Professional profile
Archaeologist | Classical and Late Antique Archaeology | Settlement Archaeology | Cultural Heritage | History of Religions expert
Classical archaeologist, her research focuses primarily on Late Antique archaeology, with particular interest in residential architecture—especially villas—in relation to other contemporary types of domestic buildings, as well as on historical and religious themes such as domestic cults, relations between pagans and Christians, and magical practices.
Since 2021 she has been an adjunct lecturer in Archaeology of Late Antique Settlements at the School of Specialization in Archaeological Heritage of the University of Bologna. Since 2018 she has served as CNR representative and deputy director of the Interuniversity Center for Studies on Late Antique Housing in the Mediterranean (CISEM), based at the same university. She has been a member of the Doctoral Board of the PhD program in Philosophy at the University of Rome Tor Vergata since the 2022–2023 academic year.
She was scientific director of the CNR-ISMA archaeological research at the Roman villa of Cottanello (Rieti), under ministerial concession, from 2013 to 2019, and subsequently conducted research at other Roman villas in the Tiberine Sabina together with colleagues from the CNR ISPC Archaeology in Lazio research group. Since 2022 she has co-directed excavations and research at the Villa del Casale in Piazza Armerina as CNR ISPC representative, within a agreement with the Archaeological Park of Morgantina and the Villa del Casale of Piazza Armerina and the University of Bologna.
From 2019 to 2023 she served as an elected Scientific Advisor on the Scientific Council of the Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Heritage (CNR-DSU) and is a member of the Scientific Committee of the departmental Policy Brief series. She is a member of the editorial board of the ISPC journal Mediterranea. Studi e ricerche sul Mediterraneo antico, participates in several national and international editorial boards, and since 2025 has co-directed the journal Ktisis. Journal of Late Antique Housing (University of Bologna). She has co-organized the five international conferences of CISEM as well as other national and international scholarly meetings and has edited the corresponding proceedings.
Since 2015 she has participated in bilateral CNR–MAECI research projects on the archaeological heritage of Montenegro, with particular focus on the Roman city of Doclea and the late antique settlements and is a member of the core group of the International Research Network Haemus. Archaeology and History of the Balkans in Late Antiquity (3rd–8th centuries AD).
She takes part in numerous national and international research projects in the field of archaeology, and since 2025 has been director of a joint CNR–University of Castilla-La Mancha archaeological laboratory for the study of the Roman villa of Noheda (Cuenca).
CNR Disciplinary Fields and Research Management Sectors
- SH6_3 Archaeology of early literate societies
- SH6_4 Medieval and post-medieval archaeologies and early civilizations
- SH8_2 Religious studies, ritual; symbolic representation
MUR Italian Scientific-Disciplinary Sector
- ARCH-01/D Classical Archaeology
- ARCH-01/E Christian, Late Antique, and Medieval Archaeology
Groups & Labs CNR ISPC
Archaeology in Lazio Research Group →
Archaeology and Environment Research Group →
Publications
Highlight
C. Sfameni (2006), Ville residenziali nell’Italia tardoantica. Munera 25, Bari. Edipuglia. ISBN 978-88-7228-475-9.
F. Colosi, C. Sfameni (eds.), 2023. Le ville romane della Sabina tiberina, il territorio di Forum Novum, Mediterranea, Supplemento 5, CNR Edizioni, ISBN 978 88 8080 527 4.
I. Baldini, C. Sfameni, M.A. Valero Tévar (eds.), 2024. Abitare nel Mediterraneo Tardoantico, IV Convegno Internazionale del Centro Interuniversitario di Studi sull’Edilizia abitativa tardoantica nel Mediterraneo (CISEM), Cuenca, Università di Castilla-La Mancha 6-9 novembre 2022, Insulae Diomedeae 48, Bari, Edipuglia, ISBN 979-12-5995-087-1.
