Biography
My BA (2017) in History and Archaeology is from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and my MPhil (2018) in Archaeology from the University of Cambridge, while I recently completed my PhD (2023) in the latter university. I am a core member of the Being an Islander research project as well as the Qued Beht and the Kissonerga-Skalia Archaeological Projects. My specialisation is in the study of ceramics, metal and mortuary practices from Prehistoric Bronze Age Cyprus (ca.2500-1750BCE).
My thesis focused on diverse datasets for obtaining material and behavioural signatures for exploring the social dynamics and connectivity in Prehistoric Bronze Age Cyprus. As a research associate, I will continue working to improve our social understanding of this period, through the study of legacy and newly excavated Cypriot material, while I will also explore the technological and behavioural choices of potters, based on the systematic analysis of ceramics from Qued Beht.
Research
My research interests lie in examining how people formed and negotiated their relationships in middle range societies through diverse spatiotemporal scales of interactions using different proxy data linked to ceramics, metals and mortuary practices. My core geographical area of expertise is Cyprus during the 3rd and early 2nd millennium BCE, although my work also encompasses other places in the Eastern and Western (Maghreb) Mediterranean. More broadly, I am interested in the materiality of social relationships and short- and long-distance interactions and their inherent and intertwined role in the promotion of the social narratives of the Mediterranean.
I further have a strong interest in Ethnoarchaeology as a tool for better understanding the practicalities and material nature of ‘making’ as well as for gaining deeper insights into the dynamics of wider social practices.
Key Publications
Laoutari, R., 2021. ‘Cheese-scapes’: An Ethnoarchaeological Study of the Traditional Production of Halloumi in Cyprus. Archaeological Review from Cambridge 35.2: 60-79.
https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.71849
Teaching and Supervisions
2021-2022: Undergraduate Certificate in Archaeology of the Ancient World (guest lecturer)
• ‘Introduction to the study of the ancient Mediterranean World’
• ‘Growing communities: From the Early Iron Age Greece to the birth of the Greek City-States: communities, material culture and urban and civic developments’
