Dr Shawn Ross

Overview

I am an historian and archaeologist of the ancient Mediterranean, focusing on trade, acculturation, conquest, and other forms of intercultural contact. Supervising an archaeological project in Bulgaria has led me to re-examine more fundamental questions of settlement, subsistence, sociopolitical organisation, and complexity.

Research Summary

My research has divided into three strands: (1) fundamental archaeological fieldwork in Bulgaria, exploring the origins and evolution of complex society there, and (2) my historical work concerning the Greek social and political development from the Late Bronze Age through the Archaic Period, which uses both literary and archaeological evidence. I am working to combine these two approaches to situate the early Greek civilisation in its Balkan context. (3) I have begun developing a research strength in digital humanities, especially archaeological information management; my 2012-2014 NeCTAR project has greatly advanced this goal.

Teaching

ARTS1270 Global History
ARTS1180 Archaeology & Our Past: An Introduction
ARTS1270 The Big Picture: An Introduction to History
ARTS2180 Archaeology: Theories, Methods, Practices
ARTS2283 Classical Greece

I previously taught Ancient and Medieval history at the American University in Bulgaria, Blagoevgrad, William Paterson University, Wayne, New Jersey, and at the University of Washington, Seattle.

Publications

Ross, S. “Post-Bronze Age Pottery of the Epano Englianos Ridge.” In Minnesota Pylos Project: New Studies from the Palace of Nestor, a publication of British Archaeological Reports, forthcoming 2012 (accepted 12/2005).

Iliev, I., Ross, S., A. Sobotkova, S. Bakardzhiev, S. Connor. The Tundzha Regional Archaeological Project: Elhovo Survey 2009 (bilingual English-Bulgarian). Yambol, Bulgaria: Yambol Regional Historical Museum, 2012.

Brawley, S., J. Clark, C. Dixon, L. Ford, L. Grolman, S. Ross and S. Upton. “Applying standards to tertiary-level history: Policy, challenges and the After Standards project”. History Australia 8.3 (2011): 177-194.

Nekhrizov, G., J. Tzvetkova, A. Sobotkova, and S. Ross. “Terenni obhozhaniya za izdirvane na arheologicheski obekti v Kazanlashkata kotlovina prez 2009-2010g (predvaritelni resultati) / Area investigations in search of archaeological objects in Kazanlak valley in 2009-2010 (preliminary report)” (Bulgarian with English abstract). In: K. Zarev and D. Andreeva, editors, Kazanlak v Minaloto i Dnes VIII / Kazanlak in the Past and Present 8 (pp. 114-124) . Kazanlak, Bulgaria: PRITA, 2011.

Sobotkova, A., S. Ross, G. Nehrizov, and B. Weissova. “Tundzha Regional Archaeological Project Kazanluk Survey and Investigations: A Preliminary Report” (pp. 56-66). In Jan Bouzek, editor, Studia Hercynia XIV. Prague: Charles University Press, 2010.

Ross, S., A. Sobotkova, S. Connor, and I. Iliev. “An interdisciplinary pilot project in the environs of the ancient city of Kabyle, Bulgaria”. Archaeologia Bulgarica 14.2 (2010): 69-85.

Sobotkova, A., and S. Ross. “High-resolution, multi-spectral satellite imagery and extensive archaeological prospection: Case studies from Apulia, Italy, and Kazanlak, Bulgaria” (pp. 25-28). Space, Time, and Place 2009: The Third International Conference on Remote Sensing in Archaeology (Tiruchirappali, India, 17-21 August 2009). Oxford: Archaeopress, 2010.

Ross, S., and A. Sobotkova. “An ‘Encyclopedia of Archaeological Heritage’? The Encyclopedia of Life as a model for digital cultural atlases” (pp. 399-406). Space, Time, and Place 2009: The Third International Conference on Remote Sensing in Archaeology (Tiruchirappali, India, 17-21 August 2009). Oxford: Archaeopress, 2010.

