Comune of Rionero in Vulture is the sponsor of the Vultur Project. The comune and the Comunità Montana fund and facilitate this project, thanks largely to the efforts of the Mayor (Italian "Sindaco") Antonio Placido.
Richard Fletcher is one of the Project Directors. He specialises in South Italian, Greek and Phoenician archaeology. His research centres on the development of indigenous societies in South Italy before and during the Roman period. He also studies the Greek-Phoenician exploration of the wider Mediterranean, on which subject he is writing a monograph. Richard Fletcher is currently Adjunct Professor in the Department of History, University of Alberta.
Ted Robinson is one of the Project Directors. He specialises in the archaeology of South Italy. His research is mostly directed at the question of the relationships between Greeks and indigenous Italians in South Italy, and he has pursued that study in a number of different ways: survey, excavation, archaeometry, iconography and the study of individual artefact classes. Dr Robinson is currently working on a monograph on the subject, centred around The Xenon Group (overpainted pottery from South-Eastern Italy); he is also preparing a study which seeks to reinterpret the famous "Tomb of the Diver" at Paestum. Ted Robinson is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Classical Archaeology, University of Sydney.
Erin Stepney is a Field Director, responsible for the excavation at Torre degli Embrici. She specialises in Roman archaeology (particularly architecture) and has several years' worth of excavation experience at a broad range of sites in the region. She researches perceptions of antiquity and larger questions of violence and spectacle during the Roman Empire. Erin Stepney is a Research Coordinator in the Department of Sociology, University of Alberta.
Emil Aladjem is a Field Director responsible for field survey. He specialises in prehistoric archaeology, but has experience in all periods from the Palaeolithic through to the Ottoman period in the Levant. Emil Aladjem has directed many field projects for the Israel Antiquities Authority, both excavation and survey. He researches lithic technologies and computer applications in archaeology. Emil Aladjem is a Field Archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Pasqualina Iosca is a Field Director responsible for site research. Pasqualina specialises in the archaeology of South Italy, particularly the Vulture-Melfese region. She is native to the area and lives in Rionero, but took her Laurea in archaeology at the University of Macerata. She researches the archaeology of the region in the pre-Roman and Roman periods and her book on the subject will be required reading for all members of the project team.
Roberto Iosca is the project Consigliere. Roberto Iosca is a native of Rionero in Vulture and is a retired Ragioniere. He has taken an interest in the project and gives us invaluable advice regarding the functioning of the project and project funding.
Yngve Flognfeldt is a supervisor and a graduate student in archaeology at the University of Bergen. He lives in Athens at the moment and studies at the Norwegian Institute. He is studying early Greek sanctuaries, but is also interested in the Greek/Italian Bronze Age. He has field experience in Norway, at the Athenian Agora and in Italy.
James Wilson is a supervisor and graduate student at the University of British Columbia. He is a Greek archaeologist who specializes in Cretan studies. His research is concentrated mainly on Cretan warfare, although he has a broad background in Greek Archaeology and has worked at the Athenian Agora for many years.
Lajos Spierer is a supervisor and graduate student at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Lajos has many years of field experience in Israel and Italy.
Erica Brown is a supervisor and graduate student at the University of Sydney. She specialises in South Italian Archaeology and has extensive field experience in this part of Basilicata .
Karen Deighton is a supervisor and a professional archaeologist and animal bone specialist working in the UK (Northamptonshire Archaeology).
