Laura Banducci is an archaeologist with a particular interest in the Roman republican period and in the Etruscan civilization of central Italy.\u00a0She earned an MA in Latin and her MA and PhD in Classical Art and Archaeology from the University of Michigan. She has worked on archaeological projects in England, Greece, and Italy.<\/p>\n
Her research focuses on three principal areas:<\/p>\n
Her research is grounded in the idea that an individual\u2019s daily behavior, as reflected by the material record, can provide important insights into large-scale societal changes in the ancient world.<\/p>\n
Since 2009 she has worked on the Gabii Project Excavations<\/a> (excavating the town of Gabii, 18 km East of Rome). Excavations are leading to important discoveries regarding urbanism, burial practices, and domestic and public architecture in Roman Italy. The project is run as an archaeological field school for students interested in learning state-of-the-art excavation, study, and recording techniques. As the Director of Finds at Gabii, Dr. Banducci is responsible for coordinating the study and publication of the vast array of artefacts from the site. This excavation is currently supported by an Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the participation of students in the project is supported by an Early Researcher Award from the Government of Ontario.<\/p>\n She is co-director of the Gabii Legacy Data<\/em> Project a collaboration between the Gabii Project<\/a> and the Soprintendenza Speciale Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio di Roma<\/a> to study, digitize, and preserve archaeological materials from unpublished excavations in the 1990s. The project aims to integrate the documentation (excavation diaries and a photographic archive) and the ceramics and small finds of these earlier excavations together with the data recovered in the contiguous area by the ongoing modern excavation.<\/p>\n She co-directed the Capturing the Life Cycle of Ceramics in Rome project (CaLC-Rome), teaming with colleagues from the University of Missouri, the University of Glasgow, and the University of Burgundy Franche Comt\u00e9 in France. The goal was to examine traces of the production and use of ceramics\u00a0excavated in the late 19th century from funerary and sanctuary contexts in Rome, stored in the Capitoline Museums. The project employed high-resolution imaging techniques that support the detailed metrical study of use wear traces to consider pottery consumption practices. The results are presented through an online catalogue, making both the 3D models and the scientific data available to the research community and the broader public.<\/p>\n She is a member of the collaborative program in Digital Humanities<\/a> and the Food Studies<\/a> group at Carleton. She also advises students about summer fieldwork opportunities and is a point of contact for Carleton\u2019s minor in archaeology.<\/a><\/p>\n ARCY 1009B\/CLCV 1009A: Introduction to Archaeology II (W) Books<\/strong><\/p>\n 2023. L.M. Banducci and M. D\u2019Acri eds. Gabii through its Artefacts<\/em>. Archaeopress. Open Access<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2021. L.M. Banducci and Anna Gallone eds. A Cemetery and a Quarry from Imperial Gabii.<\/em> University of Michigan Press. Online. Open access.<\/a><\/p>\n 2021. L.M. Banducci. Foodways in Roman Republican Italy.<\/em> University of Michigan Press.<\/p>\n Articles<\/strong><\/p>\n 2023. \u201cMultifunctionality and Roman oven-to-table wares: Internal red-slip pans.\u201d In American Journal of Archaeology<\/em> 127.3, 397-417 and supplemental appendix online. doi: 10.1086\/724595<\/a><\/p>\n 2020. A. Martin, M.J. Cuyler, L.M. Banducci. \u201cSanta Maria in Aracoeli (Rome): Frank Brown\u2019s Excavation in 1963.\u201d Archaeologiae<\/em> XVIII: 11-80.<\/p>\n 2018. L.M. Banducci, R. Opitz, and M. Mogetta. \u201cMeasuring use wear on black gloss pottery from Rome through 3D surface analysis.\u201d<\/a> In Big Data on the Roman Table, Edited by P. Allison and M. Pitts. Special Issue of Internet Archaeology<\/em> 50.<\/p>\n 2018. A. Johnston, M. Mogetta, L. Banducci, R. Opitz, J. Farr, E. Casagrande Cicci, A. Gallone, N. Terrenato. \u201cA Monumental Mid-Republican Building Complex at Gabii.\u201d In Papers of the British School at Rome<\/em> 86, 1-35. doi: 10.1017\/S0068246217000423<\/a><\/p>\n 2015. \u201cA tessera lusoria<\/em> from Gabii and the afterlife of Roman gaming.\u201d In HEROM: Journal of Hellenistic and Roman Material Culture <\/em>4.2, 199-221. Open Access.<\/a><\/p>\n2025-2026 Courses<\/h3>\n
\nCLCV 2304A:\u00a0 Roman Art and Archaeology<\/span> (W)
\nLATN 1005A:\u00a0 Introduction to Latin I (F)<\/p>\nSelected recent publications<\/h3>\n