Ross, S., Adela S., and G.-J. Burgers. “Remote sensing and archaeological prospection: A case study from Apulia, Italy”. Journal of Field Archaeology 34.4 (December 2009): 423-437.

Ross, S. “Homer as History: Greeks and Others in a Dark Age.” In Kostas Myrsiades, editor, Reading Homer: Film and Text (pp. 21-57). Madison, NJ: Farleigh Dickinson University Press, 2009.

Ross, S. “Barbarophonos: Language and Panhellenism in Homer.” Classical Philology 100.4 (October 2005): 299-316.

Ross, S. “Interpreting the Brigantian Revolt.” The Ancient World 35.1 (June 2004): 93-116.

Contributions

Australian Research Council Assessor, 2010-2012.

Other Information

I am currently directing a large, international initiative to develop information management systems for archaeology. It is primarily funded by the following grant:

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• National eResearch Collaboration Tools and Resources (NeCTAR), eResearch Tools program (RT043). Shawn Ross, Project Director, “Federated Archaeological Information Management Systems”. Circa AUD $950,000 for development of mobile device applications, database interoperability tools, knowledge discovery strategies, and other resources for archaeological information management. 2012-2013. NeCTAR is an Australian Government project and Super Science initiative financed by the Education Investment Fund.
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I co-supervise the Tundzha Regional Archaeological Project, a program of archaeological fieldwork in the Kazanluk and Yambol regions of Bulgaria involving local and international partners. This research focuses on fundamental, diachronic questions of evolving settlement patterns, subsistence strategies, and sociopolitical organisation. As the project progresses, it will emphasise Thracian sociopolitical organisation, Greek colonisation, Macedonian and Roman imperialism, and the effects of both on indegenous settlement patterns and economic activities.

My archaeological fieldwork has generated the following external grants:

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• Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Study Overseas Short Term Mobility Program: “Tundzha Regional Archaeological Project, Bulgaria”. AUD 25,500 for 12 student (12) and staff (1) subsidies allowing participation in archaeological fieldwork in Bulgaria. 2011.
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• Australian Institute for Nuclear Science and Engineering Award: “Integrating prehistoric cultural change and palaeoenvironments on the Thracian Plain, Bulgaria”. AUD 11,750 for AMS C-14 dating. 2009.
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• America for Bulgaria Foundation International Collaborative Archaeological & Bioarchaeological Research Program. Circa USD 50,000 for international, collaborative archaeological and palaeoecological research in the Thracian Plain, Bulgaria. 2010-2011.
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• GeoEye Foundation Satellite Imagery Grant. Circa USD 8,500 (600 sq km) of archival IKONOS high resolution satellite imagery for archaeological research in the Kazanlak region, Bulgaria. 2009.
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• Institute for the Study of Aegean Prehistory Grant. Circa USD 7,000 for archaeological research in the Tundzha River Valley, Bulgaria. 2009.
  
• Australian Institute for Nuclear Science and Engineering Award. Circa AUD 5,000 for AMS C-14 dating. 2009.
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• Australian Research Council Linkage Grant (LP0989901). Circa AUD 117,000 for three years archaeological and palaeoecological research in the Tundzha River Valley, Bulgaria. 2009-2011.
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In addition, Dr. Andrew Herries (Medicine) and I successfully applied for a UNSW Major Equipment & Infrastructure (MREII) for 2011 (circa AUD 81,000) to establish an archaeology and palaeomagnetism laboratory.

I am a Research Associate at the American Research Center in Sofia, Sofia Bulgaria (June 2007-present), and was a Fulbright Scholar at the American University in Bulgaria, Blagoevgrad (2006).

Personal Links

http://www.tundzha.org/

Interests

My interests include the emergence of Greek civilisation in the pre-Classical period; imperialism and colonialism (Greek and Roman); settlement and landscape archaeology; information technology and archaeology (including remote sensing, GIS, and database applications); the early Roman Empire (especially the late Julio-Claudian and Flavian dynasties). I am also interested in IT applications in Archaeology and the Humanities more broadly.