Dr Anna Walas

Profile

I am an archaeologist of Roman frontiers between I-IV century A.D. in both Roman Africa and Britain, and I specialise in the textual records and material culture of military communities. My work aims to transform Euro-centric and sanitised vision of Rome’s frontiers by championing inclusive interpretations of the frontiers that reach beyond the fighting men. My work utilises legacy data from Roman military sites in Libya, including Bu Njem, and in Algeria, including Ad Maiores and Gemellae. I deploy archival research, GiS and satellite images to rethink these internationally significant sites and to champion more inclusive visions of the frontier.

The Institute of Classical Studies is an exciting place to bring my network on feminist frontiers, supporting production of an edited volume. Through investigating issues of gender, connectivity and identities on the frontiers, the network tackles the question of what feminist Roman frontier studies might look like and shines a spotlight on female pioneers of Roman frontier archaeology. The network draws on advances in feminist geography and collaboration with the Limes Congress and the Beyond Notability Project at the Institute of Classical Studies and aims to move the agenda forward from simply evidencing the presence of women on the frontiers to investigating their socio-economic roles within the military as an environment created both by men and for men, and to revise idealising perceptions of frontier gender relations.

I completed my first degree at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland and then received an MPhil from the University of Cambridge and a PhD at the University of Leicester. I worked at the University of Leicester first as a Graduate Teaching Associate and later in schools’ engagement, teaching A Level Summer Schools in Archaeology for Widening Participation students, before joining the University of Nottingham as a public engagement and impact specialist. Since 2019, I am the Deputy Director of the Honor Frost Foundation and British Academy funded Ancient Akrotiri Project (AAP), Cyprus which through fieldwork aims to better understand the Akrotiri peninsula in the Imperial and Byzantine periods. My work involves heading up the community engagement work across the RAF military, local Cypriot and ex-patriate communities in the area. The project was the runner up for the Ministry of Defence's Sanctuary Award in the Heritage category. Since 2019, I am also the invited editor of the sections on new discoveries in the Roman North and on Hadrian’s Wall for the journal Britannia and since 2022 I am the invited Chair of Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, the biggest ECR conference in the field. I am also a member of the Bratislava Group, an advisory body to the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site serial property. Within it, I am also an academic adviser for the MENA working group, concerned with the support for the preparation of nomination dossiers from the North African frontier regions.