Dr Gianmarco Alberti

Dr Gianmarco Alberti

Visiting Lecturer, Faculty of Arts

 

Archaeologist Dr Gianmarco Alberti received his PhD in Prehistory from the University of Udine (Italy) in 2012, his MA (cum laude) in Archaeology from the University of Lecce (Italy) in 2007, and his BA (Laurea, cum laude) in Classics from the University of Catania (Italy) in 2003. Dr Alberti has been member of two research projects coordinated by the University of Catania (Italy) in 2005 (Central and Eastern Mediterranean in the 2nd millennium B.C.: The development of an international network through inner transformations and external projections) and 2007 (Beyond equality: Communal space and the individual dimension in Mediterranean Prehistory). He has been consultant of non-governmental associations (2005-2009) for data mining and statistical analyses, and of the Archaeological Superintendence of Catania (Italy) for the preparation of an international exhibition (2006-2007).

Between March 2014-June 2016, he worked at the University of Malta as Research Support Officer II within the FRAGSUS project (Fragility and Sustainability in restricted island environments: Adaptation, Culture Change and Collapse in prehistory; PI: Prof. Caroline Malone, Queen’s University, Belfast), and he was in charge of the GIS laboratory at the Department of Classics and Archaeology.

His research focused on GIS, spatial modeling, spatial data visualization, and landscape analysis in the Maltese archipelago, and has also comprised georeferencing and digitizing hundreds of modern survey sheets as well as historical cadastral maps, processing of LiDAR data, analysing and processing Digital Elevation Models and airborne imagery, 3D modeling and visualization, performing settlements suitability analysis. Dr Alberti built a GIS database of prehistoric and historical evidences in the Maltese archipelago with the aim to explore, model, and understand the relation between past communities and the landscape. He also developed a statistical model in GIS environment on the basis of mid-1800s cadastral maps (Cabrei), with the aim to assess which environmental and cultural factors have possibly influenced the agricultural suitability in Malta before heavy mechanization (http://fragsusuom.weebly.com/).

At the University of Malta, Dr Alberti has also delivered invited lectures on the use of GIS in archaeology, maritime archaeology, and urban planning, and on the use of quantitative approach for archaeological research. He also acted as co-supervisor and GIS advisor for MA students in archaeology.

He has published articles on internationally recognized peer-reviewed journals (average Impact Factor: 2.719) such as Radiocarbon, PLOS ONE, Journal of Quaternary Science, Journal of Archaeological Science, SoftwareX), as well as one monograph and contributions to conference proceedings. He acts as reviewer for many journals (Archaeometry, Current Anthropology, Radiocarbon, PLOS ONE, Journal of Archaeological Science, and others).

Research interest: Geographic Information System, spatial analysis, Bronze Age of Sicily and southern Italy, funerary and household archaeology, settlement analysis, groups’ dynamics and decision-making processes, pottery seriation, quantitative archaeology, and Bayesian modeling of radiocarbon dates.

LARSOCS – Endless Potential

Selected Publications:

  • Alberti, G., Grima, R., Vella, N.C. The use of GIS and 1860s cadastral data to model agricultural suitability before heavy mechanization. A case study from Malta, submitted to PLOS ONE
  • Alberti. G. Correspondence Analysis. Invited entry for The SAS Encyclopedia of Archaeological Sciences, edited by Sandra Lopez Varela; Wiley-Blackwell (in press)
  • Alberti, G. (2015) CAinterprTools: An R package to help interpreting Correspondence Analysis’ results. In SoftwareX 1-2, 26-31
  • Alberti, G. (2015) The aid of Bayesian radiocarbon modeling in assessing the chronology of Middle Bronze Age Sicily at the site level. A case study. In Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 2, 246-256
  • Alberti, G. (2014) Modeling group size and scalar stress by logistic regression from an archaeological perspective. In PLOS ONE 9(3), e91510
  • Alberti, G. (2013) An R Script to Facilitate Correspondence Analysis. A Guide to the Use and the Interpretation of Results from an Archaeological Perspective. In Archeologia e Calcolatori 24, 25-53
  • Alberti, G. (2013) Issues in the absolute chronology of the Early–Middle Bronze Age transition in Sicily and southern Italy: a Bayesian radiocarbon view. In Journal of Quaternary Science 28(6), 630-640
  • Alberti, G. (2013) Making Sense of Contingency Tables in Archaeology: the Aid of Correspondence Analysis to Intra-Site Activity Areas Research. In Journal of Data Science 11, 479-
  • Alberti, G. (2013) A Bayesian 14C chronology of Early and Middle Bronze Age in Sicily. Towards an independent absolute dating. In Journal of Archaeological Science 40(5), 2502-2514
  • Alberti, G. (2011) Radiocarbon evidence from the Middle Bronze Age settlement at Portella (Aeolian Islands, Italy): chronological and archaeological implications. In Radiocarbon 53(1), 1-12
  • Alberti, G. La ceramica eoliana della facies del Milazzese: studio crono-tipologico e culturale sulla base dei dati editi da Filicudi, Lipari, Panarea, Salina (in Italian with English summary). British Archaeological Reports IS 1767, Archaeopress 2008, ISBN 9781407302560