BARBARA CERASETTI
FU Berlin
Fachbereich Geschichts- und Kulturwissenschaften
Institut für Vorderasiatische Archäologie
Fabeckstr. 23-25 14195 Berlin
Raum -1.1068
+4930838 71216
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0071-572X 
TAP - Togolok Archaeological Project (wordpress.com)
Togolok Project (Turkmenistan) · ISMEO
Togolok 1 (Turkmenistan) — Storia Culture Civiltà - DISCI (unibo.it)

Professional Profile

PhD in Archaeology, Barbara Cerasetti is since 2006 the Project Director of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Turkmenistan and since 2014 of the TAP - Togolok Archaeological Project at the Bronze Age site of Togolok 1. She is an expert in Bronze Age Central Asia, with the main focus on mobile pastoralism and the settlement dynamics that characterized the transition to the Iron Age. Her main technical specialization is the reconstruction of ancient arid and semi-arid landscapes through remote sensing, in correlation with climate change, and she has long experience in teaching remote sensing applied in landscape archaeology. She participated in numerous field research projects in collaboration with European and American Institutions, in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Oman, Turkey, Syria, Algeria, Tunisia, and Italy. Remarkable is her skill in managing relationships with people of different cultures, gained in many years of work experience in Asian countries, and in the organization of numerous exhibitions, conferences and projects worldwide. She has been invited to numerous international conferences and workshops in Europe, the United States, and other countries, mainly as a keynote speaker. Currently, Barbara Cerasetti works at the Institute for Western Asian Archaeology (FU Berlin) and has close collaborations with many Institutions, such as Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, ISMEO – International Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies, University of Bern, and University of Bologna.

Education and Training

2026 - 2023
Principal Researcher, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Institut für Vorderasiatische Archäologie, Fachbereich Geschichts- und Kulturwissenschaften, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
2014-present  
qualification of Associate Professor in Archaeology, Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research
2013   
advanced professional level in remote sensing, IPTSAT s.r.l. – Rome, Italy
2009

EP technician in remote sensing applied to archaeology, Department of History and Cultures, University of Bologna, Italy
2007-2003
Grant Researcher, Specialist in Remote Sensing specialist, Department of History and Cultures, University of Bologna, Italy
2002   
Ph.D. Archaeology (Relations between East and West), University of Naples “L’Orientale”, Italy
1994   
M.A. Eastern History, University of Bologna, Italy
1989-1984
High School (specializing in classical studies), five-years diploma, Teramo, Italy

Project and Research Grants

2023-2026
TAP – Togolok Archaeological Project: Redefining ideas on the BMAC through the latest innovative data from Bronze Age Margiana (southern Turkmenistan), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, Principal Investigator

2023-present
Structure and Chronology of an Urban Settlement in the Murghab Alluvial Fan (Togolok 1, Turkmenistan), University fo Bern, Society for the Exploration of Eurasia, Switzerland, Co-principal Investigator

