Bio

Justin Leidwanger's research focuses on Mediterranean mobilities and connectivity, maritime livelihoods, and their heritage. Ships and ports are central to exploring these themes, providing evidence for the long-term dynamics that shaped coastal communities economically, socially, and politically. He is drawn to the long arc of the Roman Mediterranean, especially its temporal edges, from the emergence of Hellenistic states to the long Late Antiquity and beyond. Through a focus on diverse but co-dependent seaborne interactions that have and continue to define the Mediterranean, this work aligns critical engagement with the past, advocacy for local communities in the present, and sustainable development for the future.

Current collaborative fieldwork in Sardinia with the University of Sassari examines the socio-environmental dynamics spanning three millennia of tuna trap fisheries (tonnare). In Croatia, joint excavation with the Croatian Conservation Institute of a wreck carrying a high-ranking individual and perhaps a goldsmith around 700 CE sheds new light on the transformation of interactions at the end of antiquity (featured in National Geographic, Reuters, and elsewhere). A maritime landscape survey with Dokuz Eylül University in southwest Türkiye explores the impacts of early Hellenistic sociopolitical shifts on local economies and mobilities.

Previously, Justin co-directed investigations (2011-2015) at the Archaic through Late Antique harbors of Burgaz (“Old Knidos”) in Türkiye, and led excavations (2013-2019) of the 6th-century Marzamemi 2 “church wreck” off Sicily, which carried 100 tons of marble architectural elements. Work in Sicily continues through 3D and other analyses of the assemblage as well as immersive museum-based and other heritage initiatives that link past and present. One facet of this work mobilizes archaeology to understand the creation and circulation of plastics as maritime material assemblages, offering a new vantage point on socio-environmental systems. Another uses archaeology to foreground heritage activism through the spaces, materialities, and memories of forced and undocumented migration across these waters.

On campus, he 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, archaeological theory, 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 shipwreck and harbor archaeology, digital modeling (structured light scanning, laser scanning, photogrammetry, GIS, network visualization), and pottery analysis (petrography, pXRF, computational morphological analysis, finite element method, experimental archaeology).

Author of Roman Seas: A Maritime Archaeology of Eastern Mediterranean Economies (Oxford), and editor or co-editor of various volumes, including Maritime Networks in the Ancient Mediterranean World (Cambridge), Regional Economies in Action (Vienna), and Across the Shore: Integrating Perspective on Maritime Heritage (Springer), he is currently working on two books. The first, Fluid Technologies: Innovation on the Ancient Mediterranean, examines the interdependence of maritime logistics in Greco-Roman economies, from transport amphora standardization to changes in ship design and port infrastructure. The second, The Tuna Trap, uses the distinctive practices surrounding community fisheries to shed light on the entanglement of human and non-human mobilities across central Mediterranean waters.

Academic Appointments

  • Associate Professor, Classics
  • Associate Professor (By courtesy), Oceans

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

  • Faculty Member, Stanford Archeology Center, Stanford University (2013 - Present)
  • Consulting Scholar, Mediterranean Section, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (2011 - Present)
  • Affiliated Faculty, Institute of Nautical Archaeology (2012 - Present)
  • Fellow, Kolb Foundation, Penn Museum (2011 - Present)
  • Co-Director, Marzamemi 2 “church wreck" excavation, Sicily (2013 - 2019)
  • Co-Director, Burgaz Harbors Project, Turkey (2011 - 2015)
  • Director, Maritime landscape surveys, Cyprus (2003 - 2009)
  • Director, Marzamemi Maritime Heritage Project (2012 - 2025)
  • Consulting Scholar, Penn Cultural Heritage Center (2011 - Present)

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

Additional Info

2026-27 Courses

Stanford Advisees

All Publications

  • Navigating the Narrative: Integrating Traditional Knowledge and Embodied Practice within Computational Models of Ancient Seafaring JOURNAL OF MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGY Farr, H., Berard, B., Genz, J., Leidwanger, J., Slayton, E. 2025

    View details for DOI 10.1007/s11457-025-09470-6

    View details for Web of Science ID 001583062800001

  • Harbor geoarchaeology and urban change in the ancient Knidia (SW Türkiye) QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS Delile, H., Leidwanger, J., Goiran, J., Blichert-Toft, J., Stock, F., Brocard, G., Radloff, L., Greene, E. S., Tuna, N. 2025; 369

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109526

    View details for Web of Science ID 001574940400001

  • Launching CAST JOURNAL OF MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGY Leidwanger, J., Borreggine, M., Farr, H., Jarriel, K., Slayton, E. 2025

    View details for DOI 10.1007/s11457-025-09463-5

    View details for Web of Science ID 001562047300001

  • Food at sea on the Late Antique Mediterranean JOURNAL OF ROMAN ARCHAEOLOGY Donnelly, A., Leidwanger, J. 2025

