Aurora Camaño

PhD Student, Archaeology

Supervisor: Sabrina Higgins

 acamano@sfu.ca

Profile

Research interests

  • Archaeology of Cyprus
  • Social Archaeology Theory and Practice
  • Landscape Archaeology
  • Archaeology of Forced Migration
  • History of Archaeology
  • Medieval Ecclesiastical Landscapes and Architecture
  • Medieval Lapidary Practices
  • Armenian Cilician, Late Roman and Byzantine Numismatics
  • Byzantine Pottery
  • Archaeology of Medieval Anatolia, Asia Minor, and the South Caucasus

Education

  • MA, Early Medieval and Byzantine Archaeology, Newcastle University
  • BA (honours), Archaeology and Religious Studies, Memorial University of Newfoundland
  • Diploma, Heritage Resources, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Biography

I obtained my BA (hons) in Archaeology and Physical Anthropology with a Religious Studies minor from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2012 and my MA in Early Medieval and Byzantine Archaeology from Newcastle University in 2014. Currently, I am a PhD Student in the Department of Archaeology at Simon Fraser University with a cross-appointment with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies where I am working on questions surrounding identity, restorative nostalgia, social memory, and place-attachment in contexts of forced migration in 11th and 12th century Asia Minor. In addition to my ongoing research, I am also an active field archaeologist having worked on several excavation and survey projects in Turkey, Armenia, Macedonia, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Publications

Conference presentations

  • ‘Armenian Cilician Coinage in Context’ Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Coins and Seals Summer Program Research Seminar, Washington D.C. (2019)
  • ‘Landscapes of Restorative Nostalgia: Resettlement, Myth, and Memory in Armenian Cilicia’ People on The Land: SFU Archaeology Graduate Symposia: Vancouver, British Columbia (2019)
  • ‘Introducing the Digital Mary Project: Digital Humanities and Mariology at Simon Fraser University’ The Virgin Beyond Borders: The Early Cult of the Mary in Byzantium, Egypt, and Syria: Vancouver, British Columbia (2018)
  • ‘Finding Common Ground: Comparative Landscape Analysis and Rebuilding Home and Memory in Medieval Armenian Cilicia’ International Medieval Congress: Leeds, UK (2018)
  • ‘Remembering Through Resettlement: The Archaeological Landscape of Medieval Armenian Cilicia’ International Young Archaeologists’ Conference: Vardzia, Georgia (2018)
  • ‘Familiar Grounds: An Anthro-Archaeological Approach to Forced Migration through Landscape and Memory in Armenian Cilicia’ Institute for European and Mediterranean Archaeology (IEMA) Visiting Scholar Conference, Modelling Mobility and Migration in Human History: Buffalo, USA (2018)
  • ‘Finding Familiarity: Forced Migration Archaeology and the Case of Medieval Armenian Cilicia’ Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations Graduate Student Association 22nd Annual Symposium: Toronto, Canada (2018)
  • ‘Movement, Memory, and Rebuilding a Landscape of Legacy in Medieval Armenian Cilicia’ Narrative Exchanges Between Byzantium and Armenia: Contact, Conflict, & Connotation: Uppsala, Sweden (2017)

Guest Lectures

  • ‘Rebuilding Memory: Landscapes of Resettlement and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia’ Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies Spring Seminar Series, Simon Fraser University (2018)

Select awards

  • 2022, SNF Centre for Hellenic Studies Graduate Research Assistant Scholarship
  • 2022, Hellenic Studies Aegean and Mediterranean Societies and Cultures Graduate Research Award
  • 2021, Stanley Morisse Memorial Scholarship, SFU SNF Centre for Hellenic Studies
  • 2020, Stanley Morisse Memorial Scholarship, SFU SNF Centre for Hellenic Studies
  • 2019, Stanley Morisse Memorial Scholarship, SFU SNF Centre for Hellenic Studies
  • 2018, Stanley Morisse Memorial Scholarship, SFU SNF Centre for Hellenic Studies
  • 2018, Travel and Minor Research Award, SFU Department of Archaeology
  • 2017, Stanley Morisse Memorial Scholarship, SFU SNF Centre for Hellenic Studies
  • 2017, Travel and Minor Research Award, SFU Department of Archaeology