2019-present
FEDD: Fruits of Eurasia: Domestication and Dispersal, ERC Starting Grant FEDD (851102), Max Planck Society, Jena, Germany, Scientific Supervisor
2006-present
TAP – Togolok Archaeological Project (Turkmenistan), MAECI, ISMEO, Rome, Italy, Principal Investigator
2018
NGS Early Career Grant, “Irrigating the Murghab inner delta in Turkmenistan and the emergence of the Oxus Civilization”, Leiden University, Department of World Archaeology, Leiden, The Netherlands, Scientific Supervisor
2018
LUF-Bakels Fund, “Irrigating the Murghab inner delta in Turkmenistan and the emergence of the Oxus Civilization”, Leiden University, Department of World Archaeology, Leiden, The Netherlands, Scientific Supervisor
Invited Conference Presentations
2023 May
"Giornata dell'archeologia italiana all'estero. Diplomazia culturale e archeologia, eccellenza della ricerca italiana nel mondo", MAECI, Rome, Italy
2023 January
"Ancient mobile and sedentary interactions in Inner Asia", Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
2022 May
Cycle of seminars “Archeologia dell’Asia Centrale: il Turkmenistan meridionale dal V al I millennio a.C.”, ISMEO – Associazione Internazionale di Studi sul Mediterraneo e l’Oriente, Rome; Accademia delle Antiche Civiltà, Milan, Italy (creator and organizer)
2021 June
National Webinar “GIORNATE EUROPEE DELL'ARCHEOLOGIA 2021”, Istituto Centrale per l’Archeologia, Rome, Italy
2021 May-June
International Virtual Conference “Adaptation and Creativity along Border Zones. CONCEPTS, STRATEGIES, TRANSFORMATIONS”, Charles University, Praha, Czech Republic
2020 December
International Webinar “Neutral Turkmenistan – UNESCO: Historical and cultural international cooperation”, Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan
2020 October
International Virtual Conference, Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan
2020 July
International Virtual Conference on “Archaeology of Iran and Adjacent Regions”, Archaeological Sciences Research Center, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran (session organizer)  
2020 June
International Conference “Secrets of the Bactria–Margiana archaeological complex (BMAC): the latest scientific discoveries”, Ambassade du Turkménistan, Paris; MAFTUR. Mission Archéologique Franco-Turkmène, MAE, CNRS
2020 February
Second International Conference on Central Asian Archaeology “Cultures in Contact Central Asia as Focus of Trade, Cultural Exchange and Knowledge Transmission”, Society for the Exploration of EurAsia; University of Bern, Switzerland (chairperson)
2019 December
International Conference “ITALY AND CENTRAL ASIA. Strengthening mutual understanding, cooperation and partnership”, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; Italian Institute for International Political Studies, Rome, Italy
2019 November
International Conference “Antiquities of Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Southern Siberia in the context of relations and interactions in the Eurasian cultural space (new data and concepts)”. Section dedicated to the 90th anniversary of Vadim M. Masson”, Institute for the History of Material Culture (Russian Academy of Sciences); State Hermitage Museum; Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (the Kunstkamera) (Russian Academy of Sciences); St. Petersburg University Institute of History; Institute of Oriental Manuscripts (Russian Academy of Sciences), Saint Petersburg, Russia
2018 December
UNESCO International Conference “Importance of the Great Silk Road: Present and Future Development”, UNESCO; Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
2018 October
International Conference “The Italian Archaeological Expeditions in Turkmenistan”, Italian Embassy in Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
2018 April
11th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East (ICAANE), University of Munich, Germany
2018 March
National Conference “Maurizio Tosi tra Roma, Napoli e Bologna”, ISMEO–International Association of Mediterranean and Oriental Studies; University of Naples “L’Orientale”; University of Bologna “Alma Mater”, Rome, Italy (creator and organizer)
2017 June
International Conference “Science, Technology and Innovative Technologies in the Prosperous Epoch of the Powerful State”, Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
2017 February
International Workshop “Empty spaces or creative interfaces? A multi-scalar perspective on current dryland archaeology”, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
2016 April        
International Conference “Iranian-Italian Seminar”. “The Alma Mater Studiorum investigates the Ancient East. The Archaeological Activities of the University of Bologna in Asia and the Collaboration with Iran”, Department of History and Cultures, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy
2016 February
International Conference “Urban cultures of Central Asia from the Bronze Age to the Karakhanids. Learnings and conclusions from new archaeological investigations and discoveries”, The Society for the Exploration of EurAsia; Abteilung für Vorderasiatische Archäologie of the University of Bern, Switzerland
2015 November-
December
