Susan Sherratt

Susan Sherratt
Name	Susan Sherratt
Birth date	1958
Nationality	British
Occupation	Archaeologist, Academic
Institutions	University of Sheffield, University of Cambridge, University of Liverpool, University of Nottingham
Alma mater	University of Bristol

Susan Sherratt is a British archaeologist and academic known for her work on Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Mediterranean archaeology, trade networks, and economic systems. She has held posts at several major British universities and contributed to interdisciplinary studies linking material culture, seafaring, and exchange in the Aegean, Anatolia, Levant, and Cyprus. Her scholarship engages with archaeological theory, numismatics, ceramic studies, and digital humanities across Mediterranean and Near Eastern case studies.

Early life and education

Sherratt studied classics and archaeology in the context of British higher education, training at the University of Bristol alongside contemporaries from institutions such as the British School at Athens, the Ashmolean Museum, and the Institute of Archaeology, UCL. Her postgraduate research engaged with material from sites associated with the Late Bronze Age collapse, the Mycenaean civilization, the Hittite Empire, the Neo-Assyrian Empire, and the Egyptian New Kingdom, and involved collaboration with scholars linked to the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, and the Corpus of Mycenae Project.

Academic career and positions

Sherratt has held academic positions at the University of Sheffield, the University of Cambridge's Department of Archaeology, the University of Liverpool, and the University of Nottingham, and has been affiliated with the British School at Athens, the British Institute at Ankara, and the All Souls College, Oxford network of researchers. She has served on editorial boards connected to journals such as the Antiquity (journal), the Journal of Archaeological Science, and regional outlets linked with the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and the Cyprus Department of Antiquities. Her career has intersected with projects supported by funders like the Arts and Humanities Research Council and collaborations with teams associated with the University of Cambridge Classics Faculty, the School of Oriental and African Studies, and the University of Oxford.

Research and contributions

Sherratt's research emphasizes Mediterranean exchange, maritime connectivity, and the movement of objects between polities such as Minoan Crete, Mycenae, Troy, Ugarit, Byblos, Tyre, Sidon, Akkad, Babylon, Nineveh, and Thebes (Greece). She has contributed to debates on the chronology of the Late Bronze Age collapse, the role of commodity exchange between Cyprus and Anatolia (Asia Minor), and the implications for societies under the influence of the Hittite Empire and the Egyptian Empire (New Kingdom). Her interdisciplinary work engages with specialists in numismatics at institutions like the British Numismatic Society, ceramics analysts from the Pottery Research Group, and maritime archaeologists affiliated with the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. She has explored theoretical frameworks influenced by scholars connected to the Cambridge School of Archaeology, comparative researchers from the Institute for Advanced Study, and digital projects associated with the Archaeology Data Service.

Major publications and edited volumes

Sherratt has authored and edited monographs, articles, and edited volumes published alongside contributors from the British Academy, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the European Research Council-funded teams, and museums such as the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her edited collections address topics spanning the Late Bronze Age collapse, Aegean metallurgy tied to the Troad and Lycian coast, and Cyprus trade related to Salamis (ancient city), integrating case studies from Paphos, Kition, Enkomi, and Amathus. Collaborators and contributors in these volumes include scholars associated with the University of Cambridge Classical Archaeology and Ancient History, the University of Oxford School of Archaeology, the University of Liverpool Department of Classics and Ancient History, and the University of Sheffield Department of Archaeology.

Awards and honours

Sherratt's honours reflect recognition from bodies such as the British Academy, the Society of Antiquaries of London, and national research councils like the Leverhulme Trust and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Her work has been cited in major reference works produced by the Cambridge University Press, the Oxford University Press, and the Routledge catalogue, and she has been invited to lecture at institutions including the University of Edinburgh, the University of Glasgow, the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS), and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.

Teaching and supervision

As a supervisor and lecturer, Sherratt has taught courses and supervised postgraduate research tied to departments at the University of Sheffield, the University of Cambridge, the University of Liverpool, and the University of Nottingham, training students who have gone on to positions in museums such as the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, and university posts at the University of Birmingham, the University of York, and the University of Swansea. Her pedagogic contributions include modules on Aegean prehistory involving material from Knossos, Pylos, Mycenae, Miletus, and Ephesus, and she has participated in doctoral panels convened by the European Association of Archaeologists.

Public engagement and outreach

Sherratt has contributed to public lectures, media appearances, and exhibitions coordinated with institutions including the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Museum of Wales, and regional museums in Cyprus and Greece. She has worked on outreach projects linked to the Archaeology Data Service, the Portable Antiquities Scheme, and collaborative exhibitions that have featured artefacts from collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Louvre, and the National Archaeological Museum, Athens.

Category:British archaeologists Category:Living people Category:1958 births