Staff Profile

I received a bachelor’s degree in Archaeology from the University of Padova in 2004. I obtained a master’s degree at the same University in 2007, with a thesis on prehistoric and protohistoric archaeology. I then moved to the University of Trento in 2008 for my PhD in the Department of Humanities. Here, my research project addressed the issue of the integration of ethnoarchaeological interpretation and spatial analysis in the study the pastoral landscapes in the eastern Alps (Trentino province, Italy). Between June 2012 and May 2013 I was Post-doctoral research fellow at the Department of Humanities of the University of Trento, with a project focused on the archaeological survey and spatial analysis of prehistoric and historical sites in the uplands of San Vito di Cadore (Eastern Italian Alps). 

In June 2013 I was Marie Curie research fellow at the Department of Archaeology of the University of York. My research project (EthWAL) used archaeological and ethnoarchaeological methods to investigate how pastoral groups shaped their seasonal landscapes in the Western Italian and French Alps. Between 2015 and 2019 I was a Research Associate at the McCord Centre for Landscape of Newcastle University. In the last four years I have been working  on Historic Landscape Characterisation and GIS-based landscape analysis in Turkey (CHiLaT), and I have coordinated fieldwork projects in the Italian Alps (UPLanD and ALPES). I have also contributed to training undergraduate and postgraduate students in the use of GIS and spatial analysis for archaeological research.

My main research interests are in landscape archaeology and ethnoarchaeology, mountain archaeology, spatial analysis and computer modelling. I am specifically interested in seasonal pastoralism, from an ethnographic and an archaeological perspective, and in the development of GIS applications for analysing long-term socio-ecological dynamics.

My current NUAcT project (PLAS) aims at assessing the long-term impact of pastoralism on marginal landscapes and environments. In order to achieve its goals, the PLAS project will use a transdisciplinary methodology, combining computational modelling, palaeoecology, ethnography, GIS, landscape assessment and participatory approach. Case-studies from Italy, Turkey and the UK have been selected for this project.

Area of expertise

• Landscape archaeology
• GIS and spatial analysis
• Computer modelling
• Later pre-history
• Ethnoarchaeology

CURRENT PROJECTS

PLAS - Pastoralism and Landscape Sustainability: a long-term perspective (2019-2024)

Funding: NUAcT fellowship

Combining remote sensing technologies and historic landscape characterisation to manage heritage assets at risk (2023-2024).

Funding: Royal Society, International Exchange 2022

PECUS - European Landscapes of Transhumance (2019-2021)

Lead Organisation: Universidad Pablo de Olavide (Spain)

Funding: Erasmus - Strategic Partnerships for Higher Education

ALPES - Alpine Landscapes, Pastoralism and Environment in val di Sole (2010 - ongoing)

CoI: Prof. D.E. Angelucci (University of Trento - Italy)

Funding: LEADER 4 funding, CAI "Terre Alte" small grants

Archaeological Investigations in the "Pra' Comun" Area - Giau Pass (San Vito di Cadore) (2019-2021)

CoIs: Dr. F. Cavulli (University of Trento, Italy), Prof. F. Fontana & Dr. D. Visentin (University of Ferrara, Italy

Funding: San Vito di Cadore City Council (Italy)

PAST PROJECTS

UPLanD - Understanding the Pastoral Landscapes of the Dolomites (2016-2018)

CoIs: Dr. F. Cavulli & Prof. A Pedrotti (University of Trento, Italy)

Funding: Parco Nazionale Dolomiti Bellunesi (Italy)

EthWAL - Ethnoarchaeology of Western Alpine upland Landscapes (2013-2015)

CoI: Dr. K. Walsh (University of York, UK)

Funding: Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship (FP7)

CEDNEA - Total Archaeology Project (2013 - 2015)

CoIs: Dr. F. Cavulli & Prof. A. Pedrotti (University of Trento, Italy), Dr. F. Fontana & D. Visentin (University of Ferrara, Italy)

Funding: San Vito di Cadore City Council (Italy)

COLLABORATIONS

CHiLaT - Cultural Heritage in Landscape: planning for development in Turkey (2016-2019)

PIs: Prof S. Turner (Newcastle University, UK), Prof E. Nurlu (Ege University, Turkey)

Round mounds of the Isle of Man (2016)

PIs: R. Crellin (University of Leicester, UK), C. Fowler (Newcastle University, UK)

Verifying the first evidence of dairy farming in the alpine region (2014-2015)

Coordinators: Dr. T. Reitmaier (Grisons Archaeological Office, Switzerland), Dr. O. Craig (University of York, UK)

"Le Vette" project (2014-2015)

Coordinators: Dr. F. Cavulli & Prof. A. Pedrotti (University of Trento, Italy), G. Fogliata (ARCA, Italy), P. Cesco Frare

Recording and analysing archaeological evidence in the uplands of San Vito di Cadore - Italy (2012-2013)

