Former UrbNet Assistant Professor and Postdoc Emanuele E. Intagliata has accepted a tenure-track Assistant Professorship (Ricercatore Tipo B) at the University of Milan, where he will be teaching Medieval Archaeology. In his new position, which started on 1 January 2022, Emanuele E. Intagliata aims to continue working on the evolution of frontier communities in the late antique near east, with specific focus on western Georgia and eastern Turkey. He will also carry on research on urban networks and urban circularity in antiquity in close collaboration with people at UrbNet.

During his time at UrbNet, Emanuele E. Intagliata has explored the transformation of urbanism in the late antique and medieval east. In particular by studying large-scale architecture, he has investigated how urban networks were catalyst for shaping townscapes. A special focus area has been cities situated in close proximity to the sea (for example the settlements on the southern Black Sea littoral) or on river banks (for example, the settlements by the Rioni River in Georgia) – therefore, cities whose survival was very much dependent on their urban networks. In addition to this, he has explored how ancient phenomena that are characteristic of circular economic systems, for example the reuse of sculpture and architecture, made cities in antiquity more resilient after or during human-driven disasters.

In 2020, Emanuele E. Intagliata received the ‘Best young Italian Researcher in Denmark’ Award (BIRD) in Social Sciences and Humanities for his work. The BIRD awards are presented to Italian researchers in Denmark by the Italian Embassy and the Italian Institute of Culture in Copenhagen. 

Throughout his employment at UrbNet, Emanuele E. Intagliata has contributed immensely to the centre’s overall agenda. As an ambitious researcher within archaeology, Emanuele E. Intagliata has been an inspirational and innovative employee and colleague, and at UrbNet we are thrilled to celebrate the success of a tenure-track assistant professorship with him. We furthermore look forward to foster new collaborations and to continue the exploration of archaeology and history of urban societies and their networks with Emanuele E. Intagliata.