Naomi J. Norman

Read more about My Research
 

Academic History

Ph.D. 1980 University of Michigan, Classical Art and Archaeology
A.B. 1975 Bryn Mawr College, Greek and Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology (Magna cum laude, Honors in Archaeology)
American School of Classical Studies in Athens (1977-78, Regular Member; 1978-79, Associate Member and School Fellow)

Excavation Activities

Naomi Norman has excavated extensively at Classical period sites in the Mediterranean and has directed excavation projects in Carthage, Tunisia since 1982. These projects have focused on the southwest quadrant of the Roman city--an area of the city which is dominated by two massive entertainment complexes, the Roman circus and amphitheater--and have significantly enlarged our understanding of the nature of occupation in that district. Dr. Norman is particularly interested in field work on classical sites; mortuary archaeology, especially the interface between Roman rituals of death and burial and Roman social structure; archaeology of space/place, especially within the Greek and Roman sacred contexts; and the archaeology of the Hellenistic world.

Current Research Projects

Since 1992 Dr. Norman has directed the current University of Georgia project at Carthage. The project conducted full-scale excavations of the large and extremely well-preserved Yasmina Necropolis at Carthage, a cemetery which has the potential to help rewrite the artistic, social, political, and cultural history of Carthage in the high imperial period. The cemetery was in use for almost the entire history of Roman Carthage and attracted clients from the broadest possible social spectrum, to judge from the quantity and quality of sculpture, architecture, inscriptions, coins, pottery, curse tablets, skeletons, cremations, and small finds. This material illuminates the art and architecture, social history, demography, religion, and popular culture of Roman Carthage. The research plan of the excavation aimed, not only to recover a wealth of information for individual specialties, but also to integrate and contextualize the material from the Yasmina cemetery with that published from other cemeteries and other sites in Carthage to reconstruct rituals of death and burial for the Roman city and to fit the cemetery into the larger urban fabric of Carthage. The first phase of excavation has been completed and, since 1998, efforts have been directed toward publication of the project and conservation of the site. The hope is to leave the site open and ready for visitors/tourists.

Recent Pertinent Publications on Carthage

Naomi J. Norman and Lisa Pintozzi, "The Lead Curse Tablets from the Carthage Circus," Archaeological News 17 (1992) 11-18.
Anne E. Haeckl and Naomi J. Norman, "The University of Georgia Excavations in the Yasmina Necropolis of Carthage, 1992," Journal of Roman Archaeology 6 (1993) 238-50.
"Le cirque romaine" in Pour Sauver Carthage: exploration et conservation de la cité‚ punique, romaine et byzantine, edited by A. Ennabli (UNESCO/INAA, 1992) 161-65.
"The Yasmina Necropolis, 1992 Campaign by the University of Georgia (USA)" OWAN 16.2 (1993) 12-5
"The Yasmina Necropolis of Ancient Carthage: The 1994 Season" OWAN 18.3 (1995) 16-19.
"Death and Burial of Roman Children: The Case of the Yasmina Cemetery at Carthage,Part I, Setting the Stage," Mortality 7.3 (2002) 302-23.
"Death and Burial of Roman Children: The Case of the Yasmina Cemetery at Carthage, Part II, The Archaeological Evidence," Mortality 8.1 (2003) 36-47.

Books in Progress on Carthage

The Archaeology of Carthage, overview of the city as revealed by recent archaeological work.

Naomi J. Norman, ed. The Yasmina Excavations, a multi-volume publication of the Carthage excavation also in progress.

Selected Masters Theses Directed in Classics at the University of Georgia

Rex Crews, “ The Relat ionship of Anchises and Aeneas in the Aeneid ”

Caroline Nelson, “ Philip II, Alexander III, and their Successors, and their Work in Sanctuaries ”

Christopher Gregg, “ Represent at ions of Circus Personnel from Carthage : Mosaics, Statuary, and Defixionum Tabellae ”

Lisa Pintozzi, “ Testing the Metal of the Gods: A Study of Defixiones from the University of Georgia Excav at ions at Carthage ”

Christine Albright, “ Eros in Thucydides ”

Erika Thorgerson, “ Sortis Ultimae Homo : Roman Praecones and the Dissemination of Information in the Republic and Empire ”

Derek Counts, “ The Social Implic at ions of Embalming Ritual in the Roman Empire ”

Amy Martin, “ From the Toilet to the Tiber : A Theoretical Approach to the Roman Sewer System ”

Susan Carl, “ ‘ Bella, Horrida Bella' : Massacres, Atrocities, and Genocide in the Roman World”

Karen Johnson, “ Death and Funerary Ritual in the Cena Trimalchionis ”

Winfred Harris, “ The Transgression of Boundaries in Apuleius' Apologia and Metamorphoses ”

Karen Laurence, “ The Athenian Calendar Frieze: An Agricultural Calendar Dedicated to Demeter and Dionysus During the Time of Demetrios Poliorketes ”

Sarah Traut, “ Frogs Around the Pond: Some Images of the Mediterranean Sea in Greek and Roman Culture ”

Berkeley Brown, “ Julio-Claudian Empresses ”

J. Marilyn Evans, “ The Tertullus Monument : A Funerary Monument from Roman Carthage ”

John Lanier, “ Moving West: Phoenician and Greek Settlement Models in the 8th Century B.C.E.”

Jesse Sawyer, “Tomb of the Flavii at Cillium (Kasserine) Tunisia ”

Dr. Norman has also served on a number of M.A. and Ph.D. advisory, examining, and reading committees in Classics, Comparative Literature, Art History, and Geology at Georgia and at other institutions.

Other Professional Activities

Dr Norman is currently the Director of the University of Georgia Excavations at Carthage (Tunisia) and the Director of the UGA Reacting to the Past program. From 2004-2013 she was the Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Archaeology, one of the premier journals for classical archaeology in the world. She has refereed articles and grant proposals for a number of international archaeological journals and funding agencies. She was awarded the M.G. Michael Award for Excellence in Research from UGA and has received major grants, fellowships and awards from the American Philosophical Society, American Council of Learned Societies, Parker Center at Brown University, NEH, Earthwatch and the Kress Foundation to support her research, as well as over $490,000 since 1981 in internal and external funding and in-kind support for the Carthage excavation and other research projects.

Dr. Norman has a long record of Departmental, University and professional service. She served as Vice-President for Publications of the Archaeological Institute of America, has been a member of the AIA lecture circuit since 1991, and is active in the governance of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. She teaches a variety of courses in classical archaeology in the Department, as well as Greek courses, especially on the Greek historians.