Anna Maria Bietti Sestieri (7 December 1942 – 1 July 2023) was an Italian contemporary archaeologist based at the Università del Salento whose research focused on Italian prehistory.

Education and career

Bietti Sestieri received her undergraduate degree in

Etruscology Etruscology is the study of the ancient civilization of the Etruscans in Italy, which was incorporated into an expanding Roman Empire during the period of Rome's Middle Republic. Since the Etruscans were politically and culturally influential in pr ...

after studying at Rome under Massimo Pallottino from 1964 to 1966. In the early 1970s, her work was funded by the award of several Macnamara fellowships. From 1974 onward, she served as an archaeological specialist in Italian prehistory for th
Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma
directing major excavations during that time. From 2003 to 2009 she served as president of th
Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria
and from 1995 to 2003 she was th
Soprintendente archeologo dell’ Abruzzo
Since 2006 she has been a member of the department o
European protohistory
at the Università del Salento.

Research

Her record of publication on Italian prehistory is extensive, and she has organized several major museum exhibitions. Best-known for leading the excavations of the Iron Age necropolis of Osteria dell'Osa located to the east of Rome, she excavated extensively in Italy, including major excavations at Osteria dell'Osa, Castiglione, and Fidenae, as well as excavations at

Frattesina Frattesina is a place in northern Italy near the town of Fratta Polesine which, in the Late Bronze Age, was responsible for the production of much of the glass found in Europe. Frattesina was founded on the river Po, and evidence of glass manufac ...

di Fratta Polesine (Rovigo), and Specchia Artanisi di Ugento.

Death

Bietti Sestieri died on 2 July 2023, at the age of 80.

Honours

Bietti Sestieri received the Europa Prize from the Prehistoric Society in 1996. In 1993 she was elected as a Corresponding Member of the

Archaeological Institute of America The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is North America's oldest society and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. AIA professionals have carried out archaeological fieldwork around the world and AIA has established re ...

Publications

Books

* 1992. ''The iron age community of Osteria dell'Osa : a study of socio-political development in central Tyrrhenian Italy''. Cambridge University Press. David Ridgway in
Journal of Roman Archaeology
' * 1992. ''La necropoli laziale di Osteria dell'Osa'' 3 v. Rome: Edizioni Quasar. . * 1996. ''Protostoria: teoria e pratica.'' Rome: La Nuova Scientifica. * 2007. Bietti Sestieri, A.M., Ellen Macnamara; Duncan R Hook. ''Prehistoric metal artefacts from Italy (3500-720BC) in the British Museum''. Research publication (British Museum), no. 159. London: The British Museum. . * 2010. ''L'Italia nell'età del bronzo e del ferro : dalle palafitte a Romolo (2200-700 a.C.)''. with CD-ROM. Rome: Carocci. .

Articles

* 2008. "L’età del bronzo finale nella penisola italiana" ''Padusa'' 44, n.s:7-54. * Bietti Sestieri, A.M., C. Giardino, M.A.Gorgoglione. 2010. "Metal finds at the Middle and Late Bronze Age settlement of Scoglio del Tonno (Taranto, Apulia): results of archaeometallurgical analyses" Trabajos de Prehistoria 67.2:457-68.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bietti Sestieri, Anna Maria 1942 births 2023 deaths Italian archaeologists Italian prehistorians Academic staff of the University of Salento Members of the Lincean Academy Italian women archaeologists 20th-century archaeologists 21st-century archaeologists Italian women non-fiction writers 20th-century Italian non-fiction writers 20th-century Italian women writers 21st-century Italian non-fiction writers 21st-century Italian women writers