2025 Necropoleis Research Network Annual Meeting VIII
The 8th Annual Meeting of the Necropoleis Research Network (NRN) was held from October 24–26, 2025, in Chania, Crete, Greece, hosted by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Chania (Hellenic Ministry of Culture).
The NRN Annual Meeting is an international gathering for scholars and professionals working on mortuary archaeology in the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East, spanning from the Iron Age to the Late Roman period. The network promotes collaboration and exchange among researchers studying burial practices, cemeteries, and the broader cultural, social, and ritual contexts of death.
The 2025 theme was “Memory” exploring how the dead, deathscapes, and commemorative practices shape and reflect memory, identity, and social values.
The conference presentations included the addressed the following topics:
- Deathscapes as immersive, multi-sensorial landscapes
- Archaeologies of remembrance
- Commemoration and social values
- Cemeteries as places of identity formation
- Memorials and funerary rituals
- Inscriptions and monumentality
- Objects with (or without) a past
October 24 to 26, 2025, Chania, Greece.
Session 2: Bioarchaeology and Embodied Memory
PhD student at The Cyprus Institute, Ms Gkampriella Selempa, presented her research on Linou’s Middle Bronze Age burials: insights to funerary practices from demographic data. Isotopic analysis will be conducted through the OneArchSci project.
Full presentation is available here: Necropoleis Research Network – Annual Meeting VIII
2025 Sixth Annual International conference Tomorrow Tastes Mediterranean
Tomorrow Tastes Mediterranean (TTM) 2025 brought together leading voices in health, nutrition, sustainability, and gastronomy to explore how Mediterranean culinary traditions can inspire a healthier, more sustainable future.
The conference addressed critical and globally relevant topics in the areas of health, nutrition, and sustainability, merging the wealth of culinary knowledge with the emerging business strategies in the food and hospitality sectors. The debates and presentations revolved around five main thematic areas:
• The Mediterranean Diet: At the Forefront of Science; Discovering Global Connections.
• Renewing Culture: Exchange and Evolution Around the Mediterranean Table.
• Olive Oil, Bread and Wine: From Heritage to the Modern Quest for Excellence.
• Healthy and Scalable: Cutting-Edge Mediterranean Flavors and Innovation in Professional Cuisine.
• Planetary Health: The Mediterranean Diet, Climate Change and the Challenges of Sustainability.
October 13 to 15, 2025, in Kalamata and the Messinia region, Greece.
Looking Back, Looking Forward 13 October 2025
An archaeobotanical Journey to the Heart of the Mediterranean Diet.
Associate Professor Evi Margaritis participated in the Plenary Session III Looking back, Looking Forward: Cultural Exchange and Evolution Around the Mediterranean Kitchen. Dr. Margaritis discussed about what we can learn from plant remains and if we can use them for a sustainable future, highlighting the value of archaeological research in modern diet.
Dr Margaritis is a leading environmental archaeologist, and team member of the OneArchSci and also the Co-Director of the internationally acclaimed Keros Project.
The full presentation is available here: International Conference: Tomorrow Tastes Mediterranean – Day 1
“Archaeobotany is the study of past cultures by an examination of human populations’ interactions with the plant world.” Popper & Hastorf, 1988
2025 NACA-CyI Joint Workshop on Scientific Approaches to Archaeology
Building on the Memorandum of Understanding signed on November 27, 2024, the Cyprus Institute (CyI) and the National Centre for Archaeology (NACA) launched a series of collaborative academic activities in 2025 to enhance research exchange and cooperation.
As part of this initiative, NACA hosted a hybrid workshop on archaeological science, featuring presentations from both institutions. The workshop explored key themes such as archaeological materials science, bioarchaeology and isotope science, and data management in archaeology.
Professor Thilo Rehren, Professor Patrick Degryse and Dr. Meghna Desai were invited by NACA to participate in the workshop, to deliver speeches, and engage in academic discussions.
22 September 2025 China
sharing insights and fostering scientific dialogue.
Strengthening co-operation with NACA and developing laboratory synergies.
Professor Patrick Degryse, ERA Chair of the OneArchSci, delivered an online lecture on the use of isotopes in archaeological science: a WW1 case study. His presentation dealt with the use of strontium isotope ratio analysis as a means to support the identification of a soldier of the Great War.
As the remains of an ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) soldier were found in an archaeological excavation in Belgium, the isotopic study of this person’s tooth enamel allowed a reconstruction of the geological signature of his birthplace.
The Sr isotopic composition of our average diet is reflected in our body, and as tooth enamel is formed and fixed in early life, its Sr isotopic ratio reflects our birth ground. In this way, the “missing in action” list of this soldier’s regiment could be assessed and reduced, and DNA analysis finally allowed for a final identification of this World War I soldier, now buried in a named grave with his comrades.
