Professor Damian Robinson

robinson
Director, Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology
+44 (0)1865 613791
damian.robinson@arch.ox.ac.uk

Research Interests

Maritime archaeology, ancient trade and urbanism Damian Robinson is a classical archaeologist with research interests spanning the maritime-terrestrial interface. He is currently directing the OCMA-IEASM excavation of a 5th century BC shipwreck (wreck 43) from Heracleion, Egypt and writing up building survey and excavation in Insula VI.i of Pompeii, Italy.

 

https://ocma.arch.ox.ac.uk/ocma

Research Profile

Research Activities

Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology

 

Publications
Teaching

Undergraduate teaching

FHS option convenor:

  • Mediterranean Maritime Archaeology

FHS course lecturer:

  • Urbanisation and Change in Complex Societies

Postgraduate teaching

Postgraduate taught course options in:

 

Doctoral Supervision

I am happy to supervise on maritime archaeology, including topics on shipwrecks, ports and harbour infrastructure, maritime cultural and sunken landscapes, studies on material culture from maritime sites, and methodological approaches.

Current students

‘Nobody wets clay with water and leaves it’: investigating the materials, techniques, and manufacturers of Post-Mauryan terracotta figurines
Shem-Raz Idrees | DPhil Archaeology | Supervisor: Damian Robinson
Decolonizing maritime archaeology and democratizing archaeological data: an alternative way to promote and protect maritime cultural heritage in HK
Jay Mok | DPhil Archaeology | Supervisors: Damian Robinson and Anke Hein
Seafaring in Gujarat: enquiry into the geo-climatic factors and maritime tradition up to 500 CE
Ajay Yadav | DPhil Archaeology | Supervisor: Damian Robinson
The Late Period and Ptolemaic figurines from Thonis-Heracleion
Leonie Hoff | DPhil Archaeology | Supervisor: Damian Robinson
Ship A and its cargo. A hypothetical reconstruction of a Middle Imperial Age merchant ship.
Cristina Laurenti | DPhil Classical Archaeology | Supervisor: Damian Robinson
Pirate Societies: An Archaeology of Liminal Maritime Spaces
Adam Dawson | DPhil Archaeology | Supervisors: John Pouncett and Damian Robinson
Ancient Egyptian Ship and Boat Models between Theory and Experimental Simulation
Nesrin Elgaly | DPhil Archaeology | Supervisor: Damian Robinson
Screw Piles, Syringes and Selfies: Birch’s Seaside Piers in Crisis.
Lindsay Fricker | DPhil Archaeology | Supervisors: Dan Hicks and Damian Robinson

Past students

Crete and the Sea: The Maritime Cultural Landscape of Late Hellenistic and Imperial Crete
Dimitrios Karampas (2023) ORA | DPhil Classical Archaeology | Supervisor: Damian Robinson
Deep-Sea Archaeology in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Cyprus
Achilleas Iasonos (2021) ORA | DPhil Archaeology | Supervisor: Damian Robinson
Underwater Acoustic Localization and Referencing: An Enhanced Subsurface Positioning Method for Archaeological Data Collection of Submerged Cultural Resources
Matthew Thompson (2020) ORA | DPhil Archaeology | Supervisors: John Pouncett and Damian Robinson
Ancient Shipwrecks and Archaeological Science: Characterising cargo items through stable isotope, organic residue, and DNA analysis
Elizabeth Briggs (2019) ORA | DPhil Archaeological Science | Supervisors: Damian Robinson and Greger Larson
Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean contacts: Internal networks and external connections
Wijerathne Bohingamu Herath Mudiyanselage (2016) ORA | DPhil Archaeology | Supervisors: Nicole Boivin, Derek Kennet and Damian Robinson
From Hispalis to Ishbiliyya: the ancient port of Seville, from the Roman Empire to the end of the Islamic Period (45 BC - AD 1248)
Carlos Cabrera Tejedor (2016) ORA | DPhil Archaeology | Supervisors: Marlia Mango and Damian Robinson
The fluvial landscape of Angkor: an integrated study
Veronica Walker Vadillo (2016) ORA | DPhil Archaeology | Supervisors: Damian Robinson and Linda Hulin
Holistic Shipwreck Assemblages in 14th and 15th Century Southeast Asia
Brian Fahy (2015) ORA | DPhil Archaeology | Supervisor: Damian Robinson
The port of Berenike Troglodytica on the Red Sea: A landscape-based approach to the study of its harbour and its role in Indo-Mediterranean trade
Anna Kotarba-Morley (2015) ORA | DPhil Archaeology | Supervisors: Damian Robinson and Andrew Wilson
Byzantine Ports. Central Greece as a link between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea
Alkiviadis Ginalis (2014) ORA | DPhil Archaeology | Supervisors: Marlia Mango and Damian Robinson
The Place of Lead in an Egyptian Port City during the Late Period
Elsbeth van der Wilt (2014) ORA | DPhil Archaeology | Supervisor: Damian Robinson
Iron Anchors and Mooring in the Ancient Mediterranean (until ca. 1500 CE)
Gregory Votruba (2014) ORA | DPhil Archaeology | Supervisor: Damian Robinson
Long-distance Trade and the Exploitation of Arid Landscapes in the Roman Imperial Period (First-Third centuries AD)
Katia Schorle (2013) ORA | DPhil Archaeology | Supervisor: Damian Robinson
The Metalware from the Sanctuary Complex at Herakleion-Thonis
Zoe Robinson (2008) | DPhil Archaeology | Supervisor: Damian Robinson

Key words: maritime, excavations, interaction, materiality, trade, later prehistory, Classical-Greek, Classical-Roman, medieval, Europe, SE Asia, Mediterranean, Egypt, maritime and fluvial Northern Europe, Indian Ocean, Western Pacific Ocean