Personal Information:
Carlo Citter
Associate Professor orcid.org/0000-0001-8651-7470
Date of birth: June 4th 1964 Nationality: Italian
Education:
– 1995: PhD in Archaeology, Faculty of Letters, University of Pisa
– 1993: Erasmus Scholarship, University of Freiburg im Breisgau (D)
– 1989: Master Degree in Archaeology, Faculty of Letters, University of Siena
Current Position(s):
Since 2021 Associate Professor of Christian and Medieval Archaeology Siena University, Italy.
Previous Positions:
2004-2021 Reader in Christian and Medieval Archaeology Siena University, Italy.
Fellowships and awards:
– 1996/1998 Postdoc in Archaeology, Faculty of Letters, University of Siena
Supervision of graduate students; phd postdoc students:
During my career I supervised 12 PhD students, 30 Master’s students and 21 Bachelor’s students
Teaching activities:
My teaching activities started in 1999, and I am currently teaching archaeology of medieval Europe. I also gave a course on medieval topography in Sapienza, University of Rome (2013-16). In the same institution, I used to give a yearly seminar on GIS and archaeology to PhD candidates (2016-2023). I also participated in several initiatives related to Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), and as a guest lecturer I visited several universities in Italy and Europe.
Organisation of scientific meetings:
- During the last ten years, I co-organised several meetings. Among them:
- modelling the landscape. From prediction to postdiction, proceedings of the 7th Landscape Archaeology Conference International meeting in Iasi (RO) 2022
- the three early career medieval Europe research community conferences (Pula 2019, Praha 2022, Wroklaw 2024)
- I organised along with Giovanna Pizziolo an international summer school on predictivity in archaeology in 2014 in Siena-Grosseto
- I co-organiased sessions at the European Association of Archaeologists annual meeting in Istanbul (2014), Belfast (2023), Rome (2024), Belgrade (2025 sessions approved)
- I was member of the scientific committee of the following conferences:
- Entre la terre et la mer. Topographie du littoral du Latium et de la Toscane – Paris 6-7 June 2014
- European Association of Archaeologists annual meeting Rome 2024
Institutional responsibilities:
I have and I have had several responsibilities.
– teaching committee of a BA and an MA course in Siena from 2004 to 2021. I am also supervisor for the double degree programme with the University of Rennes2
– member of the Steering Committee of the IKUDU European project as representative of the University of Siena along with Alessandra Viviani (2020-2024), member of the scientific committee of the foundation Polo Universitario Grossetano (2017-2020), delegate for Usiena double and Joint Degrees programmes and COIL (2023-ongoing), member of the USiena Quality Assurance Committee (2022-ongoing)
– since 2015, I have been a member of the board of the doctoral school in archaeology of Sapienza, University of Rome. From 2021 and 2024, I chaired the European Liberal Arts Network, since 2022, I am the chair of the Medieval Europe Research Community (MERC) and from December 2024 I am member of the council of the Society for Post Medieval Archaeology.
Carlo Citter è il direttore scientifico e ideatore del progetto Med2Mod
Major collaborations:
During my career, I led twelve research projects in Italy, mainly in Tuscany and Calabria, though I worked also in Lazio, Veneto, Sicily and Lombardy. These projects consisted in archaeological surveys and often on a long-lasting excavation on a single site. I also led an eight-year-lasting urban archaeology project in Grosseto. The main focus of my research until 2018 has been the transition between the Antiquity and the Middle Ages and the formation of the castle network. From 2019 I shifted my attention to the other transition (from the Middle Ages to the Modern Era), within a broader framework of a large time span in central and southern Italy. For this reason I started the project Med2Mod.
In the last ten years I was invited to join some research projects as well. In particular: Gian Pietro Brogiolo, University of Padua – project IRAAHL (2013-2017); Francesca Romana Stasolla, University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’, Sara Nardi Combescure École Normale Superieure (Paris) – research project on coastal routes (Lazio and Tuscany-2014-2016); Giorgia Maria Annoscia, University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’, Lucio Fiorini, University of Perugia – research project on Tarquinia coastal area (Latium-2018-2021); Francesca Sogliani, University of Basilicata – research project on Arena and its territory (Calabria-2019-2022); Francesca Sogliani, University of Basilicata and Adele Coscarella, University of Calabria – research project on Briatico and its territory (Calabria-2019-2023); PI Magali Watteaux University of Rennes2, project PARCEDES funded by ANR, cooperators Sam Turner, University of Newcastle u.T. (UK), Carlo Citter, University of Siena (2022-2024); Sam Turner, University of Newcastle u.T. (UK), Jakub Sawicki (Czech Academy of Sciences) project Arena and project Mileto (PI Carlo Citter-2023-ongoing).
Main research results
Reviewing activities:
During the last decades, I have been invited to join several boards. In particular: series Studien zur Archäologie Europas (Dr. Rudolf Habelt – Bonn-2014 ongoing), series PAST (Edizioni Quasar – Rome- 2016 ongoing), Journal Archeologia Potmedievale (All’Insegna del Giglio – Florence- 2021 ongoing), member of the advisory board of the journal Medieval Archaeology (2022-ongoing) and member of the scientific committee of the Hellenic Institute of Cultural Diplomacy in Rome (2023- ongoing).
I am also a reviewer for Italian and European projects on a national and an international level.
Memberships of scientific societies:
I joined the Italian Society of Medieval Archaeologists from its foundation in 1995, I joined the European Association of Archaeologists in 2014, and I have been a member of the Society for Post Medieval Archaeology since 2021. Since 2025 I am member of the council of the same society.
Track records
During my career I published 2 monographs, 9 books as editor in peer reviewed series (within which I published long papers), 30 publications in peer-reviewed national and international journals, 35 publications in peer-reviewed proceedings of national and international conferences and 77 in peer-reviewed collective volumes. I also presented a paper at more than sixty national and international conferences.
Description of main research results:
Up until 2019, my research primarily focused on the creation of medieval landscapes. My work went beyond simply analyzing hilltop settlements; it aimed to explore the broader context in which these settlements were founded and developed. I paid particular attention to the relationship between hilltops and plains, the exploitation of resources, and the networks of connectivity. My surveys and excavations were concentrated in southern Tuscany, where I led several projects on medieval castles (such as Selvena, Castel di Pietra, Sassoforte, and Poggio Cavolo) as well as surveys in both plain and hilly areas. Additionally, I directed an urban archaeology project in Grosseto and studied the Roman and medieval road networks. These intensive studies, conducted within a relatively small region, yielded valuable insights into the transition from Roman to medieval landscapes. However, some features—such as road networks, resource exploitation, and water management—appeared to show a continuity over time rather than fitting neatly within the often narrow timelines proposed by historians.
This realization prompted a major shift in my research approach and interests after 2019. I transitioned towards studying the shift from feudalism to capitalism, with a particular focus on regions where this transformation was either less pronounced or more recent. Several projects under the umbrella of Med2Mod (the transition from the Middle Ages to the Modern Era) have already produced significant findings in this area.
A third major aspect of my work concerns GIS-based spatial analysis in archaeology and the development of postdictive methods. My primary goal has been to create a method that is both easy to learn and practical to apply. To achieve this, I extended the use of cost surface modeling, not just for studying mobility, but for examining all forms of human activity within a given context.