    View details for DOI 10.1017/S104775942400028X

    View details for Web of Science ID 001399773200001

  • Maritime hinterlands and interregional interaction at Late Antique Kekova Adası, Türkiye JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE-REPORTS Gross, J., Leidwanger, J., Ozdas, H., Kizildag, N. 2024; 58

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104709

    View details for Web of Science ID 001294487200001

  • MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT VENDICARI, SOUTHEAST SICILY. A PRELIMINARY REPORT ON 2023-2024 WORK ARCHAEOLOGIA MARITIMA MEDITERRANEA-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY Leidwanger, J., Greene, E., Bartos, N., Constantine, N., Sgroi, F. 2024; 21

    View details for DOI 10.19272/202404

    View details for Web of Science ID 001440155500002

  • 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 Book Review Authored by: Leidwanger, J. 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 Ozdas, H., Leidwanger, J., Gross, J., Kizildag, N. 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 Greene, E. S., Leidwanger, J., Repola, L. 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 Greene, E. S., Leidwanger, J. edited by Daniels, M. J. 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 Leidwanger, J., Bartos, N., Wilker, S. T., Greene, E. S. 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 Trimble, J., Ben Russell, Van Oyen, A., Leidwanger, J. 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 Leidwanger, J., Greene, E. S., Donnelly, A. 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 Vo-Phamhi, J., Leidwanger, J. 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 Leidwanger, J. Oxford University Press. 2020
  • MARZAMEMI II 'CHURCH WRECK' EXCAVATION: 2019 FIELD SEASON ARCHAEOLOGIA MARITIMA MEDITERRANEA-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY Leidwanger, J., Sgroi, F. 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 Greene, E. S., Leidwanger, J., Tuna, N. 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 Greene, E. S., Leidwanger, J. 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 Leidwanger, J. 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 Repola, L., di Carlo, N., Signoretti, D., Leidwanger, J. 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 Leidwanger, J., Tusa, S. 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 Leidwanger, J. 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 Leidwanger, J. 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 Leidwanger, J., Tusa, S. 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 Book Review Authored by: Leidwanger, J. 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 Book Review Authored by: Leidwanger, J. 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 Howitt-Marshall, D., Jones, T. N., Leidwanger, J., Nowak, T. J. 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 Leidwanger, J., Tusa, S. 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 Leidwanger, J., Greene, E. S., Tuna, N. 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 Leidwanger, J., Tusa, S. 2015; 12: 103-115

    View details for Web of Science ID 000453131100004

  • Burgaz (Palaia Knidos) 2012 Yılı Çalışmaları Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı Tuna, N., Atıcı, N., Sakarya, I., Greene, E. S., Leidwanger, J. 2014; 35 (1): 60-75
  • Maritime Networks and Economic Regionalism in the Roman Eastern Mediterranean Les nouvelles de l’archéologie Leidwanger, J. 2014; 135: 32-38
  • Implementing Underwater Cultural Heritage ‘Best Practices’ in the Mediterranean: The Noto Meeting International Journal of Nautical Archaeology Leidwanger, J., Greene, E. S., Daniels, B. I., Leventhal, R. M., Tusa, S. 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 Leidwanger,, J. edited by Poulou-Papadimitriou, N. Oxford University Press. 2014: 897–906
  • Marzamemi II ‘Church Wreck’ Excavation: 2013 Field Season Archaeologia Maritima Mediterranea Leidwanger, J., Bruno, N. 2014; 10: 191-198
  • Integrating an Empire: Maritime Trade and Agricultural Supply in Roman Cyprus Skyllis: Zeitschrift für Unterwasserarchäologie Leidwanger, J. 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 Leidwanger, J. Leiden: Brill. 2014
  • Excavating the Harbors of Old Knidos INA Quarterly Greene, E. S., Leidwanger, J., Tuna, N. 2014; 40 (4): 8-13
  • Opportunistic Ports and Spaces of Exchange in Late Roman Cyprus JOURNAL OF MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGY Leidwanger, J. 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 Leidwanger, J. 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 Leidwanger, J. 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 Greene, E. S., Leidwanger, J., Özdaş, H. 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 Leidwanger, J. 2013; 40: 3302-3308
  • Burgaz 2011 Yılı Çalışmaları Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı Tuna, N., Atıcı, N., Sakarya, I., Greene, E. S., Leidwanger, J. 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 Greene, E. S., Leidwanger, J. 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 Leidwanger, J., Özdaş, H., Greene, E. S. 2012; 27: 393-409
  • Mare Nostrum? Ethics and Archaeology in Mediterranean Waters AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY Greene, E. S., Leidwanger, J., Leventhal, R. M., Daniels, B. I. 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 Greene, E. S., Leidwanger, J., Ozdas, H. A. 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 Leidwanger, J. 2010; 41: 9-16
  • Toward Best Practices in Mediterranean Underwater Archaeology International Journal of Nautical Archaeology Greene, E. S., Leidwanger, J., Leventhal, R. M., Daniels, B. I. 2010; 39 (2): 437-439
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5049-2774