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Research interests
Joanita Vroom specializes in Medieval and Post-Medieval archaeology in the eastern Mediterranean (from the 7th to the 20th centuries after Christ), and takes a particular interest in the social-economic aspects (production and distribution) and the cultural aspects (cuisine and dining habits) of Byzantine, Islamic and Ottoman ceramics.
She has studied many major collections of Medieval and Post-Medieval pottery in the eastern Mediterranean, and is active as pottery specialist for international excavations and surveys in Albania (e.g., Butrint, Apollonia, Durrës, Rembeç), in Greece (e.g., Aetolia, Athens, Boeotia, Thebes, Kythera, Antikythera), in western Turkey (e.g., Ephesus, Limyra), in eastern Turkey (e.g., Tarsus, Avkat/Euchaita, Kalehöyük, Horum Höyük, Zeytinli Bahçe), in the Ukraine (e.g., Chersonesos) and in Cyprus (e.g., Troodos Mountains). Until now, she has been working with 22 universities (12 European, 10 non-European) and 13 scientific institutes (8 European, 5 non-European) (see below the list of international projects for more detailed information).
Current research project
Her application in 2009 for a substantial research project with the title Material Culture, Consumption and Social Change: New Approaches to Understanding the Eastern Mediterranean during Byzantine and Ottoman Times was accepted by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) in the form of a prestigious 5-years VIDI-grant (2010-2015).
Books
Earlier she published her Ph.D. thesis After Antiquity. Ceramics and Society in the Aegean from the 7th to the 20th century A.C. A Case Study from Boeotia, Central Greece (Leiden, 2003) in the Archaeological Studies Series of Leiden University (NL), and a second monograph with the title Byzantine to Modern Pottery in the Aegean. An Introduction and Field Guide (Utrecht, 2005).
After Antiquity. Ceramics and Society in the Aegean from the 7th to the 20th centuries A.C. A Case Study from Boeotia, Central Greece (Archaeological Studies Leiden University 10), Leiden, 2003.
Byzantine to Modern Pottery in the Aegean: An Introduction and Field Guide, Utrecht, 2005.
Other publications
For a complete list of current and forthcoming publications please click on the link below.
List of publications in PDF
List of publications in DOC
List of international projects
Events
A conference will be organized as the ‘First Amsterdam Meeting on Byzantine and Ottoman Archaeology’ in the third weekend (21-23) of October 2011 with the title Fact and Fiction in Medieval and Post-Medieval Ceramics in the eastern Mediterranean – Are we on the right track? Details of this conference will appear in Autumn/Winter 2010.
In combination with this conference a small exhibition will be organized in the ‘Bijzondere Collecties’ and in the ‘Allard Pierson Museum’ of the University of Amsterdam during Autumn/Winter 2011. Details of this exhibition with the title Life among Ruins: The eastern Mediterranean in Word and Image (ca. 700-2000 AD) will appear in Autumn/Winter 2010.