ICREA Research Professor, Director of ERAAUB
+349 340 375 34
Office 1027, first floor, Departament d'Història i Arqueologia, Secció de Prehistòria i Arqueologia, Facultat de Geografia i Història de la Universitat de Barcelona, c/ Montalegre, 6-8, 08001 Barcelona
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Presentation
I am an archaeologist focused on the Late Antique Mediterranean and in the archaeometry of archaeological ceramics. After obtaining my PhD (1998) at the University of Barcelona, I was a postdoctoral GEOPRO TMR-EU Research Fellow (1998-2001) at the Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield (UK). I returned to Catalonia with a Return Grant of the Generalitat de Catalunya (2001-2002). I was a researcher for the EU project CERAMED (2003) and ICREA Research Professor since 2003. I am a co-founder and current director of the Equip de Recerca Arqueològica i Arqueomètrica, University of Barcelona (ERAAUB). I have been Visiting Professor at the Universities of Cagliari, Sassari, at the Scuola di Spezializazione Neosiotikà (Consorzio Uno, Oristano) (Sardinia, Italy), and at the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World at Brown University (USA). I am currently a Chercheur Associé of the Centre Camille Jullian (CNRS and Universitè Aix/Marseille, UMR 7299). I have participated in national and international projects, such as GEOPRO, CERAMED and Progetto Classe working in the World Heritage site of Ravenna. I am the co-founder of the international conference LRCW, and of the series Roman and Late Antique Mediterranean Pottery (RLAMP) and Limina/Limites: Archaeologies, histories, islands, and borders in the Mediterranean (365-1556) and associated editor of the journal Pyrenae and member of the editorial boards of Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, Journal of Roman Archaeology, Cuadernos de Prehistoria y Arqueología de la Universidad de Granada, and Rivista di Studi Liguri.
Research Interests
I have specialized in the study of archaeological ceramics to investigate their provenance, technology of production and distribution using physico-chemical, mineralogical, and petrographic techniques. I have a broad interest in the analytical study of ceramic materials including the theoretical foundations of the discipline, and in ceramic ethnoarchaeology and ethnoarchaeometry. I have a main interest in Late Antique Archaeology and in pottery in the Mediterranean, especially in the study of coarse and cooking wares. One of my aims is also to investigate the transformation of the Roman world with a particular interest in the Mediterranean islands. I am a scientific director of archaeological and ceramic ethnoarchaeology expeditions in the Balearics and Sardinia, including the excavations at the Roman and Late Antique city of Pollentia and the Early Christian complexes of Son Peretó (Mallorca) and Illa del Rei (Menorca), and the Ses Fontanelles shipwreck (Mallorca).
Current Projects
- ARCHAEOLOGY, REMOTE SENSING, AND ARCHAEOMETRY: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO LANDSCAPES AND CERAMICS FROM THE ROMAN TO THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD IN MALLORCA (BALEARIC ISLANDS): ARCHREMOTELANDS (HAR2017-83335-P)
- EXCAVATIONS AT THE ROMAN AND LATE ANTIQUE CITY OF POLLENTIA
- EXCAVATIONS AT THE EARLY CHRISTIAN COMPLEX OF SON PERETÓ
- EXCAVATIONS AT THE ROMAN VILLA OF SA MESQUIDA
- EARLY CHRISTIAN BASILICAS IN MENORCA
Some Past Projects
- REMOTE SENSING, GEOPHYSICS AND PALEOENVIRONMENTAL RECONSTRUCTION OF RURAL SITES IN MALLORCA
- LRPWESTMED,Cerámicas tardorromanas en el Mediterráneo occidental: explorando el comercio regional y de larga distancia a través de ciencias experimentales(HAR2013-45874-P), Funding Institution: Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Programme: Plan Nacional de I+D+i,PI: M.A. Cau, 2014-2017