International Conference “Farmers, Traders and Herders. The Bronze Age in Central Asia and Khorasan (3rd-2nd Millennium BCE)”, Deutsches Archäologisches Institute Eurasien Abteilung (DAI), Berlin, Germany
2015 November
International Conference “Dialogue of Cultures on the Silk Road”, Memorials Protection and Restoration Department, Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
2014 June            
International Conference “The Iron Age in Central Asia (2nd and 1st millennia BC)”, Deutsches Archäologisches Institute Eurasien Abteilung (DAI), Berlin, Germany
Conference Presentations and Posters
2023 August
"29th EAA", Queen's University, Belfast, Norhern Ireland (session organizer)
2022 June
19th Conference of the International Workgroup for Palaeoethnobotany (IWGP), University of South Bohemia; The Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, ?eské Bud?jovice, Czech Republic (scientific supervisor)
2021 April
International Virtual Conference “12th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East (ICAANE)”, University of Bologna, Italy
2015 November
International Conference “Current Ethnoarchaeology”, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Rome, Italy (scientific supervisor)
2015 November
International Conference “Italian Researches on Central Asia and the Caucasus”, Department of Political Sciences, University of “Roma Tre”; Association for the Study of Central Asia and Caucasus in Italy, Rome, Italy (scientific supervisor)
2014 February-
March
National Conference "Economy and Territory in the Middle Adriatic Sea between Late Antiquity and Early Medieval Age (IV-VIII AD)", Centro Studi per l'Archeologia dell'Adriatico; Department of History and Cultures, Ravenna, University of Bologna, Italy
Invited Lectures
2022 May
“Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex, Oxus o Greater Khorasan Civilization? Un mistero ancora sepolto tra le sabbie nere della Margiana preistorica”, cycle of seminars “Archeologia dell’Asia Centrale: il Turkmenistan meridionale dal V al I millennio a.C.”, ISMEO – Associazione Internazionale di Studi sul Mediterraneo e l’Oriente, Rome; Accademia delle Antiche Civiltà, Milan, Italy (creator and organizer)
2021 May
“TAP - Togolok Archaeological Project. I risultati della missione italo-turkmena nel conoide alluvionale del fiume Murghab”, ISMEO – International Association of Mediterranean and Oriental Studies, Rome, Italy
2019 December
“The Importance of Ancient Turkmenistan as Main Hub along the Great Silk Road,” State University of Turkmenistan Magtymguly-Italian Embassy in Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
2018 May
“Redefining Interaction and Mobility in Prehistoric Southern Central Asian Archaeology”, Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Poland
2014 December   
“Life and Transformations of the Complex of San Giovanni in Monte: New Technologies Applied to the Research”, within the Master's Degree program
“Christian and Medieval Archaeology”, Department of History and Cultures, University of Bologna, Italy
2014 May            
“Remote Sensing Applied in Archaeology”, within the Master's Degree program “Christian and Medieval Archaeology”, Department of History and Cultures, University of Bologna, Italy
2014 May            
“Ruri Project. Telerilevamento per l'archeologia delle villae romane. La Regio VIII”, within the Master's Degree program “Classical Archaeology”, Department
of History and Cultures, University of Bologna, Italy
Event Creation and Organization
2023 August
“Human impact as a primary cause of environmental transformation: Urbanization in Central Asia and Iran from prehistory to historical periods”
"29th EAA", Queen's University, Belfast, Norhern Ireland (session organizer)
2022 May-June
Cycle of seminars “Archeologia dell’Asia Centrale: il Turkmenistan meridionale dal V al I millennio a.C.”, ISMEO – Associazione Internazionale di Studi sul Mediterraneo e l’Oriente, Rome; Accademia delle Antiche Civiltà, Milan, Italy (creator and organizer)
2020 July
Session “Ancient Margiana and its environment: new discoveries and researches” in the International Virtual Conference on Archaeology of Iran and Adjacent Regions, Archaeological Sciences Research Center, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran (co-organizer)
2018 October
Photo exhibition “A New Route to the Ancient Turkmenistan – Italian Researches along the Silk Road”, Italian Embassy in Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan (scientific supervisor)
2018 March
National Conference “Maurizio Tosi tra Roma, Napoli e Bologna”, ISMEO–International Association of Mediterranean and Oriental Studies; University of Naples “L’Orientale”; University of Bologna “Alma Mater”, Rome, Italy (creator and organizer)
2015 May-
October
Archaeological Section of the Exhibition in the Pavillion of Turkmenistan EXPO
Milan 2015 (Italy), Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan, Italian Embassy of Turkmenistan; Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Milan, Italy (creator and organizer)
Professional Experience
2014-present
TAP - Togolok Archaeological Project, Turkmenistan, ISMEO - International Association of Mediterranean and Oriental Studies, Italy; Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan, Project Director

