaeology International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 2010; 39 (2): 437-439