Staff profile

PhD research

My PhD project explores the production and inter-regional trade of Roman ceramics in the Middle Tiber Valley (Italy) during the Imperial period (c. 50 BC – AD 250), focusing on coarse wares (e.g. cooking wares) from the Tiber Valley Project (TVP) dataset. Building on the South Etruria Survey (SES) and the TVP’s reclassification of around 75,000 sherds using updated typologies, the research takes advantage of this digitised legacy data to enable new archaeometric approaches.

By applying petrographic thin-section analysis and ICP-MS, this project examines raw material provenance, technological choices, and the potential for fabric differentiation in this geologically uniform region. The study includes ceramics from both production centres and rural consumption sites (villae and farms), aiming to identify patterns of distribution and variability. Ultimately, the project will also contribute new comparative material and scientific data to broader discussions of Roman ceramic production, while enhancing the long-term value of the SES/TVP dataset. This project is undertaken in collaboration with the British School at Rome (BSR).

This project is supervised by Robert Witcher (Archaeology, Durham) and Kamal Badreshany (Archaeology, Durham), and in collaboration with Stephen Kay (BSR) and Letizia Ceccarelli (G. Natta, Politecnico di Milano).

This research is funded by the AHRC Northern Bridge Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership. In parallel with my doctoral research, and thanks to the DTP placement scheme and the BSR, I have also been involved in the post‑excavation work of Falerii Novi.

Academic Background

I obtained a first‑class joint MA in Archaeology and Social Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh, followed by a Master’s by Research, with distinction, at the University of Malta (UoM), where my dissertation focused on Roman ceramics in Malta. During this period, I worked as a Research Support Officer at UoM for three years on different projects (CoFIPoMS; MaltaPot Continuity; MQP/IslandLab).

In addition to my PhD at Durham, I am still affiliated with the University of Malta, contributing to diachronic research projects with a particular interest in ceramic technology, and I am regularly involved in student projects on ceramic characterisation and experimental archaeology.

• Ceramic Analysis
• Technological analysis
• Archaeological sciences
• Mediterranean Archaeology
• Open Sciences

Journal Article

• Early Neolithic Pottery Production in the Maltese Islands: Initiating a Għar Dalam and Skorba Pottery Fabric Classification
  
  Richard-Trémeau, E., Brogan, C., Betts, J. C., Capelli, C., Briguglio, A., Vella, M., Douglas, J., & Anastasi, M. (2025). Early Neolithic Pottery Production in the Maltese Islands: Initiating a Għar Dalam and Skorba Pottery Fabric Classification. Open Archaeology, 11(1), Article 20250057. https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2025-0057
• An archaeological and archaeometric study of Late Punic–Roman Pottery from the Tas-Silġ Sanctuary and the Żejtun Villa, Malta
  
  Richard-Trémeau, E., Capelli, C., Betts, J. C., Grech, J., Humann, A., Anastasi, M., & Piazza, M. (2024). An archaeological and archaeometric study of Late Punic–Roman Pottery from the Tas-Silġ Sanctuary and the Żejtun Villa, Malta. Libyan Studies, 55, 122-142. https://doi.org/10.1017/lis.2024.7
• A Review of Malta’s Pre-Temple Neolithic Pottery Wares
  
  Richard-Trémeau, E., Brogan, C., Betts, J. C., Anastasi, M., & Vella, N. C. (2023). A Review of Malta’s Pre-Temple Neolithic Pottery Wares. Open Archaeology, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2022-0310