Dr. Anna Simandiraki-Grimshaw Projects

Description (and logos) from the Networks for Transformational Change page:

"Inspired by efforts to advance democratic innovation (Whittington 2022) and radical transitions (Loorbach 2022), and guided by design justice methodologies (e.g., Costanza Chock 2020), CHANSE Networks for Transformational Change brings together CHANSE project researchers, external participants and CHANSE itself to imaginatively explore and chart current and future scenarios for digital transformation."

Researcher Status: Co-Investigator, with Dr. Sara Perry (Principal Investigator), Ayesha Purcell (Research Assistant) and Dr. Blen Taye (alumna); based at MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology), London, UK.

Duration: 2023-2026

Related Websites: https://chanse.org/knowledge-exchange/

Description (and logos) from the TETRARCHs About page:

"Today many organisations collect and manage archaeological data to document and preserve our cultural landscapes, sites, and objects. Unfortunately, our current methods can make it difficult to re-use the data to tell stories and share findings in ways that are democratic, engaging and just. In fact, although a lot of work has been done to make archaeology Findable, Accessible and Interoperable (according to the FAIR Principles), little is understood about whether our data are Reusable – and who is using them.

The TETRARCHs project will experiment with approaches to collecting archaeological data and using that data for storytelling in ways that are meaningful for diverse audiences. Our experiments will help both those who preserve our heritage and the huge range of citizens across Europe who value it."

Researcher Status: Research Associate, based at MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology), London, UK.

Duration: 2022-2025

Related Websites: https://www.tetrarchs.org/

A research and exhibition project at the Tieranatomisches Theater Exhibition Research Lab, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Kulturtechnik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany. Funded by the International Museum Fellowship programme of the German Federal Cultural Foundation. The project manager was Felix Sattler.

Researcher Status: International Research Fellow, 'Thronfolger, Replikenwissen' Project; Permanent Fellow, Cluster of Excellence 'Image Knowledge Gestaltung. An Interdisciplinary Laboratory', Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Duration: 2016-2017

Related Websites: http://www.fellow-me.de/fellows/anna-simandiraki-grimshaw/

Latest Outcomes:

Sattler F., Simandiraki-Grimshaw A. 2018, ‘Replica Knowledge, Travelling Thrones’, in Brenna B., Christensen H.D., Hamran O. (eds.), Museums as Cultures of Copies, The Crafting of Artefacts and Authenticity, London and New York: Routledge: 99-115.

Simandiraki-Grimshaw A., Sattler F., 2017, "Replica Knowledge: An Archaeology of the Multiple Past", exhibition at the Tieranatomisches Theater, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany, 15/9/2017-31/3/2018.

Simandiraki-Grimshaw A., Sattler F., 2017, 'Travelling Thrones / Replica Knowledge', project presentation and workshop, Symposium Bridging Human Clashes – Globale Fragen, lokale Antworten, Fellow Me! Die Mobile Akademie im Programm Fellowship Internationales Museum, German Federal Cultural Foundation (Kulturstiftung des Bundes), Berlin, Germany, 23–25 March 2017. Download presentation here.

Simandiraki-Grimshaw A. 2017, Fellow-Me interview, Symposium Bridging Human Clashes – Globale Fragen, lokale Antworten, Fellow Me! Die Mobile Akademie im Programm Fellowship Internationales Museum, German Federal Cultural Foundation (Kulturstiftung des Bundes), Berlin, Germany, 23–25 March 2017.

Simandiraki-Grimshaw A., Sattler F., 2017, "Replica Knowledge: Histories, Processes and Identities", symposium at the Tieranatomisches Theater, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany, 2/2/2017-4/2/2017.

The human body played a vital role in Bronze Age Cretan social, economic, political and other networks across two millennia. However, most studies on Bronze Age Cretan corporeality have to date mainly focused on iconographies of the human body, or, less so, on skeletal remains. My research seeks to explore ways in which current data can be better combined towards a more comprehensive understanding of the human condition in Bronze Age Crete.

Researcher Status: Principal Investigator (PI).