- LRCWMED, Archaeology and Archaeometry of Late Roman Cooking Wares in the Western Mediterranean: a Holistic Approach, HAR2009-08290, Funding Institution: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Programme: Plan Nacional de I+D+i, PI: M.A. Cau, 2009-2012
- CERPOANTAR, Poblamiento y cerámica durante la Antigüedad tardía en las islas Baleares: el caso de Mallorca, Funding Institution: MEDU - Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Programme: NHUM - Programa Nacional de Humanidades, Plan Nacional I+D+i, Project Number: HUM2005-00996/Hist, PI: M.A. Cau, 2005-2008
- PROFOLANT, Production, trade and consumption of food in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, PIEF-GA-2009-235863, Funding Institution: Commission of the European Communities, Research Executive Agency (REA) 7th Framework Programme, European Union, Programme: 7th Framework Programme, People, Marie Curie actions, IEF, PI: M.A. Cau, Alessandra Pecci (contracted Fellow) 2009-2011
- Progetto Classe. Archeologia di una città abandonata, Funding Institution: European Comission, Programme: Cultura 2000, Project Number: Ref.: CLT/2005/A1/CH/IT-317, Agrm.: 2005-0748/001-001 CLT CA12., Dates: 01/11/2005 – 01/11/2006, PI: A. Augenti, N. Christie, G. Ripoll and J. Lazlovsky
- CERAMED- Identification, recovery and improvement of ancient Mediterranean ceramic manufacturing technologies for the reproduction of ceramic artefacts of archaeological value, Funding Institution: UNER - Unión Europea. , Programme: INCOMED – Confirming the International Role of Community Research., Project Number: ICA-CT200210018., Dates: 2003-2006-, PI: I. Siotis, 2003-2006
- GEOPRO-Integrating geochemical and mineralogical techniques: a new approach to raw materials and archaeological ceramics provenance, Funding Institution: UNER - Unión Europea, Programme: TMRE - Human Capital and Mobility (HCM-Network), Project Number: FMRX-CT98-0165, Dates: 1998 - 2002, PI: P.M. Day, 1998-2001
Selected Publications
- CAU ONTIVEROS, M.Á., FANTUZZI, L., ALBERO SANTACREU, D., TSANTINI, E., GARCÍA ROSSELLÓ, J., CALVO TRÍAS, M. (2019), Iron Age Indigenous Pottery from the Staggered Turriform of Son Ferrer (Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain): Archaeometric Characterisation, Geoarchaeology, 34 (2): 149-168
- CAU ONTIVEROS, M.A., FANTUZZI, L., TSANTINI, E., RIBERA LACOMBA, A., ROSSELLÓ MESQUIDA, M. (2019), Archaeometric Characterization of Common and Cooking Wares from the Late Antique City of Valentia (Valencia, Spain), Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 11 (8): 4035–4057
- CAU ONTIVEROS, M.Á., TSANTINI, E., FANTUZZI, L., RAMON, J. (2019), Archaeometric characterisation of Late Antique pottery from the rural site of Ses Païsses de Cala d'Hort (Eivissa, Balearic Islands, Spain), Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 11 (2): 627–649
- CAU ONTIVEROS, M.Á., MARTÍNEZ FARRERAS, V., PECCI A., MAS-FLORIT, C., FANTUZZI, L. (2018), Provenance and Content of Roman Amphorae from the Site of Sa Mesquida (Mallorca, Spain), Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, 18 (2): 87-105
- CAU, M.Á., VAN STRYDONCK, M., BOUDIN, M., MAS FLORIT, C., MESTRES, J.S., CARDONA, F., CHÁVEZ, Mª.E., ORFILA, M. (2017), Christians in a Muslim World? Radiocarbon dating of the cemetery over the forum of Pollentia (Mallorca, Balearic Islands), Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 9 (7): 1529–1538
- CAU ONTIVEROS, M.Á. (2015), Arqueología para un futuro incierto: un debate abierto, Pyrenae, 46 (2): 79-87
