Sofia BULGARINI
Tutor: Giuseppe POLITI
She graduated in Classical Literature at the University of Padua and continued her studies with a Master's degree in Archaeology and History of Art at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, discussing a thesis entitled "Archaeological map of the eastern area of the Municipality of Verona" in 2020 (grade 110L, supervisor prof. Furio Sacchi). Between December 2019 and July 2021 she attended the Advanced Training Course "Archeo up: knowing the past to design the future" organised by the Università Cattolica in collaboration with the 2i3T business incubator of the University of Turin. She attended the School of Specialisation in Archaeological Heritage at the same university, graduating in 2023 with a thesis entitled "Architectural elements from San Giorgio di Valpolicella: a possible interpretation" (grade 70L, supervisor Prof. Furio Sacchi).
She participated at archaeological excavations in different Italian areas, dealing with various universities: Palazzo Pignano (CR), Populonia (LI), Parco Archeologico di Ostia Antica (RM), Parco della Valle dei Templi di Agrigento (AG), Villa dei Mosaici di Negrar di Valpolicella (VR). After her master's degree, she also worked as an archaeological assistant with different archaeological companies and cooperatives in northern Italy, such as InTerras, C&V Studio di Archeologia s.r.l., SAP Società Archeologica s.r.l.
Archaeometric analysis procedures for historical-archaeological reconstructions: the role of pure sciences in the humanities
The project stems from the desire to apply the archaeometric sciences, and in particular physics with its laboratory techniques, to the study of ceramics from archaeological excavations, with the objective of establishing the extent to which the analyses themselves can contribute to research and, in particular, to develop new procedures, in order to observe whether they can further contribute to the organisation of the historical subject. Although this project presents itself as scientific to all intents and purposes, the approach used is multidisciplinary and therefore aims to intersect the methodologies and fields of archaeological and scientific research, in order to clarify which procedures in the field of diagnostics are the most suitable for a better understanding of an archaeological excavation.
The primary object of the research work is, therefore, the definition of an appropriate sampling and artefact selection strategy and the screening of the possible procedures to be employed, in order to arrive, where possible, at the establishment of new procedures that combine the already tried and tested models with a series of different measurements. It is necessary to achieve a greater awareness of analytical methodologies, both in relation to the specific archaeological questions and in terms of accuracy, precision, time and cost of the analyses. The latter will be carried out on a very large sample of ceramic materials; this is necessary since some dating techniques, such as Thermoluminescence, require a large number of experimental evaluations to arrive at the age of the sample, with each one being associated with an error. For the sake of completeness, and to ensure the accuracy of the results obtained, it is planned to also carry out analyses on materials whose precise chronology is already known through historical or archaeological comparisons or other methodologies.
The activity began with physical analyses of ceramic materials, such as thermoluminescence, pigment analyses - in order to verify, for example, whether certain forms were achromatic from the outset or whether they bore a paint or silvering, which was lost over time - paint analyses and plaster analyses.
In particular, the project focuses on the study of materials from the site of the theatre of Agrigento, which presents a rather wide range of artefacts that, from a chronological point of view, extend from the mid-6th century BC to the mid-9th century AD. In this context, therefore, physical analyses represent a useful instrument to understand both chronological and stratigraphic sequences, lending themselves to the study of classes of different nature, from black paint, to terra sigillata, to grey paste, to 6th century Ionic cups, to 5th century pottery, to fire pottery, etc. The selected context will therefore make it possible to have at one's disposal a large quantity of materials on which to conduct analyses, so as to be able to consequently reason about the statistics of the data obtained.
Published papers
- Bulgarini S. 2024, Das Mutterrecht: riflessioni e declinazioni della fase dell’amazzonismo nell’opera di Bachofen, in Catania H. - Devoto C. (ed.) 2024, Da Penelope ad Aspasia. Studi sulla figura della donna nella Grecia arcaica, Seminari di archeologia e storia dell'architettura 1, Roma 2024, pp. 55-70 (ISBN: 978-88-5491-551-0).
- Bulgarini S. - Luvaro A. 2025, Acheloo e il culto delle acque in Sicilia: il caso di Monte Raffe, in "Cronache di Archeologia" 43, Roma 2024, pp. 35-58 (eISSN 2612-0941).
- Bulgarini S. 2025, Le ville romane nelle aree lagunari alto-adriatiche: architettura ed economia, in Belfiore G. - Caliò L.M. – Gerogiannis G.M. – Raimondi G. 2025, Limnai 2. Archeologia delle acque. Società, infrastrutture e sacro, Roma 2025, pp. 195-208.
Publications under review
- Bulgarini S., Luvaro A., The god among the rivers: Mount Raffe and the cult of Achelous, in "Engramma" 230 (2025) Archaeology of Thermalism. Living and working with mineral waters (in c.d.s.).
- Bulgarini S., Raimondi G., Sources of myth: Archaeology and myth of Sicilian thermal waters, in "Engramma" 230 (2025) Archaeology of Thermalism. Living and working with mineral waters (in c.d.s.).
- Bulgarini S., Friedrich Munter in Sicilia, Proceedings of the 9th International Conference I viaggi sono i viaggiatori. Circolazione di persone, di beni e di idee, Paestum (SA) 17-19 October 2024 (in c.d.s.).
- Bulgarini S. - Raimondi G., Castiglione di Paludi: pianificazione di una città ellenistica, Sybaritikà. International workshop on ongoing archaeological research in the Sibaritide, Parco Archeologico di Sibari (CS) 25-26 November 2024 (in c.d.s.).
Participation in conferences and congresses
- Paper presentation: Bulgarini S. - Caliò L.M. - Gallo S. - Galvagno R. - Gueli A.M. - Politi G. - Stella G., Non-invasive physical analyses on painted wall plasters from the church in the summa cavea of the Greek Theatre in Agrigento, 110th SIF (Italian Physical Society) Congress, Bologna 9-13 September 2024.
- Poster presentation: Bulgarini S., Friedrich Munter in Sicilia, Proceedings of the 9th International Conference I viaggi sono i viaggiatori. Circolazione di persone, di beni e di idee, Paestum (SA) 17-19 October 2024 (in c.d.s.).
- Poster presentation: Bulgarini S. - Raimondi G., Castiglione di Paludi: pianificazione di una città ellenistica, Sybaritikà. International workshop on ongoing archaeological research in the Sibaritide, Parco Archeologico di Sibari (CS) 25-26 November 2024.
- Poster presentation: Bulgarini S. - Caliò L.M. - Castellino P.B. - Ferrara I. - Gallo S. - Gueli A.M. - Politi G. - Stella G., A multidisciplinary approach to an archaeological issue, XIII National Congress AIAr, Palermo 12-14 febbraio 2025.
- Poster presentation: Bulgarini S., Nuove scoperte dall'area centrale di Ostia: analisi preliminari sugli intonaci dall'edificio monumentale rinvenuto negli scavi del progetto Ostia Post Scriptum, AIPMA (Association Internationale pour la Peinture Murale Antique) 2025, Cagliari-Nora 22-27 September 2026.
- Paper presentation: Bulgarini S., Bader G., Caliò L.M., Gueli A.M., Politi G., Schmid V.C., Stella G., Tribolo C., Will M., OSL dating of sediments from Rose Cottage and Holley Rock Shelter (South Africa), 111th SIF (Italian Physical Society) Congress, Palermo 22-27 September 2025.