Lauren Tomanelli
PhD Candidate
About Lauren Tomanelli
Lauren Tomanelli is a PhD candidate in the Mediterranean Archaeology program. Her dissertation considers the intersection of spatial memory and civic identity during 6th century BCE Etruscan urbanization. She examines Southern Etruscan intramural burials to identify an early ritual practice unique to the region. She then traces how those zones were altered over time, testing whether the social memory of the burials was continued or abandoned during 6th century BCE social changes. The study shows that memorialization was idiosyncratic to each city, suggesting that individual civic identities had eclipsed the region's previously shared regional identity.
Museum work is Lauren's passion. While at the U of A she has served as Assistant Lab Director for the Arizona in Sicily Excavations of Segesta, and as Registrar for the Mt. Lykaion Excavation and Survey Project. She previously worked as Project Manager for an exhibition development team, and as Digitization Assistant at the American Numismatic Society where she helped publish the Online Coins of the Roman Empire and Hellenistic Royal Coinages.
Lauren received a BA in Anthropology from George Mason University, an MA in Museum Studies from George Washington University, and an MA in Classics from Columbia University.
Research Interests
Etruscan archaeology, Roman archaeology, identity, ancient memory, numismatics.
Selected Publications
“Demons and Forgetting in Etruscan Homeric Art,” Etruscan Studies, vol. 26, no. 1-2 (2023): 64-85.
“Etruscan Spatial Dis/continuity: Changes to Ritual and Craft Zones during Urbanization,” in Renew, Revive, Rasenna: New Perspectives in Etruscan Studies. Proceedings of the First CGSA Spring Symposium, University at Buffalo (SUNY), 21 – 23 April 2023. Access Archaeology Series. Oxford, Archaeopress (2026): in press.