Coordinators: Prof. A. Pedrotti (University of Trento, Italy)

APSAT - Ambiente e Paesaggi dei Siti d'Altura Trentini (2008-2012)

Director: Prof. G.P. Brogiolo (University of Padova, Italy)

• Articles

  • Sánchez-Pardo JC, Sánchez-Silva N, Kinnaird T, Turner S, Brandolini F, Carrer F, Srivastava A, López-Salas E, Otero-Vilariño C. Dating and characterising the transformation of a monastic landscape. A multidisciplinary approach to the agrarian spaces of Samos Abbey (NW Spain). Environmental Archaeology 2024, Epub ahead of print.
  • Mileto S, Cavulli F, Carrer F, Ferronato E, Pecci A. Diet and subsistence in the Alps in Late Antiquity: Organic residue analysis of pottery from an upland site in the Dolomites (Busa delle Vette, Veneto, Italy). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 2023, 51, 104200.
  • Hearn KP, Carrer F. The historic character of a depopulating borderland: historic landscape characterisation on the Duero River. Landscape Research 2022, 47(7), 913-935.
  • Carrer F, Kossowski TM, Wilk J, Pietrzak MB, Bivand RS. The application of Local Indicators for Categorical Data (LICD) to explorespatial dependence in archaeological spaces. Journal of Archaeological Science 2021, 126, 105306.
  • Ageby L, Angelucci DE, Brill D, Carrer F, Rades EF, Rethemeyer J, Bruckner H, Klasen N. Rock surface IRSL dating of buried cobbles from an alpine dry-stone structure in Val di Sole, Italy. Quaternary Geochronology 2021, 66, 101212.
  • Carrer F, Veal C. For Creative Research Methods in the Anthropocene?. Landscape 2021, (4), 17-18.
  • Turner S, Kinnaird T, Varinlioglu G, Serifoglu TE, Koparal E, Demirciler V, Athanasoulis D, Odegard K, Crow J, Jackson M, Bolos J, Sanchez-Pardo JC, Carrer F, Turner A, Sanderson D. Agricultural terraces in the Mediterranean: intensive construction during the later Middle Ages revealed by landscape analysis with OSL profiling and dating. Antiquity 2021, 95(381), 773-790.
  • Brandolini F, Carrer F. Terra, Silva et Paludes. Assessing the Role of Alluvial Geomorphology for Late-Holocene Settlement Strategies (Po Plain – N Italy) Through Point Pattern Analysis. Environmental Archaeology 2021, 26(5), 511-525.
  • Erdogan N, Carrer F, Ersoy Tonyaloglu E, Cavdar B, Varinlioglu G, Serifoglu TE, Jackson M, Kurtsan K, Nurlu E, Turner S. Simulating change in cultural landscapes: the integration of Historic Landscape Characterisation and computer modelling. Landscapes 2020, 21(2), 168-182.
  • Dabaut N, Carrer F. Historic Landscape Characterisation: Technical Approaches Beyond Theory. Landscapes 2020, 21(2), 152-167.
  • Carrer F, Walsh K, Mocci F. Ecology, Economy, and Upland Landscapes: Socio-Ecological Dynamics in the Alps during the Transition to Modernity. Human Ecology 2020, 48, 69-84.
  • Carrer F, Angelucci DE. Continuity and discontinuity in the history of upland pastoral landscapes: the case study of Val Molinac and Val Poré (Val di Sole, Trentino, Eastern Italian Alps). Landscape Research 2018, 43(6), 862-877.
  • Colonese AC, Hendy J, Lucquin A, Speller CF, Collins MJ, Carrer F, Gubler R, Kuhn M, Fischer R, Craig OE. New criteria for the molecular identification of cereal grains associated with archaeological artefacts. Scientific Reports 2017, 7(1), 6633.
  • Lancelotti C, Negre Perez J, Alcaina-Mateos J, Carrer F. Intra-site Spatial Analysis in Ethnoarchaeology. Environmental Archaeology 2017, 22(4), 354-364.
  • Carrer F. Interpreting intra-site spatial patterns in seasonal contexts: an ethnoarchaeological case-study from the Western Alps. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 2017, 24(2), 303-327.
  • Visentin D, Carrer F. Evaluating Mesolithic settlement patterns in mountain environments (Dolomites, Eastern Italian Alps): The role of research biases and locational strategies. Archeologia e Calcolatori 2017, (28), 129-145.
  • Visentin D, Fontana F, Cavulli F, Carrer F, Cesco Frare P, Mondini C, Pedrotti A. The “Total Archaeology Project” and the Mesolithic occupation of the highland district of San Vito di Cadore (Belluno, N-E Italy). Preistoria Alpina 2016, 48, 63-68.
  • Lutterotti L, Dell'Amore F, Angelucci DE, Carrer F, Gialanella S. Combined X-ray diffraction and fluorescence analysis in the cultural heritage field. Microchemical Journal 2016, 126, 423-430.
  • Carrer F, Colonese AC, Lucquin A, Petersen Guedes E, Thompson A, Walsh K, Reitmaier T, Craig OE. Chemical Analysis of Pottery Demonstrates Prehistoric Origin for High-Altitude Alpine Dairying. PLoS ONE 2016, 11(4), e0151442.
  • Visentin D, Carrer F, Fontana F, Cavulli F, CescoFrare P, Mondini C, Pedrotti A. Prehistoric landscapes of the Dolomites. Survey data from the Cadore territory (Belluno Dolomites, Northern Italy). Quaternary International 2015, 402, 5-14.
  • Carrer F. Herding Strategies, Dairy Economy and Seasonal Sites in the Southern Alps: Ethnoarchaeological Inferences and Archaeological Implications. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 2015, 28(1), 3-22.
  • Angelucci D, Carrer F, Cavulli F. Shaping a periglacial land into a pastoral landscape: a case study from Val di Sole (Trento, Italy). European Journal of Post-Classical Archaeologies 2014, 4, 157-180.
  • Carrer F, Angelucci DE. First Archaeological Data from an Alpine Pastoral Enclosure at Val Poré (Val di Sole, Trentino, Italy). Debates de Arqueología Medieval 2013, 3, 149-166.
  • Carrer F. Archeologia della pastorizia nelle Alpi: nuovi dati e vecchi dubbi. Preistoria Alpina 2013, 47, 49-56.
  • Carrer F. An ethnoarchaeological inductive model for predicting archaeological site location: A case-study of pastoral settlement patterns in the Val di Fiemme and Val di Sole (Trentino, Italian Alps). Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 2013, 32(1), 54-62.
  • Carrer F, Tanzarella A. Il paesaggio alpino di confine dalle fonti cartografiche storiche ai Sistemi Informativi Geografici: il caso studio del Contado di Arco (TN). Bollettino AIC 2010, 139-140, 45-62.

