Thomas
F. Tartaron Thomas
F. Tartaron
Lecturer, Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Supervisor, CMRAE Graduate Laboratory
BA. International Studies, Miami University, 1981
Ph.D. Archaeology, Boston University, 1996
Room 16-539, (617) 253-4099 and 253-1375
My research interests lie mainly in the eastern Mediterranean, specifically Greece and adjacent lands, from prehistory through Late Antiquity. I approach eastern Mediterranean antiquity with a broad perspective that includes archaeology, ethnoarchaeology, history, geology and other natural sciences, and materials analysis. For many years I have focused on regional programs of landscape archaeology, involving surface survey, geomorphology, GIS, remote sensing, limited excavation, and a host of specialist studies. I have participated most closely in surface survey design and implementation, geomorphology, and laboratory analyses of ceramic and metal artifacts. The latest of these is the Eastern Korinthia Archaeological Survey (EKAS).
An ongoing study concerns the dynamics of Mycenaean interaction with coastal societies on the periphery of the Mycenaean world in the eastern and central Mediterranean (ca. 1500-1100 B.C.). The topic is fascinating and complex, because the Mycenaeans interacted with societies at both higher and lower levels of complexity than their own, and thus the patterns of contact are diverse. I am particularly interested in describing the interactive process, since the role of native societies is generally ignored, and sophisticated theoretical and methodological approaches to the problem are notably absent. In the CMRAE Graduate Laboratory at MIT, I am currently engaged in petrographic analyses of two Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2000-1550 B.C.) pottery assemblages from the central Greek sites of Kirrha and Orchomenos; and in microstructural analysis of copper fasteners from the USS Constitution, some of which may have been manufactured by Paul Revere.
Selected Publications
T. F. Tartaron, in press. "Glykys Limin: A Mycenaean Port of Trade in Southern Epirus?" in David W. Tandy, ed., Class, Ethnicity, and Political Economy in Aegean Prehistory and History. Montréal: Karl Polanyi Institute.
T. F. Tartaron and K. L. Zachos, 1999. "The Mycenaeans and Epirus," in F. Dakoronia et al., eds., H PERIFEREIA TOU MUKHNAIKOU KOSMOU: A' DIEQNES DIEPISTHMONIKO SUMPOSIO, LAMIA 1994. Lamia: T.A.P.A., 57-76.
T. F. Tartaron, 1995. "Landscape Archaeology and Its Potential Application in Albania," Arkeologjia 3: 25-32.
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