- CAU, M.Á., ALBERT, R.M., GURT, J.M., MARTÍNEZ, V., MAS FLORIT, C., PECCI, A., REYNOLDS, P., RIPOLL, G., TSANTINI, E., TUSET, F. (2015), Equip de Recerca Arqueològica i Arqueomètrica de la Universitat de Barcelona (ERAAUB) (1992-2015), Pyrenae, Número Especial 50è Aniversari: 181-244
- CAU, M.Á., MONTANA, G., TSANTINI, E., RANDAZZO, L. (2015), Ceramic ethnoarchaeometry in Western Sardinia: Production of Cooking Ware at Pabillonis, Archaeometry 57 (3): 453–475
- CAU, M.A., RIERA, M., SALAS, M., VAN STRYDONCK, M. (2014), Radiocarbon Dating of the necropolis of the Early Christian Site of Son Peretó (Mallorca, Balearic Islands), Radiocarbon 56 (2): 1-12
- CAU, M.A. AND MAS, C. (2013), Tracing settlement patterns in late antique Mallorca (Balearics Islands): a field survey in the eastern territories, Hortus Artium Medievalium 19: 247-265
- CAU, M.A., MAS, C., VALLORI, B., CHÁVEZ, Mª.E., ORFILA, M. (2013), Un nuevo pavimento de opus sectile hallado en Pollentia (Alcudia, Mallorca), Archivo Español de Arqueología 86: 149-160
- CAU M.A., MAS, C., RIPOLL, G., TUSET, F. ORFILA, M. AND VALLS, M. (2012), El conjunto eclesiástico de la Illa del Rei en Mahón (Menorca, Islas Baleares), Hortus Artium Medievalium 18: 415-432
- CAU M.A., RIERA RULLAN, M. AND SALAS, M. (2012), The early christian complex of Son Peretó (Mallorca, Balearic Islands): excavations in the 'West Sector' (2005-2008), Archeologia Medievale XXXIX: 213-225
- BAXTER, M. J.; BEARDAH, C. C.; PAPAGEORGIOU, I.; CAU, M. A.; DAY, P. M. and KILIKOGLOU, V. (2008), On statistical approaches to the study of ceramic artefacts using geochemical and petrographic data, Archaeometry 50: 142-157.
- BUXEDA I GARRIGÓS, J.; CAU ONTIVEROS, M. A. and KILIKOGLOU, V. (2003), Chemical variability in clays and pottery from a traditional cooking pot production village: Testing assumptions in Pereruela, Archaeometry 45: 1-17.
- CAU ONTIVEROS, MIGUEL ÁNGEL (2003), Cerámicas tardorromanas de cocina de las Islas Baleares. Estudio Aqueométrico, BAR International Series 1182, Archaeopress, Oxford.
- CAU, M.A. (2007), Mediterranean Late Roman Cooking Wares: Evidence from the Balearic Islands, in M. Bonifay and J.C. Treglia (Eds.), LRCW 2. Late Roman Coarse Wares, Cooking Wares and Amphorae in the Mediterranean: Archaeology and Archaeometry, BAR International Series 1662, 219-246, Archaeopress, Oxford.
- CAU ONTIVEROS, M. A.; DAY, P. M. and MONTANA, G. (2002), Secondary calcite in archaeological ceramics: evaluation of alteration and contamination processes by thin section study, in V. Kilikoglou, A, Hein and Y. Maniatis (eds.), Modern Trends in Ancient Ceramics, BAR, International Series, , 9-18, Oxford
- CAU ONTIVEROS, M. A.; DAY, P. M.; PAPAGEORGIOU, I.; BAXTER, M.; ILIOPOULOS, I. and MONTANA, G. (2004), Exploring Automatic Grouping Procedures in Ceramic Petrology, Journal of Archaeological Science 31: 1325-1338.
- HEIN, A.; DAY, P. M.; CAU, M. A. and KILIKOGLOU, V. (2004), Red clays from Central and Eastern Crete: geochemical and mineralogical properties in view of provenance studies on ancient ceramics, Applied Clay Science 24: 245-255.
- GURT I ESPARRAGUERA, J. M.; BUXEDA I GARRIGÓS, J. and CAU ONTIVEROS, M. A. (2005), LRCW 1. Late Roman Coarse Wares, Cooking Wares and Amphorae in the Mediterranean. Archaeology and Archaeometry, BAR International Series, 1340, Archaeopress, Oxford.
- MAS, C. AND CAU, M.A. (2007), Rural settlement in Late Antique Mallorca (Balearic Islands): an interim approach, Archeologia Medievale XXXIV: 171-180.
- ORFILA, M.; CHÁVEZ, Mª E. and CAU, M. A. (2006), Pollentia and the Roman cities of the Balearic Islands, in ABAD CASAL, L.; KEAY, S. i RAMALLO ASENSIO, S., Early Roman Towns in Hispania Tarraconensis, Portsmouth, Rhode Island, 133-145
- PAPAGEORGIOU, I.; BAXTER, M. J. and CAU ONTIVEROS, M. A. (2001), Model-based cluster analysis of artefact compositional data, Archaeometry: 571-588