2013-present
Il Tucano. Viaggi Ricerca, Turin, Italy, Specialist in Archaeology for Cultural Tourism

2015
Official Assignment for the Management and Enhancement of Cultural Heritage in Italy and in Turkmenistan, Italian Embassy in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan; Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Responsible for the culture section

2015-2013
Ruri Project, Italy, Department of History and Cultures, University of Bologna, Italy, Remote Sensing Specialist

2015-2013
Kos Project, Greece, Department of History and Cultures, University of Bologna, Italy, Remote Sensing Specialist

2015-2013
Genomic Analysis of Bronze Age Communities from West, Central, and South Asia, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (USA), Project Co-PI

2014-2013
Project “In profondità senza scavare”, Department of History and Cultures, University of Bologna, Italy, sponsored by Fondazione del Monte per Bologna e Ravenna, Italy, Principal Investigator

2014-2013
Spina Project, Italy, Department of History and Cultures, University of Bologna, Italy, Remote Sensing Specialist

Teaching Experience

2008-present
Supervision and evaluation of Master’s and PhD thesis at various Universities

Spring 2018-2006; 2003
Laboratory teaching of remote sensing techniques applied in archaeology (Department of History
and Cultures University of Bologna, Italy)

Professional Memberships

2021-present
ARCANE/ARCISCA Project
ARCANE Project (Associated Regional Chronologies for the Ancient Near East) (uni-tuebingen.de)
Member of the Organizing Committee

2020-present
ARWA | Association for Archaeological Research in Western & Central Asia (arwa-international.org)
Responsible of the Section “Archaeology”

2017-present
Honorable Editorial Board member in Archaeology & Anthropology: Open Access (AAOA)

2015-present
Member Scientific Committee of “Il Giornale del Viaggiatore 03. Quadrimestrale di informazione, viaggi e cultura del Tucano Viaggi Ricerca”

2013-present
ISMEO - International Association of Mediterranean and Oriental Studies

Peer Review & Consultancy Activity

* 2022 Iranian Journal of Archaeological Studies
* 2022 12th ICAANE, University of Bologna
* 2022 evaluation Cumulative Habilitation Thesis University of Bern, Institute for Archaeological Sciences (IAW)
* 2021 The British Academy
* 2020 ISMEO-East and West
* 2020 Current Anthropology
* 2020 Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
* 2020; 2022 Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
* 2020; 2016 Czech Science Foundation
* 2019 Second International Conference on Central Asian Archaeology “Cultures in Contact. Central   Asia as Focus of Trade, Cultural Exchange and Knowledge Transmission”, Society for the Exploration of EurAsia - University of Bern, Switzerland
* 2018-2017 Archaeology & Anthropology: Open Access (AAOA)
* 2018-2017 National Geographic Society
* 2017 Antiquity
* 2015 Rubriq
* 2011 Proceedings of the International Conference “Broadening Horizons 4. 4th Conference of Young Researchers Working in the Ancient Near East”, Turin

Awards and Recognitions

2018
Commemorative Medal “25 years of diplomatic relations Italy-Turkmenistan 1992-2017", delivered by the Italian Embassy in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
2015       
Commemorative Medal “Gara?syz, Baky Bitarap Türkmenistan”, delivered by the President of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
2006-2005        
publication of biographical profile “Who’s Who in Science and Engineering”,
8th Edition, Carleton University

Professional Skills

* Remote Sensing: mapping software, field and laboratory
* Geographic Information Systems (GIS): mapping software, field and laboratory
* Advanced Technologies (Internet and multimedia communication techniques, GPS, Total
Station, software and hardware): mapping software, field and laboratory


