Dr. Elena Flavia Castagnino Berlinghieri

Elena Flavia Castagnino Berlinghieri holds a PhD in Maritime Archaeology from the University of Bristol (UK). She conducts scientific research in the field of archaeology, with a particular focus on underwater cultural heritage, conducting both terrestrial and underwater excavations and investigations. Her research areas include ancient harbour cities, shipwrecks, coastal settlement dynamics, sea-level changes, and the study of human interaction with coastal landscapes, with a special focus on the central Mediterranean. She is involved in the protection of underwater cultural heritage within the framework of the 2001 UNESCO Convention.

Since 2005, she has served as Executive Archaeologist at the Superintendency for the Cultural Heritage of Syracuse, where she has directed numerous archaeological missions, international conferences, and exhibitions. Her curatorial and scientific contributions include international exhibitions such as “The Pioneers of Underwater Archaeology: Syracuse and Marsala from Sicily to the Mediterranean” (Syracuse, 2012). Since 2022 she is a member of the Scientific Committee of the European University Centre for Cultural Heritage (CUEBC) and appointed as expert on cultural heritage and maritime archaeology with a mandate to the UNESCO UNITWIN Network for Underwater Archaeology.

She holds the National Qualification as Full Professor of Archaeology (ASN) and has taught at several Italian and international universities. Active in public archaeology and scientific communication, she has authored over sixty publications with leading international academic publishers, and has served as a consultant for documentaries produced by BBC Science, Wild Dreams Films, and Sunk Coasts Productions Ltd.