David Hernandez

Research Interest: Archaeology

Frequently Teaches: Greek and Roman archaeology, Roman history, Rome, Pompeii, Butrint, Latin language

David Hernandez received his Ph.D. and M.A. in Classical Archaeology from the University of Cincinnati and his B.A. in Physics from the University of California at Berkeley. He is Principal Investigator of the Roman Forum Excavations (RFE) Project at Butrint, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in southern Albania. He is co-director of archaeological research at the Mausoleum of Hadrian (Castel Sant'Angelo) in Rome and at the site of Rocca Bruna at Hadrian's villa at Tivoli.

Hernandez's research focuses on ancient urbanism in Greece, Albania and Italy, particularly in respect to the cities of Rome and Butrint. His work explores topics related to Greek and Roman colonization and topography, Archaic Greek architecture and iconography, Roman imperialism, the imperial cult, Latin epigraphy, excavation methods and stratigraphy, and the historical archaeology of the Late Mediaeval and Early Modern periods.

Hernandez has directed archaeological field projects at Butrint’s ancient necropolis (2004), at the Hellenistic city of Amantia (2008), and at the Late Bronze Age site at Mursi (2010). He has received fellowships and grants from Harvard’s Loeb Classical Library Foundation, Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, American Council of Learned Societies, Packard Humanities Institute, Butrint Foundation, American Philosophical Society, and Notre Dame’s Office of the Vice President for Research and Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts.

Hernandez began his career as an archaeologist working at the ancient city of Troy in Turkey.

Website:

https://butrint.nd.edu

ND Feature:

The Ancient City of Butrint: Uncovering a Cultural Treasure

https://www.youtube.com/embed/aDDqqDTjLj4

Download Published Articles:

https://butrint.nd.edu/excavations/rfe-publications/

Book:

Hernandez, D. and R. Hodges (eds.) 2020. Butrint 7: Beyond Butrint. Kalivo, Mursi, Çuka e Aitoit, Diaporit and the Vrina Plain. Surveys and Excavations in the Pavllas River Valley, Albania, 1928-2015. Oxford: Oxbow.

Recent Articles and Book Chapters:

Hernandez, D. R., 2024. “Epirus.” In A Companion to the Archaeology of the Roman Empire, edited by B. Burrell. Wiley-Blackwell.

Sabato, D., Peña-Chocarro, L., Sadori, L. and D. Hernandez 2023. “Evidence for food in the Late-Medieval Balkans: Archaeobotany of Venetian houses at Butrint in southern Albania,” Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-023-00956-8

Piazzini, G., G. Bolzoni, M. Cavalazzi and D. Hernandez 2023. “Ceramic trade and distribution at the intersection of the eastern and western Mediterranean in the 5th – 7th centuries: New evidence from the Roman forum at Butrint (Buthrotum),” LRCW6: 6th International Conference on Late Roman Coarse Ware, Cooking Ware and Amphorae in the Mediterranean: Archaeology and Archeometry. Land and Sea: Pottery Routes. Agrigento, Sicily, pp. 144-154.

Hernandez, D. R., 2022. “Buthrotum.” In Oxford Classical Dictionary, edited by T. Whitmarsh et al. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Hernandez, D. 2020. “The Late Bronze Age and Hellenistic Fortified Site at Mursi, Albania.” In D. Hernandez and R. Hodges (eds.), Butrint 7: Beyond Butrint. Kalivo, Mursi, Çuka e Aitoit, Diaporit and the Vrina Plain. Surveys and Excavations in the Pavllas River Valley, Albania, 1928-2015. Oxford: Oxbow.

Hernandez, D. and R. Hodges 2020. “Beyond Butrint: Dominion, Territory, Environment and the Corrupting Sea.” In D. Hernandez and R. Hodges (eds.), Butrint 7: Beyond Butrint. Kalivo, Mursi, Çuka e Aitoit, Diaporit and the Vrina Plain. Surveys and Excavations in the Pavllas River Valley, Albania, 1928-2015. Oxford: Oxbow.

Hernandez, D., R. Hodges, S. Islami and L. Schofield 2020. “Pan at Butrint.” In D. Hernandez and R. Hodges (eds.), Butrint 7: Beyond Butrint. Kalivo, Mursi, Çuka e Aitoit, Diaporit and the Vrina Plain. Surveys and Excavations in the Pavllas River Valley, Albania, 1928-2015. Oxford: Oxbow.

Hernandez, D. and R. Hodges 2020. “Kalivo: The Vaunting Ambition of King Pyrrhus at Butrint.” Expedition, Vol. 63.2, pp. 14-23.

Hernandez, D. R. 2019. “The Abandonment of Butrint: From Venetian Enclave to Ottoman Backwater.” Hesperia 88.2, pp. 365-419.

Hernandez, D. R. and Dh. Çondi 2018. “The Agora and Forum at Butrint: A New Topography of the Ancient Urban Center.” In L’Illyrie méridionale et l’Épire dans l’antiquité VI. Actes du VIe colloque international (20-30 Mai 2015), Vol. 2, edited by J.-L. Lamboley, L. Përzhita and A. Skenderaj. Paris: De Boccard, pp. 629-646.

Hernandez, D. R. 2018. “Acculturation (“Romanization”) in Illyria and Epirus.” Journal of Roman Archaeology 31, pp. 876-882.

Hernandez, D. R. 2017. “Buthrotum's Sacred Topography and the Imperial Cult, I: The West Courtyard and Pavement Inscription.” Journal of Roman Archaeology 30, pp. 38-63.

Hernandez, D. R. 2017. “Butrint’s Death and Resurrection: The Medieval Lime-Kiln in the Roman Forum.” In Encounters, Excavations, and Argosies, edited by J. Moreland, J. Mitchell and B. Leal, Archaeopress, Oxford, pp. 162-171.

Hernandez, D. R. 2017. “Bouthrotos (Butrint) in the Archaic and Classical Periods: The Acropolis and Temple of Athena Polias.” Hesperia 86.2, pp. 205-271.

Hernandez, D. R. 2017. “Battling Water: The Frontiers of Archaeological Excavations at Butrint (1928-2014).” Annual of the British School at Athens 112, pp. 1-34.

Hernandez, D. R. 2017. “Wet-Site Excavation and Field Methodology at Butrint, Albania (Bouthrotos/ Buthrotum): The Roman Forum Excavations (RFE) Project.” Journal of Field Archaeology 42, pp. 312-325.

Hernandez, D. R. 2016. “The Decorative Architecture of Hellenistic and Roman Epirus.” Journal of Roman Archaeology 29, pp. 858-863.

Hernandez, D. R. and Dh. Çondi 2015. “Forumi i Butrinti të dhëna të reja nga germimet në forumi romak.” Iliria XXXVIII (2014), pp. 149-172.

Hernandez, D. R. and Dh. Çondi 2015. “Forumi Romak Butrint.” Iliria XXXVII (2013), pp. 331-343.

Hernandez, D. R. and Dh. Çondi 2014. “The Formation of Butrint: New Insights from Excavations in the Roman Forum.” In Proceedings of the International Congress of Albanian Archaeological Studies, edited by L. Përzhita, I. Gjipali, G. Hoxha, and B. Muka. Tirana, pp. 285-302.

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