Curriculum Vitae Barbara Cerasetti December 2023

2023
Cerasetti, B., Luneau, E. The transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron
Age in Turkmenistan: a fundamental period of changes. In A. Kurbanov, P.
Wordsworth (eds) The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Turkmenistan.
Oxford. In press.
2023
Cerasetti, B. et al. Interaction between Sedentary and Mobile Peoples in
Southern Central Asia during the Bronze Age: Excavation at Togolok 1 in
the Murghab Region. In N. Boroffka et al. (eds) Farmers, Traders and
Herders: The Bronze Age in Central Asia and Khorasan (3rd-2nd Millennium
BCE). AIT. Berlin, Dietrich Reimer Verlag. In press.
2022
Cerasetti, B. Comment on “An Imagined Past? Nomadic Narratives in Central
Asian Archaeology” (Spengler III et al.) Current Anthropology, 62(3),
274-276.
2022
Cerasetti, B. et al. The Rise and Decline of the Desert Cities: The Last
Stages of the BMAC at Togolok 1 (Southern Turkmenistan). In C. Baumer et
al. (eds) Cultures in Contact. Central Asia as Focus of Trade, Cultural
Exchange and Knowledge Transmission. SVA 19. Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz
Verlag: 89-115.
2022
Billings, T.N., Cerasetti, B. et al. Agriculture in the Karakum: An
archaeobotanical analysis from Togolok 1, southern Turkmenistan (ca.
2300-1700 B.C.). Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, "Effects of Novel
Environments on Domesticated Species". DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.995490
2022
Rouse, L.M., Woldekiros, H.S., Cerasetti, B. Faunal remains from Ojakly, a
Late Bronze Age mobile pastoralist campsite in the Murghab region,
Turkmenistan. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Volume 44,
August 2022, 103531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103531
2022
Cerasetti, B. Comment on “An Imagined Past? Nomadic Narratives in Central
Asian Archaeology” (Spengler III et al.) Current Anthropology, 62(3),
274-276.
2021
Cerasetti, B. Who interacted with whom? Redefining the interaction between
BMAC people and mobile pastoralists in Bronze Age southern Turkmenistan.
In B. Lyonnet, N. Dubova (eds) The World of the Oxus Civilization, London
and New York: 487-495.
2021
Cerasetti, B. The Archaeological Map of the Murghab Delta. Ventidue anni
in Turkmenistan. In A. Domínguez Monedero et al. (eds) Nomina in aqua
scripta. Homenaje a Joaquín María Córdoba Zoilo, Madrid: 365-382.
2019
Rouse, L.M., Grillo, M.K., Piermartiri, R., Rotandaro, E., Cogo-Moreira,
H., Bargossi, G.M., Cerasetti, B. Not just “nomadic jars”: The Late Bronze
Age ceramic assemblage from the mobile pastoralist site of Ojakly, Murghab
region, Turkmenistan. Archaeological Research in Asia, 18: 100-119.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2019.03.002
2019
Cerasetti, B. et al. Bronze and Iron Age urbanization in Turkmenistan.
Preliminary results from the excavation of Togolok 1 on the Murghab
alluvial fan. In C. Baumer, M. Novák (eds) Urban Cultures of Central Asia
from the Bronze Age to the Karakhanids. Learnings and conclusions from new
archaeological investigations and discoveries. SVA 12, Wiesbaden: 63-72.
2018
Rouse, L.M., Cerasetti, B. Mixing metaphors: sedentary-mobile interactions
and local-global connections in prehistoric Turkmenistan. Antiquity, 92,
363: 674-689. doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2018.88
2018
Spengler III, R.N., de Nigris, I., Cerasetti, B. et al. The breadth of
dietary economy in Bronze Age Central Asia: Case study from Adji Kui 1 in
the Murghab region of Turkmenistan. Journal of Archaeological Science:
Reports: Rep., 22, 372-381. DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.03.029
2018
Cerasetti, B. et al. The Influence of Bronze Age Sedentary-Mobile
Interactions on the Iron Age: Mobile Pastoral Occupation Sites in the
Murghab Alluvial Fan, Turkmenistan. In J. Lhuillier, N. Boroffka (eds) A
Millennium of History. The Iron Age in Southern Central Asia (2nd and 1st
Millennia BC). AIT 17, MDAFA XXXV, Berlin: 17-30.
2017
Rouse, L.M., Cerasetti, B. Micro-dynamics and macro-patterns: Exploring
new archaeological data for the late Holocene human-water relationship in
the Murghab alluvial fan, Turkmenistan. Quaternary International, 437:
20-34. DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2015.12.021
2014
Spengler, R., Frachetti, M., Doumani, P., Rouse, L., Cerasetti, B. et al.
Early agriculture and crop transmission among Bronze Age mobile
pastoralists of Central Eurasia. Proceedings of the Royal Society:
Biological Sciences, 281: 20133382. doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.3382
2014
Cerasetti, B. et al. Walking in the Murghab Alluvial Fan (Southern
Turkmenistan): An Integrated Approach between Old and New Interpretations
about the Interaction between Settled and Nomadic People. In C.C.
Lamberg-Karlovsky, B. Genito, Cerasetti B. (eds) My life is like the
Summer Rose. Maurizio Tosi e l’archeologia come modo di vivere. BAR S2690,
Oxford: 105-114.
2014
Rouse, L.M., Cerasetti, B. 2014. Ojakly: A Late Bronze Age mobile
pastoralist site in the Murghab Region, Turkmenistan. Journal of Field
Archaeology, 39,1, 32-50. doi.org/10.1179/0093469013Z.00000000073
2014
Spengler, R.N., Cerasetti, B. et al. Agriculturalists and pastoralists:
Bronze Age economy of the Murghab alluvial fan, southern Central Asia.
Vegetation History and Archaebotany, 23, 805-820. DOI
10.1007/s00334-014-0448-0