Professor Manuel Fernández-Götz

I hold a binational PhD between the Christian-Albrecht University Kiel and the Complutense University of Madrid. Prior to moving to Oxford in 2025, I worked at the State Office for Cultural Heritage Baden-Württemberg (2011-13) and the University of Edinburgh (2013-24), where I served as Head of the Archaeology Department and most recently held the Abercromby Chair of Archaeology. I have been a board member of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) and the Young Academy of Europe (YAE), and I am currently Trustee of National Museums Scotland (NMS).

Teaching

I have extensive teaching experience, having acted as course organiser at the universities of Edinburgh, Marburg, and Tübingen. At St. John's, I will teach most of the core archaeology papers for the undergraduate Archaeology and Anthropology degree. I am also happy to supervise graduate students on a broad range of topics related to late prehistoric and early historic temperate Europe and the Mediterranean. Particular current thematic areas of interest include the origins and development of the first cities, the archaeology of identities, migrations, conflict archaeology, and colonial encounters.

My main areas of research are the archaeology of identities, early urbanisation, migrations, and conflict archaeology, with a primary focus on Bronze and Iron Age Europe. In my work, I adopt a multi-scalar and interdisciplinary approach that combines large, pan-European syntheses with the analysis of specific case studies. I have authored over 240 publications and directed fieldwork projects in Germany, Spain, the UK, and Croatia (including at the Iron Age sites of the Heuneburg, Monte Bernorio, and Kaptol). I am also interested in the history of archaeology, current debates in archaeological theory, colonial encounters in the ancient world, and the different pathways for integration into the Roman world. From 2021-25 I have been PI of the Leverhulme Trust-funded project “Beyond Walls: Reassessing Iron Age and Roman Encounters in Northern Britain”.

Awards and Distinctions

Honorary Professor, University of Edinburgh (since 2025)

Member of the Academia Europaea (since 2023)

Corresponding Member of the German Archaeological Institute (since 2023)

Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Thomas Reid Medal (2021)

Philip Leverhulme Prize in Archaeology (2016)

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (since 2016)

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (since 2015)

Selected Publications

FERNÁNDEZ-GÖTZ, M. and Roymans, N. (2024): Archaeology of the Roman Conquest: Tracing the Legions, Reclaiming the Conquered. Cambridge University Press, New York.

FERNÁNDEZ-GÖTZ, M. and Smith, M.E. (2024): The Archaeology of Early Cities: “What is the City but the People?”. Annual Review of Anthropology 53: 231-247.

FERNÁNDEZ-GÖTZ, M.; Nimura, C.; Stockhammer, P. and Cartwright, R. (eds.) (2023): Rethinking Migrations in Late Prehistoric Eurasia. Proceedings of the British Academy 254. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Moore, T. and FERNÁNDEZ-GÖTZ, M. (2022): Bringing the Country to Town: ‘Rurban’ Landscapes in Iron Age Europe. Journal of Urban Archaeology 5: 101-125.

FERNÁNDEZ-GÖTZ, M.; Cowley, D.; Hamilton, D.; Hardwick, I. and McDonald, S. (2022): Beyond Walls: Reassessing Iron Age and Roman Encounters in Northern Britain. Antiquity 96(388): 1021-1029.

Thurston, T.L. and FERNÁNDEZ-GÖTZ, M. (eds.) (2021): Power from Below in Premodern Societies: The Dynamics of Political Complexity in the Archaeological Record. Cambridge University Press, New York.