• Book Chapters

  • Turner S, Nurlu E, Ersoy Tonyaloglu E, Erdogan N, Jackson M, Varinlioglu G, Serifoglu TE, Carrer F, Cavdar B, Kurtsan K, Pinar Tunali S. Cultural heritage in landscape: planning for development in Turkey. In: Bülent Arıkan, Linda Olsvig-Whittaker, ed. Landscape Archaeology in the Near East: Approaches, Methods and Case Studies. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2023, pp.96-109.
  • Carrer F. Assessing the effects of trampling on spatial organisation of archaeological assemblages using statistical methods: an ethnoarchaeological study. In: Clark, EA; Gingerich, AM, ed. Intra-Site Spatial Analysis of Mobile and Semi-Sedentary Peoples: Analytical approaches to reconstructing occupation history. University of Utah Press, 2020. In Press.
  • Carrer F. Archaeology of the Alps. In: Smith, C, ed. Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, 2020. In Press.
  • Turner S, Shillito L-M, Carrer F. Landscape Archaeology. In: P. Howard, I. Thompson, E. Waterton and M. Atha, ed. The Routledge Companion to Landscape Studies. London, UK: Routledge, 2019, pp.155-165.
  • Carrer F, Sarson G, Baggaley A, Shukurov A, Angelucci DE. Ethnoarchaeology-Based Modelling to Investigate Economic Transformations and Land-Use Change in the Alpine Uplands. In: Saqalli, M; Vander Linden M, ed. Integrating Qualitative and Social Science Factors in Archaeological Modelling. Springer International Publishing, 2019, pp.185-216.
  • Carrer F. Secondary products exploitation: preliminary ethnoarchaeological insights from alpine cases study. In: Biagetti, S; Lugli, F, ed. The Intangible Elements of Culture in Ethnoarchaeological Research. New York, NY, USA: Springer, 2016, pp.115-124.
  • Carrer F. The “Invisible” Shepherd and the “Visible” Dairyman: Ethnoarchaeology of Alpine Pastoral Sites in the Val di Fiemme (Eastern Italian Alps). In: Pearce, M; Nicolis, F; Collins, JR, ed. Summer Farms: Seasonal exploitation of the Uplands from Prehistory to the Present. Equinox, 2015.
  • Carrer F. Upland sites and pastoral landscapes. New perspectives into the archaeology of pastoralism in the Alps. In: Brogiolo, GP; Angelucci, DE; Colecchia, A; Remondino, F, ed. APSAT 1. Teoria e metodi della ricerca sui paesaggi d'altura. Mantova: SAP, 2012, pp.101-116.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)

  • Carrer F, Cavulli F. Distanze euclidee e superfici di costo in ambiente montano: applicazione di Grass e R a diversa scala in ambito trentino. In: ARCHEOFOSS. Open Source, Free Software e Open Format nei processi di ricerca archeologica. Atti del VI Workshop. 2012, Napoli: Naus Editoria.