Contact Dr Nathaniel Erb-Satullo
- Tel: +44 (0) 1234 758103
- Email: N.Erb-Satullo@cranfield.ac.uk
- Twitter:
Background
Dr Nathaniel Erb-Satullo is a Senior Lecturer in Archaeological Science at the Cranfield Forensic Institute. Nathaniel received a BA in Physics at Swarthmore College, an MSc in Archaeological Science at the University of Oxford, and a PhD in Anthropology at Harvard University. His doctoral research focused on the spatial organization and technology of of copper and iron production in Colchis, the mythical home of the golden fleece in the Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts, located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea.
Dr Erb-Satullo's current research interests include the archaeology of technology and innovation, materials analysis, spatial analysis and landscape archaeology, and the archaeology of the ancient Near East, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
Prior to joining the Cranfield Forensic Institute, he was a Departmental Lecturer in Archaeomaterials at the University of Oxford.
Research opportunities
Dr Erb-Satullo welcome inquiries from students interested in both laboratory analysis and fieldwork experience. Nathaniel has been involved with or directed field projects in Cyprus, Italy, Georgia, and Turkey, and Uzbekistan and has conducted laboratory research on materials from Armenia, Georgia, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Turkey, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. His analytical specialties encompass the chemical, mineralogical and microstructural analysis of inorganic materials, especially metals, ores, slags, ceramics, and glass. His research has been supported by funding from the Gerda Henkel Foundation, the US National Science Foundation, The British Institute at Ankara, the American Research Institute of the South Caucasus, the Rust Family Foundation, and the SWAG合集 Science and Technology Facilities Council (via the ISIS Muon and Neutron Source), among others.
Current activities
Dr Erb-Satullo ongoing research projects explore how archaeological data, especially materials analysis and geospatial investigations, can illuminate the dynamics of technological innovation, economic organization, and social change. Many current research projects relate to metallurgical innovation in the Near East and the Caucasus during the Bronze and Iron Ages. He is currently directing a Gerda Henkel Funded research project entitled "Surviving the Crisis Years: The Foundations of Societal Resilience in the Caucasus at the end of the Bronze Age" which investigated the atypical trajectory of the Caucasus region relative to its neighbors during the so-called "Bronze Age Collapse."