For the last few years I have been at work on a new book project. The goal of this book is to serve as a brief introduction/handbook for students and other interested readers on how to use art and archaeology as evidence in studying the history of the ancient Mediterranean world.

History, as a discipline, is centered on texts (hence why periods before the existence of written documents are classed as “prehistoric”). The focus of training as a historian is textual research and criticism. For the ancient Mediterranean, however, texts are a crucial but limited resource. A vast amount of ancient people, cultures, experiences, and perspectives are not reflected in the textual record. While the study of ancient history will always have texts in the foreground, being able to bring non-textual evidence into the discussion makes a valuable addition to our understanding.

History students, especially at the undergraduate level, do not always get a good introduction to the range of non-textual evidence available to us nor the skills and techniques needed to use that evidence effectively. This is the gap I hope my book can address.

I look forward to sharing more about this book with you all as the project advances.