Scientific Research Officer

Dr Artemios Oikonomou

British School at Athens
52 Souedias Street
Athens, 10676
+30 211 1022 835

a.oikonomou@bsa.ac.uk

Research

I am an archaeological scientist with a strong background in Physics and Materials Science. My research focuses on the application of state of the art scientific techniques to the study of ancient materials and especially glass and ceramics as a means for: a. the identification of ancient technological aspects; b. answering archaeological questions in relation to the reconstruction of ancient technologies; c. changing technological practices through space and time; d. the provenance of ancient materials; and e. the fusion of scientific results with aspects of the humanities. As an archaeological scientist, I am involved in various interdisciplinary archaeological projects, both as primary researcher and research associate, in the broad field of Archaeological Science.

I studied Physics and received my MSc and PhD from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Ioannina. At the same institution, I also obtained an MA in Fine Arts and Sciences. My professional experience includes a four-year postdoctoral fellowship at the Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Center (STARC) of The Cyprus Institute, a prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Nottingham, and a Geoarchaeology Fellowship at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Between 2022 and 2024, I also served as Principal Investigator of a project funded by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI), hosted at the Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics of NCSR Demokritos.

As Scientific Research Officer at the Fitch Laboratory I am responsible for the chemistry lab (WD-XRF facility) and I aim to expand its analytical capabilities by introducing new calibration protocols for the study of archaeological materials such as glass, metals and lithics. At the same time I will actively participate in the Ceramic Petrology and Glass courses offered by the Lab and support the day-to-day operations of the Lab.

In parallel my research agenda includes two projects related to the study of ceramics and glass:

  1. Reconstructing Technology, Economy, and Trade in Hellenistic Epirus through Pottery (RETEP) which aims to identify the technology of pottery of Hellenistic Epirus, Greece, to reconstruct some of the domestic, industrial, socio-economic and trade activities of its inhabitants.
  2. Aegean on the crossroad of glass distribution. Evidence from the proto Byzantine period (ACROGLASS) which aims to investigate the technology, trade and consumption patterns of early Byzantine glass in the Aegean and its connections with mainland Greece and adjacent areas of the wider Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East (EMME) region in order to understand how Byzantine societies organized glass production and distribution.

 

Selected Publications

Books

  • Oikonomou, A. (2025). Glassmaking in Greek region during the 1st Millenium BC. Archaeometrical approaches, Institut du Livre – Kardamitsa, Athens (in Greek).
  • Kaparou, M. and Oikonomou, A. (2024). Practical Guidelines for the Classification of Vitreous Materials, Conservatia, Athens.

Articles in peer-reviewed journals

  • Oikonomou, A., Rehren, Th. (in press). Recycling in Late Antiquity in Cyprus: Evidence from the Amathus glass workshop, Submitted to Journal of Urban Archaeology.
  • Govantes-Edwards, D., Cosyns P., Degryse P., Duckworth Ch., Freestone I., Frenken M., Jackson C., Oikonomou A., Rehren Th., Retamosa J.A., Rosenow D., Shortland A., Zimmermann M. (accepted). Plant-ash glass in Natronland: A review of the use of plant-based fluxes in glassmaking from the 1st to the 9th century CE in Europe and the Mediterranean basin, Journal of Archaeological Science.
  • Dobson, S., Henderson, J., Oikonomou, A., Chenery, S. (2025). Glass from Manthai, Sri Lanka: Insights into the supply of glass for the Silk Roads. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 17, 246.
  • Oikonomou, Α., Kaparou, M., Asvestas, A., Tsampa, K., Kordali, O., Anagnostopoulos, D., Nikolentzos, K., Manteli, K., Voutsa, A., Moraitou, G., Karydas, A.G. (2025). Mycenaean Vitreous Artifacts: Overcoming Taxonomy Hurdles via Macro-XRF Analysis, Heritage, 8(4), 122.
  • Oikonomou, A., Asscher, Y., May, H., Gorin-Rosen, Y., Rehren, Th. (2023). Metal prills in primary glass: A puzzling aspect of the production process. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 103977.

Chapters in edited volumes

  • Oikonomou, A. (accepted for publication). The conversation between Archaeometry and Pottery: A continuous dialogue. In: Kathariou, K., Alexandridou, A., (eds), Honorary volume in Memory of Prof. Vassiliki Pappa, DODONA, Supplement 2025 (in Greek).
  • Oikonomou, A. (2025). (Re)connecting Epirus in Greece: Glass consumption and trade during the Hellenistic era. In: Laftsidis, A., (ed), Commonality and Diversity in the Hellenistic World, Etudes d’Archéologie, CreA -Patrimoine, Peeters Publishers Leuven, Brussels, 113-128.
  • Oikonomou, A. and Rehren, Th. (2023). Handling glass: From the field to the lab. In: Margaritis, E., Oikonomou, A., Nikita, E., Rehren, Th., (eds), A Handbook of Field Sampling for Laboratory Analysis in Archaeology, The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus, 165-172.
  • Oikonomou, Α. (2022). Ancient glass: history, technology, analysis. In: Zacharias N., (ed.), Archaeometry: Absolute dating and analyses, Papazisis Publishing, Athens, 233-297, (in Greek).
  • Oikonomou, A. (2021). The core formed glass from Satricum. An overall assessment. In: Gnade, M. and Revello Lami M., (eds.), Tracing Technology. Forty years of archaeological research at Satricum, Peeters, Leuven-Paris-Bristol, CT, 179-188