Robert Schon

About Robert Schon

Robert Schon is the Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Archaeology (with Emma Blake). His research encompasses statecraft in Mycenaean Greece, landscape archaeology in western Sicily, the early adoption of standardized measures, and baseball in Arizona during the early 1900s. Dr. Schon is co-director (with Emma Blake) of the Arizona Sicily Project; currently conducting excavations at the site of Segesta. He also directs the Archaeology of Baseball in Southeastern Arizona.

Selected Publications

In Press Power and Place in the Prehistoric Aegean and Beyond. Studies in Honor of James C. Wright, INSTAP Press (co-edited with Susan E. Allen and R. Angus K. Smith).

2021 “Mapping Cross-Channel Connections: the Arizona Sicily Project, preliminary report of the 2018 and 2019 seasons. In Christopher Prescott, Arja Karivieri, Peter Campbell, Kristian Göransson and Debastiano Tusa, eds, Trinacria, "an island outside time". International archaeology in Sicily. Oxbow. (co-authored with E. Blake and R. Giglio), pp. 159-165.

2019 The Archaeology of Contemporary Migrant Journeys in Western Sicily (with E. Blake), Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 32 (2) 173-194.

2015 “Weight Sets: Identification and Analysis,” Cambridge Archaeological Journal 25: 2, 477-494.

2014 “The Political Ecology of the Pylian State,” in G. Touchais, R. Laffineur and F. Rougemont (eds.), PHYSIS: L’Environnement Naturel et al Relation Homme-Milieu dans le Monde Égéen Protohistorique, Actes de la 14e Rencontre égéenne international, Paris, Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art (INHA) 14 December 2012, pp. 547-553 (Aegaeum 37).

2014 “Chariot Makers at Pylos,” in D. Nakassis, J. Gulizio, and S. James (eds.), KE-RA-ME-JA: Studies Presented to Cynthia Shelmerdine, pp. 103-111, INSTAP Press.

2011 “Vox Clamantis in Campo: Further Thoughts on Ceramics and Site Survey,” in W. Gauß, M. Lindblom, A. Smith, and J. Wright (eds.), Our Cups are Full: Pottery and Society in the Aegean Bronze Age, INSTAP Press.

2011 “By Appointment to His Majesty the Wanax: Value Added Goods and Redistribution in Mycenaean Palatial Economies,” in Galaty, M., D. Nakassis, and W. Parkinson, (eds.), Redistribution in Greek Bronze Age Societies. Special "Forum" section for the American Journal of Archaeology 115: 219-227.

2010 “Think Locally, Act Globally: Mycenaean Elites and the Late Bronze Age World-System.” in W.A. Parkinson and M.L. Galaty (eds.), Archaic State Interaction, SAR Press, Santa Fe, pp. 213-236.



2010 “The Marsala Hinterland Survey: Preliminary Report,” (with Emma Blake) Etruscan Studies 13: 51-68.



2007 “Chariots, Industry, and Elite Power at Pylos,” in M.L. Galaty and W. A. Parkinson (eds.), Rethinking Mycenaean Palaces: New Interpretations of an Old Idea (second edition),University of California, Los Angeles, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, pp.133-145.



2006 “Diachronic Frontiers: Landscape Archaeology in Highland Albania,” (with Michael L. Galaty), Journal of World Systems Research 12 (2): 230-262.


Courses Taught

ANTH 150C1: Humanity: a How-to Guide

HNRS 195h: Baseball and Sociey 

CLAS 596a: Archaeological Survey 

ANTH 235: Principles of Archaeology 

CLAS/ANTH 443/543: Neolithic and Bronze Age Greece 

CLAS 160D2: Classical Mythology 

CLAS 596a: Ancient Statecraft 

Areas of Study

The Mediterranean Littoral

The Bronze Age

Early Baseball

Projects

Co-Director, The Arizona Sicily Project 

The Arizona Sicily Project is an interdisciplinary long-term study of western Sicily and its interconnections with the broader Mediterranean world from prehistory to the present day. The project is co-directed by myself and Emma Blake. Based in the coastal city of Marsala, the project integrates archaeological fieldwork, archival study, and environmental research in order to shed light on one of the world's important multicultural crossroads. We work closely with Italian archaeologists and other local stakeholders. Students from the University of Arizona, other institutions from throughout the United States, and from Italy participate in all aspects of our fieldwork from data collection, to analysis, to presentation. The project has been supported by grants from the Etruscan Foundation, the Univesity of Arizona, and numerous private individuals. 

Support the Arizona Sicily Project

 

Director, The Archaeology of Baseball in Southeastern Arizona

As a nearly one billion-dollar industry, baseball in Arizona has never been more popular. However, few people know that it has been an important social force in Arizona since the earliest days of the territory. Sports played an integral role in the awakening of America’s national consciousness during the late 1800’s and southern Arizona had its own brand of baseball back then– played by miners, soldiers, gamblers, and quite a few future hall of famers. The Archaeology of Baseball in Southeastern Arizona, directed by Professor Robert Schon of the School of Anthropology, explores this bygone era through research on some of the earliest known ball fields in the state. Information about these sites reveal aspects of the social lives of the people who played in and attended early baseball games, and their analysis contributes in unprecedented ways to our understanding of this long forgotten aspect of Arizona’s history. Financial donations to the project support student participation, promote outreach with local schools and stakeholders, and enhance the public dissemination of results through lectures, exhibits, and site tours.

Support the Archaeology of Baseball in Southeastern Arizona

Research Interests

The Mycenaeans

Standardized Measures

Cooperation & Collective Action

Complex Societies

Ancient Statecraft

Political Economy

Archaeological Survey

Early Baseball