Duration: 2007 to date

Latest Publications (printed):

Simandiraki-Grimshaw A. 2020. 'The Body and the Ring: Metal Rings and Social Structures in the Late Bronze Age Aegean', in Relaki M., Driessen J. (eds.), OIKOS: Archaeological approaches to House Societies in the Bronze Age Aegean, Louvain-la-Neuve: Presses universitaires de Louvain: 201-224.
Simandiraki-Grimshaw A. 2015, ‘The Body Brand and Minoan Zonation’, in Cappel S., Günkel-Maschek U., Panagiotopoulos D. (eds.), Minoan Archaeology: Perspectives for the 21st Century, UCL Presses universitaires de Louvain: 267 – 282.
Simandiraki-Grimshaw A., 2013, ‘Anthropomorphic Vessels as Re-Imagined Corporealities in Bronze Age Crete’, Creta Antica XIV: 17-68 [printed in 2015].

Related Projects:

The Petras Minoan Palace and Cemetery publication project, Crete, Greece (figurines and plastic vessels materials included from this project).

Selected Funding:

Margo Tytus Long-Term Visiting Research Fellowship, Classics Department, University of Cincinnati, USA. (2009)
Conference fee sponsorship, Durham University Durham, UK. (2009);
Conference sponsorship, Netherlands-Flemish Archaeological Institute in Cairo, Egypt (2008).

Miniature vessels, although ubiquitous, are inadequately defined and studied both in terms of theoretical issues (e.g. miniaturisation), as well as practical ones (e.g. stratigraphy). My research aims to conduct a systematic study and publication of such vessels from Minoan Crete. By meticulously recording and contextualising them, we will gain new, diachronic and site-specific knowledge about artistic and economic issues in Minoan societies, perhaps even issues of age and gender.

Researcher Status: Principal Investigator (PI).

Duration: 2006 to date

Latest Publications (printed):

Simandiraki-Grimshaw A. 2012, ‘Miniature Vessels from Petras’, in Tsipopoulou M. (ed.), Petras, Siteia, 25 years of excavations and studies, Acts of a two-day conference held at the Danish Institute at Athens, Greece, 9-10 October 2010, Monographs of the Danish Institute at Athens vol. 16: 255-264.
Simandiraki A. 2011, ‘Miniature vessels in Minoan Crete’, Proceedings of the 10th International Cretological Congress, Chania, Crete, Greece, 1-8 October 2006: A3, 45-58.

Related Projects (miniature vessels used from these projects):

The Galatas Minoan Palace and City publication project, Crete, Greece.
The Zakros Minoan Palace and City publication project, Crete, Greece.
The Petras Minoan Palace publication project, Crete, Greece.
The Armenoi Mycenaean Necropolis publication project, Crete, Greece.

Selected Funding:

Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP), USA. (2009).

The Galatas Minoan Palace and City excavation and publication project is directed by Drs. Y. Rethemiotakis and K. Christakis under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and with funding from INSTAP. My role within the project is the study and publication of the Middle Minoan III pottery and the miniature vessels.

Middle Minoan III has seen renewed interest in the bibliography recently, for two main reasons: a) the fact that it represents the transition between the Old and the New Palace periods in Crete, therefore holding valuable clues as to societal and economic shifts; b) the continuing elusion of its clear stratigraphic boundaries, which would help elucidate those shifts. The MMIII deposits at the Palace of Galatas are exceptional in their nature and stratigraphy. It is therefore hoped that this subproject, focusing as it does on clearly stratified and carefully excavated MMIII assemblages, will clarify many important issues connected to this transition.

Researcher Status: project member; PI for MMIII pottery and miniature vessels.

Duration (researcher involvement): 2009 to date

Latest Publications (printed):

Simandiraki-Grimshaw A. 2018, ‘Fleeting Fingers, Silent Pots? Examining human-vessel engagement in the Minoan Palace of Galatas Pediados, Crete’, in Müller K., Schiller B. (eds.), Von Kreta nach Kuba: Gedenkschrift zu Ehren des Berliner Archaeologen Veit Stuermer, Berlin: Logos Verlag: 247-262.

Selected Funding:

Mediterranean Archaeological Trust, Oxford, UK. (2011);
Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP), USA. (2010-12).

The Petras Minoan Palace and Cemetery excavation and publication project is directed by Dr. M. Tsipopoulou under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and with funding from INSTAP. My role within the project is the study and publication of the miniature vessels, figurines and plastic vesssels.The Petras material, although not extensive, is nevertheless really significant in the study and comprehension of such classes of artefacts. It is already becoming apparent that the detailed examination of the techniques, variability, context and palatial provenance of the Petras specimens will add hitherto undetected pieces in the puzzle of their significance as artefacts and concepts.

