Caputo Clementina

Clementina Caputo is Junior Researcher at the Department ABC of Politecnico di Milano, where she coordinates SUR.VI.V.E., Phase 2. From 2023 to 2034 she obtained the Italian National Scientific Qualification (ASN-II) as Associate Professor in Archaeological Disciplines. Between 2020 and 2022 she was a postdoctoral fellow leading a European Commission “Seal of Excellence” project on the digital study of terracotta figurines and their lost molds in the collection of the Museo Egizio di Torino. She holds a degree in Archaeology and a double PhD in Philology and Archaeology (Italy/France), completed four years of postdoctoral research in Italy and Germany, and has 14 years of fieldwork in Egypt. She specializes in archaeological drawing, ceramics, and photography, coordinates excavations and research teams, and collaborates internationally. In 2017 she organized a conference at Università di Heidelberg.

Career

February 2023 to 2034, National Qualification (ASN-II Fascia) as Associate Professor of Archaeological Disciplines Competition Sector 10/A1-Archaeology (Call D.D. 553/2021).

December 2022 up today (3+ 2 years, until 2027), Junior Researcher (RTD A, Italian position) at Department ABC-Politecnico di Milano.

September 2020 – August 2022, Post-doctoral research fellow at the Department ABC-Politecnico di Milano and Museo Egizio di Torino.

March 2016 – June 2019, Post-doctoral research fellow at ZAW, Seminar für Alte Geschichte und Epigraphik, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg (Germany), SFB 933 «Materiale Textkulturen» - TP A09.

April 2015 – February 2016, Post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Salento - Lecce (Italy)

July 30, 2014, Double PhD University of Salento - Lecce (Italy) in “Filologia ed Ermeneutica del Testo - XXVI Ciclo” and University of Poitiers (France) in “Archéologie, Ethnologie, Prehistoire”.

April 24, 2008, MA in “Beni Culturali – Beni Architettonici, archeologici e dell’ambiente/Egittologia/Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici”, University of Salento-Lecce (Italy).

Research

Egyptian archaeology and material culture in the Roman and Byzantine periods, with particular focus on ceramics and terracotta objects. Research has been extended to the wider Mediterranean area, of which Egypt is an integral part, concentrating especially on production techniques, use, and recycling of ceramics in ancient time; the use of pottery sherds as writing supports (ostraca) in order to define writing practices on ostraca in the ancient world across different areas of the Mediterranean basin; and the production of terracotta figurines, aiming to understand the socio-cultural and religious practices associated with them.

Selected Publications

(2018) Caputo, C.-Cowey, James M.S. “Ceramic Supports and Their Relation to Texts in Two Groups of Ostraca from the Fayum”, in F.A.J. Hoogendijk-S. van Gompel (Hgg.), The Materiality of Texts from Ancient Egypt: New Approaches to the Study of Textual Material from the Early Pharaonic to the Late Antique Period (Papyrologica Lugduno-Batava 35) Brill, Leiden-Boston 2018, pp. 62–75.

(2019) Caputo, C. “Looking at the Material: One Hundred Years of Studying Ostraca from Egypt”, in C. Ritter-Schmalz-R. Schwitter (Hrgs.), Antike Texte und ihre Materialität Präsenz, mediale Semantik und literarische Reflexion, Materiale Textkulturen 27, Berlin-Boston-München, pp. 93–118.

(2020) Caputo, C. Amheida V. The House of Serenos. Part I: The Pottery, Isaw Monograph, New York.

(2020) Caputo, C.-Louygovaya, J. (eds.), Using Ostraca in the Ancient World. New Discoveries and Methodologies, Materiale Textkulturen 32, Berlin-Boston-München

(2021) Baetens, G.- Bagnall, R.S.-Caputo, C.-Mazy, É.-Ratzan, D.M. (eds.), Ostraka in the Collection of New York University (O.NYU), Isaw Monograph, New York.

(2023) Caputo, C. and P. Davoli, “Byzantine Pottery from Soknopaiou Nesos (Fayyum, Egypt)”, in V. Caminneci, E. Giannitrapani, M.C. Parello and M.S. Rizzo (eds.), LRCW6: 6th International Conference on Late Roman Coarse Ware, Cooking Ware and Amphorae in the Mediterranean: Archaeology and Archaeometry. Land and Sea: Pottery Routes.

(Agrigento, 24-28 May 2017), RLAMP (Roman and Late Antique Mediterranean Pottery 19), pp. 735–748.

(2024) Caputo, C. “Christian Terracotta Figurines from el-Ashmunein in the Museo Egizio, Turin”, in: Rivista del Museo Egizio 8, pp. 35–53.

(2025) C. Caputo and N. De Troia, “Ceramic trade networks”, in C. Rossi (ed.), The Late Roman Settlement of Umm al-Dabadib. A Remote Investigation, Leiden: 159-180.

(2025) A. Mandelli and C. Caputo, “Digitalising Antiquity: the example of terracotta figurines in Ancient Egyptian collections”, in S. Mainieri and R. Pirelli (eds.), Ancient Egypt, New Technologies. Proceedings of the International Conference, 2nd edition, 5–7 July 2023, University of Naples ‘L'Orientale’, Serie Egittologica VI, Unior Press, Naples: 139-153.

Grants, awards and Honours

May 2025 – September 2026: Recipient of the Grant from the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) – Antiquities Endowment Fund (AEF) 2025, amounting to US$ 23,175.00, in the category “Publication Subsidy-1 year,” as Principal Investigator for the publication of the volume Soknopaiou Nesos Project V. Ceramics and Related Objects from Soknopaiou Nesos (Fayoum).

2022–2025: SUR.VI.V.E. 2 Project funded by the European Union (Next Generation EU) within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) – Funding for Projects Presented by Young Researchers (Call No. 247, 19/08/2022), at the Politecnico di Milano, Department ABC.

2020–2022: “Seal of Excellence” Fellowship awarded by the European Commission (H2020-MSCA-IF-2019) at the Politecnico di Milano, Department ABC.

2011–2014: PhD Scholarship from the Università del Salento (Lecce).

2009: Third Prize with scholarship at the 5th European Award “S. Borgia” (2008 Edition), Junior Archaeology Section, organized by the Centro Internazionale di Studi Borgiani and the Centro di Studi Papirologici dell’Università del Salento.

Community Service

Member of the Scientific Committee of the Egyptological studies series “Egyptica” at the Università del Salento (Lecce).

Reviewer for the Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections.

Reviewer for the Journal Antigüedad y Cristianismo.

Reviewer for the Journal Anabases.