PhD
PhD by Research
Our PhD by research programme is based on independent study, guided by your assigned supervisors and support system. It typically [...]
" My research concerns the changes that occurred in the Andes during the Inka and Spanish conquests. To understand these changes, I compared two different areas: the Huari province in the Peruvian North-Central Andes, and the Calchaqui Valley in the North-western Argentina."
I chose to submit my proposal to Gibraltar University thanks to my supervisor, the Gibraltarian Archaeologist, Dr. Kevin Lane. I am really satisfied with my choice because in Gibraltar I found the ideal conditions to develop my project as a part-time archaeologist researcher, since I work as a full-time commercial archaeologist in Italy.
What is special about doing your PhD here?
The staff of the University of Gibraltar gave me the possibility to carry on my research, leaning on me and always showing great interest, even if my work differed from those that are the main research themes of the University itself. I appreciate that very much.
What would you say to someone else who might be considering a PhD with us?
I would recommend Gibraltar to people developing their research project both as part-time students, like me, who need to devote themselves to their research on their own schedule, as well as full-time students who could take full advantage of the services and facilities of the University. In any case, they could count on the competent and helpful staff of the University.
Describe your PhD project:
My research concerns the changes that occurred in the Andes during the Inka and Spanish conquests. To understand these changes, I compared two different areas: the Huari province in the Peruvian North-Central Andes, and the Calchaqui Valley in the North-western Argentina. In the last fifteen years I have worked and researched in both areas, and on the basis of this experience, I believe this approach offer opportunities for interesting cross-comparisons. The interpreting keys that I have chosen, to explore the processes of change in these two areas during the conquests, are the ancestor cult and the sacred landscape, both crucial elements in the Andean belief system.
What type of research has it involved and what skills have you learned/will you be learning?
The research involved field archaeological research, data analysis and interpretation, based on the landscape archaeology theories and the study of the sacred landscape in Latin America.
This research gave me the opportunity to deepen these issues and to hone my data analysis skills.
Were/are there any partners/stakeholders on your project?
The field research, whose data converged into my project, was carried out during two projects, one Italian-Peruvian and other one Italian-Argentine, financed by the Museum of Cultures in Milan and by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in which I participated as a co-director.
Why should the public know about this topic?
I think it can be interesting for the public to see how the Andean peoples related to their ancestors and their landscape and how the two were closely related. I believe that analysing systems of beliefs, other than ones own, can be an opportunity for personal growth for anyone. I really hope that my research can offer an inspiration to other archaeologists for comparative works between different areas of the Andes, and the world, to better understand through comparison the social processes that have developed in this region and others.
Do you have any future plans that will follow from this research?
At present I continue my work as an archaeologist in my country, Italy, and I have started a new research project in the Andes, in an area adjacent to the Peruvian region I studied as part of my PhD project.
My last publication is:
And I am already working on the next one.
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