Researcher Status: project member; PI for miniature vessels, figurines and plastic vessels.

Duration (researcher involvement): 2007 to date

Latest Publications (printed):

Simandiraki-Grimshaw A., 2020. 'The Petras Male Figurine Group: a first presentation and assessment', in Tzigounaki A., Karanastasi P., Tsigonaki C. (eds.), Proceedings of the 4th Meeting for the Archaeological Work in Crete, Rethymno, Crete, 24-27 of November 2016, Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, Rethymno Archaeological Ephorate, University of Crete: 491-511.
Simandiraki-Grimshaw A. 2017, ‘The ‘Petras Sphinx’: An Essay on Hybridity’, in Tsipopoulou M. (ed.) Petras, Siteia: The Pre- and Proto-palatial cemetery in context, Acts of a two-day conference held at the Danish Institute at Athens, 14-15 February 2015, Monographs of the Danish Institute at Athens Volume 21, Danish Institute at Athens: 179-193.
Tsipopoulou M, Simandiraki-Grimshaw A. 2017, ‘Cycladic figurines and pottery from Petras, Siteia’, in Stampolidis N.C, Sotirakopoulou P. (eds.), Cycladica In Crete: Cycladic And Cycladicizing Figurines Within Their Archaeological Context, Proceedings of the International Symposium, Μuseum of Cycladic Art, Αthens, 1-2 Οctober 2015, Athens: University of Crete, Museum of Cycladic Art: 353-378.

Related Projects:

Conceptualising the Minoan Human Body (see above)
Miniature Vessels in Minoan Crete (see above)

Selected Funding:

Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art and National Geographic (2015)

Archaeology is always involved in a complex network of often conflicting identities, both in the past and the present. My research in this area explores the manifold ways in which archaeology and identity interact. This includes the development, ontologies and assumptions of artefactual databases; heritage micropolitics; disenfranchisement; boundaries of archaeological identity; as well as nationalism, branding, politics etc.

Researcher Status: Principal Investigator (PI).

Duration: 2004 to date

Latest Publications (printed):

Simandiraki-Grimshaw A. 2017, ‘An Archaeology of/for the Disenfranchised in Greece’, Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies 5 (3-4): 271-286.
Simandiraki-Grimshaw A., Stefanou E. (eds.) 2012, From Archaeology to Archaeologies: the ‘Other’ Past, British Archaeological Reports (BAR) International Series 2409, ISBN 9781407310077.

I am also fascinated by a sub-set of the archaeology and identity thread, the interplay of education and archaeology. I pursue this principally within the Greek context, but also in contexts where international education and multiculturalism are more prominently involved.

Researcher Status: Principal Investigator (PI).

Duration: 2004 to date

Latest Publications (forthcoming):

Simandiraki-Grimshaw A. 2020, 'Public Archaeology and Education: Present Relevance to the Past', in Smith C. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, Springer: 8972-8984. [full-length paper] Download from Springer
Simandiraki-Grimshaw A. 2020, 'Adult Education in Archaeology', in Smith C. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, : 32-38. [full-length paper] Download from Springer

Myrtos-Pyrgos: Figurines and 'plastic' artefacts (with G. Cadogan), Herakleion Archaeological Museum, Herakleion, and Knossos, Stratigraphic Museum, Crete, Greece (2023 to date).
Aegean Bronze Age metal rings and related artefacts, Herakleion Archaeological Museum, Crete, Greece and Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK (2018).
Aegean Bronze Age replicas material and original artefacts from the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK, the British Museum, London, UK, the Museum of Classical Archaeology, Cambridge, UK, the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK, Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, the Free University in Berlin, Germany, the University of Heidelberg, Germany, the Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe, Germany, Herakleion Archaeological Museum, Crete, Greece, the National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece, WMF, Geislingen, Germany, Knossos archaeological site, Crete, Greece. Together with Felix Sattler, Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany (2016-2017) and Fay Stevens, Notre Dame University, London, UK (2009 to date).
Anthropomorphic vessels from Bronze Age Crete (various sites), Herakleion and Ayios Nikolaos Archaeological Museums, Crete, Greece (2013 to date).
Galatas: Minoan Palace and Building 1, Crete, Greece. Archaeological Museum of Herakleion (2010 to date).
Petras Siteias: Minoan Palace and Byzantine areas, Crete, Greece. Ayios Nikolaos and Siteia Archaeological Museums and Ephorate, Department of Archaeology, University of Crete, (Hellenic) National Institute for Research (1995-6, 2007, 2009, 2011 to date).
Zakros: Minoan Palace, Crete, Greece. Zakros excavation, Knossos Villa Ariadne, Siteia and Ayios Nikolaos Archaeological Museums and Ephorate, Department of Archaeology, University of Crete, Hellenic Association of Archaeology at Athens (1994-6, 2009, 2011 to date).
Juktas: Building B of the Minoan Peak Sanctuary, Crete, Greece. PhD museum work. Herakleion Archaeological Museum and Ephorate, Knossos Stratigraphic Museum. Also parallels from the Palace of Knossos and the town of Kommos (1997-2002).
Material from various Mycenaean sites, Herakleion Archaeological Museum, Crete, Greece, Department of Archaeology, University of Crete, Archaeological Institute of Crete (1997).
Eleutherna: Byzantine sections of the city. Department of Archaeology, University of Crete, (Hellenic) National Institute for Research (1996-7).

