Florida State University’s Department of Classics recently celebrated a banner night at the Archaeological Institute of America’s (AIA) Annual Meeting in San Francisco.  

Nancy de Grummond, the M. Lynette Thompson Professor of Classics and Distinguished Research Professor and director of Excavations and Research at the Cetamura del Chianti archaeological site in Tuscany, was recognized with the 2026 Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Archaeological Achievement.  

Two FSU graduates and alumni of the FSU Archaeological Field School at Cetamura del Chianti were also honored at the ceremony. 

“The AIA awards dinner in San Francisco offered a snapshot of what FSU Classics is all about: a department filled with pathbreaking and influential professors who inspire excellence in their students, who in turn become pathbreaking and influential scholars, thus ensuring that the field remains at the forefront of the humanities,” said Tim Stover, chair of the Department of Classics.  

The AIA supports archaeologists, their research and its dissemination, and the ethical practice of archaeology while promoting archaeological inquiry and public understanding of the material record of the human past to foster an appreciation of cultures and shared humanity. The Gold Medal, awarded to one archaeologist each year, recognizes distinguished contributions to the discipline through research and fieldwork. It’s considered analogous to a lifetime achievement award. 

De Grummond has served as director of Excavations and Research at Cetamura since 1983, leading generations of FSU students to the site each summer. The site was discovered in 1964 by Italian archaeologist Alvaro Tracchi, and students from FSU’s Department of Classics started excavating the site in 1973 after the FSU Florence program obtained a permit from the Italian government.  

Now known as the Archaeology in Tuscany Program, FSU students live in a Chianti hill town close to the site and excavate artifacts, study stratigraphy and learn how to process their finds while taking courses examining a variety of approaches to archaeology in the field, the lab and the museum. It is administered by International Programs.  

“It is hard to describe the joy and satisfaction that comes with this kind of recognition,” de Grummond said. “In addition, the thrill of receiving the award was magnified when I found out that two of my students were sharing the podium at the ceremony. We are all so fortunate to have had the FSU International Programs and Department of Classics create the environment where our potential was nurtured.” 

Two FSU alumni were also honored at the AIA’s Annual Meeting. Melanie Godsey (B.A. ‘13) was recognized for her contributions to the book, “Households in Context: Dwelling in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt” (Cornell University Press, 2023), which focuses on the daily lives of families in Egypt, moving beyond elite narratives. The book won the 2026 James R. Wiseman Book Award from AIA, which honors an outstanding academic book in archaeology published within the past four years that advances the field through original research and synthesis. Godsey earned her bachelor’s degree in Classical Archaeology from FSU in 2013 and is an assistant professor of Classical Studies at Trinity University in San Antonio.  

Taylor Cwikla (B.A. ‘19, M.A. ‘22) received the inaugural Gold Public Engagement Award from AIA, which recognizes members who make archaeology accessible to a broad range of non-specialist audiences. Cwikla earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Classical Archaeology from FSU and serves as a museum educator at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Greece, building educational resources that educators worldwide can access for free.  

During their time at FSU, Godsey and Cwikla both spent time at Cetamura. Cwikla served as a field archaeologist and research assistant in 2016 and as an excavation supervisor in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Godsey was a field archaeologist and research assistant at Cetamura in 2010 and has also worked at sites in Egypt and Greece.  

Discoveries by FSU at Cetamura have unearthed a long and diverse history that encompasses successive settlements by the Etruscans (7th-1st centuries BCE), the Romans (1st century BCE-4th century CE), and Medieval Italians (11th-12th century CE). In 2023, FSU celebrated 50 years of discoveries at Cetamura with the inauguration of the new Civic Museum at the Origins of Chianti. Located 9 kilometers from the archaeological site, the museum collection highlights the archeological discoveries at Cetamura, including Etruscan and Roman artifacts. 

“The research de Grummond has done on the material found at Cetamura has helped revolutionize our understanding of the Etruscans,” Stover said. “She has been an influential, inspirational and generous scholar, one whose work has not only changed the way we think about ancient Italy but has positively impacted the lives of countless students. Two of those students, Taylor Cwikla and Melanie Godsey, have gone on to have amazing careers, so it is no surprise that they too have been recognized by the AIA.” 

For more information about FSU’s Department of Classics, visit classics.fsu.edu. To learn more about the Archaeology in Tuscany program, visit the International Programs website.  

The post FSU archaeologist, alumni honored with national awards at AIA Annual Meeting appeared first on Florida State University News.

Starting this summer, students and faculty in Florida State University’s Department of Classics, both at home and abroad, will have access to new research and professional development opportunities, thanks to a generous gift from the family of a former professor emeritus.

Charlotte Orth Reckford gifted $1 million to the department in honor of her late husband and Langford Eminent Scholar professor emeritus Kenneth J. Reckford. The Orth Reckford Classics Fund for Research and Archives supports student research that combines science and the humanities and creates opportunities for students to gain curatorial, conservator and museum experience in the U.S. and abroad via the Archaeology in Tuscany International Program for excavations at Cetamura del Chianti.

“This gift was made by my mother out of abiding love to honor my late father’s legacy of cultivating courage and a deep reverence for the humanities,” said David Orth Reckford, Charlotte and Kenneth’s son. “It is also a gesture of gratitude for the unconditional kindness and support with which FSU’s Department of Classics embraced him in the final chapter of his preeminent career and as an expression of support for the humanities and FSU classics in particular to advance archaeological and philological research.”

