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Deborah N. Carlson

Professor
Coordinator, Nautical Archaeology Program
President, Institute of Nautical Archaeology

George O. Yamini Family Chair in Nautical Archaeology

Worked at TAMU from 2004 – present

Bio

Deborah Carlson is a classical archaeologist specializing in trade and seafaring in the ancient Mediterranean. She participated in terrestrial excavations at ancient sites in Italy and Greece before assisting Dr. George Bass with the excavation of a Classical Greek merchant ship wrecked off the Aegean coast of Turkey at Tektaş Burnu, which she is currently preparing for publication. From 2005 until 2011 Deborah served as archaeological director of INA’s excavation of a Late Hellenistic shipwreck at Kizilburun, Turkey. Deborah’s research has been published in the American Journal of Archaeology, the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, Hesperia, and the Journal of Maritime Archaeology. Deborah has served as President of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology since 2011 and Coordinator of the Nautical Archaeology Program since 2022.

Selected Publications

  • D. N. Carlson, “The Sea,” in A Companion to the Archaeology of the Roman Empire, edited by B. Burrell (Wiley & Sons, 2024), 14-36.
  • D.N. Carlson, “Ancient Shipwrecks,” in the Oxford Classical Dictionary, edited by E. Cline (Oxford University Press, 2023). https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.5901
  • D. N. Carlson and C. Pulak, “George Fletcher Bass (1932-2021),” American Journal of Archaeology 125.3 (2021), 471-474.  www.ajaonline.org/necrology/4343
  • D. N. Carlson. Review of The Hellenistic Harbour of Amathus: Underwater Excavations, 1984-1986. Volume 1: Architecture and History and Volume 2: Artefacts Found During Excavation, edited by J.-Y. Empereur. American Journal of Archaeology 124.1 (2020). www.ajaonline.org/book-review/4016
  • D. N. Carlson, “The Ships of Lake Nemi,” in the Oxford Classical Dictionary, edited by Sander M. Goldberg (Oxford University Press, 2017). https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.8156
  • D. N. Carlson, J. Leidwanger, and S. Kampbell, eds. Maritime Studies in the Wake of the Byzantine Shipwreck at Yassıada, Turkey (Texas A&M University Press, 2015). 272 pages.
  • D. N. Carlson, “A View from the Sea: The Archaeology of Maritime Trade in the Fifth-Century B.C. Aegean,” in Handels- und Finanzgebaren in der Ägäis im 5. Jh. v. Chr. (Trade and Finance in the 5 th c. BC Aegean World) edited by A. Slawisch, BYZAS 18 (Istanbul 2013), 1-23.
  • D. N. Carlson, “The Seafarers and Shipwrecks of Ancient Greece and Rome,” in The Oxford Handbook of Maritime Archaeology, edited by A. Catsambis, B. Ford, and D. L. Hamilton (Oxford University Press, 2011), 379-405.
  • D. N. Carlson and W. Aylward, “The Kızılburun Shipwreck and the Temple of Apollo at Claros,” American Journal of Archaeology 114.1 (2010), 145-159.
  • D. N. Carlson, “Seeing the Sea: Ships’ Eyes in Classical Greece,” Hesperia 78.3 (2009), 347-365.
  • D. N. Carlson, “Mast-step coins among the Romans,” International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 36.2 (2007), 317-324.
  • D. N. Carlson, “The Classical Greek Shipwreck at Tektaş Burnu, Turkey,” American Journal of Archaeology 107.4 (2003), 581-600.

Contact

Office: Anthropology 124
Phone: (979) 845-6690
Email: dnc@tamu.edu

Courses Taught

  • ANTH 316 – Nautical Archaeology
  • ANTH/CLAS 353 – Archaeology of Ancient Greece
  • ANTH/CLAS 354 – Archaeology of Ancient Italy
  • ANTH/CLAS 444 – Classical Archaeology
  • ANTH 613 – Classical Seafaring
  • ANTH 660 – Field Archaeology
  • CLAS 121 – Beginning Latin I
  • CLAS 122 – Beginning Latin II
  • CLAS 221 – Intermediate Latin

Students Supervised

(last 10 years)

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