ACADEMIC AWARDS AND FUNDING

Archaeological research grants: Mediterranean Archaeological Trust Grant for museum work on the ‘Galatas Minoan Palace and City Publication’ project. Mediterranean Archaeological Trust, Oxford, UK. (2011); INSTAP Grant for the project entitled ‘Miniature Vessels in Minoan Crete’. Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP), USA. (2009); Research Scholarship for PhD research, University of Bristol, UK. (1998-2001);
Knowledge Exchange funding: CHANSE, for the CHANSE Networks for Transformational Change KE Facilitator programme (2023-2026);
Conference sponsorships: “Cycladic and Cycladicizing figurines from Crete Symposium” (Athens, 2-3 October 2015), Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art and National Geographic (2015); Conference fee sponsorship, Durham University for the 31st Annual Conference of the Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG), Durham University, Durham, UK. (2009); Conference sponsorship at “Intercultural Contacts in the Ancient Mediterranean” (Cairo, 26-29 October 2008), Netherlands-Flemish Archaeological Institute in Cairo, Egypt (2008);

Visiting fellowship: Margo Tytus Long-Term Visiting Research Fellowship (Jan.-Mar.). Classics Department, University of Cincinnati, USA. (2009);

International Fellowship: International Research Fellow, 'Thronfolger/Replikenwissen' Project, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Kulturtechnik, Tieranatomisches Theater, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Germany (2016-2017);

Excellence awards: BA Excellence Award, National Institute of Scholarships (IKY), Greece (1997); “Dretakis Award” for BA result, “Kritiki Estia” Institute of Athens, Greece (1997); “Polydoros Vardoulakis Award”, “Kritiki Estia” Institute of Athens, Greece (1997); Annual “Louis Robert Award”, for best undergraduate / postgraduate project in the Branch of Ancient History (Academic Year Α, 1993-1994), Department of History and Archaeology, University of Crete, Rethymno, Crete, Greece (1994); Above and Beyond, University of Exeter, UK (2019).

‘Directory of International Education Practitioners and Researchers’ (international project), International Baccalaureate Research Team. Team Leader (2007-2009).
‘International Education and Cultural Heritage’ (international project), International Baccalaureate Research Team. Personal Project, Team Leader (2003-2009).
‘Practitioner Research Project’ (international project), International Baccalaureate Research Team (2003-2006).
‘School-University Transition Study’ (international project), International Baccalaureate Research Team (2003-2006).
‘Finland Distance Teaching Project’ (international project), International Baccalaureate Research Team (2003-2006).
‘Interactive Intergenerational Research Project’ (international project), International Baccalaureate Research Team (2003-2006).
‘CfBT E-learning research project’ (international project), International Baccalaureate Research Team, CfBT (Centre for British Teachers) (2003-2006).

Thompson J. Yao Z., Simandiraki A., 2003-2006, Questionnaire design and implementation for a variety of Final Year secondary school students world-wide, and collaboration with local staff, involving ca. 3,000 students, School-University Transition Study, International Baccalaureate Research Unit, University of Bath, UK.
Cambridge J, Simandiraki A., 2003-2006, Interviews with a variety of Final Year secondary school students in UK international schools, e.g. in Sevenoaks School, Kent and UWC Atlantic College, Wales, Interactive Intergenerational Research Project, International Baccalaureate Research Unit, University of Bath, UK.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL ACADEMIC MEMBERSHIPS

ACADEMIC AWARDS AND FUNDING