A significant portion of the gift will be endowed, providing funds in perpetuity to support excavations and research at Cetamura del Chianti, a research site in Italy’s Tuscany region operated by FSU’s Department of Classics and the FSU Florence Program, with archaeology work directed by M. Lynette Thompson Distinguished Research Professor of Classics Nancy de Grummond.

“For this summer at Cetamura, we were able to give 10 scholarships to graduate and undergraduate students, which will allow us to have the largest crew and the longest season in the last 10 years.”

– Nancy de Grummond, director of excavations at Cetamura del Chianti

For over 50 years, FSU faculty, staff and students have studied the Cetamura site, which is unique for its artifacts and buildings that span three distinct periods: Etruscan, Roman and Italian medieval. Excavations have unearthed materials ranging from waterlogged grape seeds to the remains of a Roman bath. The grape seeds are one of the site’s most important discoveries. The water trapped in the seeds preserved DNA well enough for researchers to determine more about wine and culture in the ancient world.

“The Reckford family’s continued and staunch support of the Department of Classics has had an immediate and great impact,” said Nancy de Grummond, director of excavations for Cetamura for over 40 years. “For this summer at Cetamura, we were able to give 10 scholarships to graduate and undergraduate students, which will allow us to have the largest crew and the longest season in the last 10 years.”

In addition to funding individual student research, the gift emphasizes the fundamental relationship between the sciences and the humanities by matching a separate contribution by John Goldthwaite, a former senior research scientist and husband of long-time Cetamura collaborator Lora Holland Goldthwaite. Goldthwaite’s gift has been used to scan the Chianti landscape with Light Detection and Ranging technology, or LiDAR, which uses pulsed light to map the terrain and detect structural remains above and below ground.

“Through this gift, my mother hopes to help grow the collaboration between classicists and scientists so that we can learn even more from our classical past to protect and enrich our collective future,” David Orth Reckford said. “My father would be delighted!”

Kenneth Reckford died in 2021 at age 88. In 1957, he earned a doctoral degree from Harvard University in classical philology and then spent three years as an instructor at Harvard. He taught for more than 40 years at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill before his retirement in 2003. In 2009, Reckford became a Langford Eminent Scholar at FSU, where he taught a graduate course on Plautus and an undergraduate course on comedy, satire and society.

To learn more about the Department of Classics, visit classics.fsu.edu or to make a gift to the department, visit give.fsu.edu.

The post FSU Department of Classics to use $1M gift to enhance research, professional development opportunities appeared first on Florida State University News.

Florida State University will host a two-day event this weekend to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Department of Classics’ archaeological excavation research site in Italy.

The festivities, slated for Friday, Sept. 8 and Saturday, Sept. 9, continue the department’s yearlong commemoration of the Cetamura del Chianti archaeological site and inauguration of the Museum at the Origins of Chianti in Gaiole, Italy, houses artifacts unearthed over the last half-century of excavations.

“Although we have had a number of special events and celebrations in Italy, we have not yet brought the celebration home,” said Nancy de Grummond, Distinguished Research Professor and the M. Lynette Thompson Professor of Classics. “The events’ programming will help us look back on these 50 years and take stock of everything we’ve accomplished.”

Cetamura first opened for excavation in September 1973 as a training site and academic course where FSU students learned basic archaeological and excavation skills. Five years later, in 1978, the experience transitioned from a class to a program. Known today as the Archaeology in Tuscany Program, the course is jointly affiliated with the Department of Classics, FSU International Programs and the FSU Florence Study Center.

The Cetamura settlement, located in the mountains of Chianti in Tuscany, was occupied by three major groups in its history: Etruscans and Romans in antiquity and Italians during the Middle Ages. FSU faculty, staff and students have studied the site, aiming to uncover the realities of daily life during each period by examining a variety of excavated artifacts, which range from water-logged grape seeds to pottery and coins to wells and the remains of a Roman bath.

“This program has been very successful in training students to become professors, field archaeologists and other professionals,” said de Grummond, who has served as the director of excavations and archaeological research at Cetamura since 1983. “Now, with the addition of a museum studies component, they have an extra arrow in their quiver with which they can enter the job market and have a very fruitful career.”

The celebration events include:

“Night at the Museums”

6-8 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 8

Dodd Hall Auditorium

Hear highlights from an exciting summer of work in Italy, beginning with the presentation “Excavating the Past, Molding the Future: Life at Cetamura del Chianti Through the Years,” which provides a fascinating look at life on the dig from a student archaeologist’s perspective, followed by stories from the inauguration of the Civic Museum at the Origins of Chianti. The evening concludes with a gala reception in the Dodd Hall Heritage Museum.

Join via Zoom.

“Cetamura Day”

9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 9

FSU Alumni Center Ballroom

This conference, held 50 years to the day from the opening of the dig site Sept. 9, 1973, showcases the latest Cetamura site research by students, professors, and world-class lab scientists.

Join via Zoom.

Events are free and open to the public. Visit cetamuradelchianti.com for a detailed schedule of events and to learn more about the excavations at Cetamura.

The post FSU Department of Classics to celebrate 50 years of excavation at Cetamura del Chianti appeared first on Florida State University News.

Florida State University is celebrating 50 years of discoveries at the archaeological treasure of Cetamura del Chianti with the inauguration of a new museum in the Tuscany region of Italy. The museum will feature spectacular discoveries of FSU faculty and students from excavations at Cetamura. Read more …

View the newsletter.

The post The Big Story: June 12, 2023 appeared first on Florida State University News.