Luca Lai

PROFILE:

Luca Lai is an archaeologist specializing in stable isotopes, Western Mediterranean prehistory and particularly Sardinia, and human-environment interactions. He has conducted research on paleodiet and paleoclimate in prehistoric Sardinia from the 5th through the 1st millennium BC, focusing on long-term continuity and change, and on differential access to resources based on social status and gender. He grew up in Sardinia, and lived also in Ireland, the US, England, and Lesotho. He has worked on favoring the dissemination of archaeology, culture and current events awareness with special attention to the perspectives of minorities, also with political engagement in Sardinian independentist initiatives.

Among his side research interests are medieval through contemporary archival studies, the archaeology of American pre-contact complex societies, obsidian provenance studies, Ancient Mediterranean cultures and languages, and Sardinian linguistics and toponomastics.

EDUCATION:

• PhD, Applied Anthropology, University of South Florida, 2008
• MA, Sardinian Studies, University of Cagliari, Italy, 2001
• BA, Classics, University of Cagliari, Italy, 1998

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

• stable isotopes
• Western Mediterranean prehistory
• human-environment interactions
• paleodiet and paleoclimate

COURSES:

• Anthropology
• Cultural Anthropology
• Archaeology
• Human Osteology
• Archaeological Methods
• Mediterranean Archaeology
• Italian and Latin Literature