Naomi J. Norman Editor-in-Chief of The American Journal of Archaeology Associate Professor of Classics 227 Park Hall Phone: 706 542-2187 FAX: 706 542-8503 E-Mail: nnorman@uga.edu

Special Interests

• Greek Archaeology and Architecture
• Greek Cults
• The Archaeology of Colonies
• Roman Imperial Funerary Iconography
• New Approaches in Archaeology

Academic History

• Ph.D. 1980 University of Michigan, Classical Art and Archaeology
• A.B. 1975 Bryn Mawr College, Greek and Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology (Magna cum laude, Honors in Archaeology)
• American School of Classical Studies in Athens (1977-78, Regular Member; 1978-79, Associate Member and School Fellow)

Excavation Activities

Naomi Norman has excavated extensively at Classical period sites in the Mediterranean and has directed excavation projects in Carthage, Tunisia since 1982. These projects have focused on the southwest quadrant of the Roman city--an area of the city which is dominated by two massive entertainment complexes, the Roman circus and amphitheater--and have significantly enlarged our understanding of the nature of occupation in that district. Dr. Norman is particularly interested in field work on classical sites; mortuary archaeology, especially the interface between Roman rituals of death and burial and Roman social structure; archaeology of space/place, especially within the Greek and Roman sacred contexts; and the archaeology of the Hellenistic world.

Current Research Projects

Since 1992 Dr. Norman has directed the current University of Georgia project at Carthage. The project conducted full-scale excavations of the large and extremely well-preserved Yasmina Necropolis at Carthage, a cemetery which has the potential to help rewrite the artistic, social, political, and cultural history of Carthage in the high imperial period. The cemetery was in use for almost the entire history of Roman Carthage and attracted clients from the broadest possible social spectrum, to judge from the quantity and quality of sculpture, architecture, inscriptions, coins, pottery, curse tablets, skeletons, cremations, and small finds. This material illuminates the art and architecture, social history, demography, religion, and popular culture of Roman Carthage. The research plan of the excavation aimed, not only to recover a wealth of information for individual specialties, but also to integrate and contextualize the material from the Yasmina cemetery with that published from other cemeteries and other sites in Carthage to reconstruct rituals of death and burial for the Roman city and to fit the cemetery into the larger urban fabric of Carthage. The first phase of excavation has been completed and, since 1998, efforts have been directed toward publication of the project and conservation of the site. The hope is to leave the site open and ready for visitors/tourists.

Recent Pertinent Publications on Carthage

• Naomi J. Norman and Lisa Pintozzi, "The Lead Curse Tablets from the Carthage Circus," Archaeological News 17 (1992) 11-18.
• Anne E. Haeckl and Naomi J. Norman, "The University of Georgia Excavations in the Yasmina Necropolis of Carthage, 1992," Journal of Roman Archaeology 6 (1993) 238-50.
• "Le cirque romaine" in Pour Sauver Carthage: exploration et conservation de la cité‚ punique, romaine et byzantine, edited by A. Ennabli (UNESCO/INAA, 1992) 161-65.
• "The Yasmina Necropolis, 1992 Campaign by the University of Georgia (USA)" OWAN 16.2 (1993) 12-5
• "The Yasmina Necropolis of Ancient Carthage: The 1994 Season" OWAN 18.3 (1995) 16-19.
• "Death and Burial of Roman Children: The Case of the Yasmina Cemetery at Carthage,Part I, Setting the Stage," Mortality 7.3 (2002) 302-23.
• "Death and Burial of Roman Children: The Case of the Yasmina Cemetery at Carthage, Part II, The Archaeological Evidence," Mortality 8.1 (2003) 36-47.
  

Books in Progress on Carthage

• The Archaeology of Carthage, overview of the city as revealed by recent archaeological work.
• Naomi J. Norman, ed. The Yasmina Excavations, a multi-volume publication of the Carthage excavation also in progress.

Other Professional Activities

Dr Norman is currently the Associate Department Head and Director of the Summer Classics Institute of the Department of Classics and Director of the University of Georgia Excavations at Carthage (Tunisia). She is the Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Archaeology, the premier journal for classical archaeology in the country. She has refereed articles and grant proposals for a number of international archaeological journals and funding agencies. She was awarded the M.G. Michael Award for Excellence in Research from UGA and has received major grants, fellowships and awards from the American Philosophical Society, American Council of Learned Societies, Parker Center at Brown University, NEH, Earthwatch and the Kress Foundation to support her research, as well as over $490,000 since 1981 in internal and external funding and in-kind support for the Carthage excavation and other research projects.

Dr. Norman has a long record of Departmental, University and professional service. She served as Vice-President for Publications of the Archaeological Institute of America, has been a member of the AIA lecture circuit since 1991, and is active in the governance of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. She teaches a variety of courses in classical archaeology in the Department, as well as Greek courses, especially on the Greek historians.