Profile:

Valerio Gentile is a researcher specialized in the Bronze Age and Iron Age of Europe and in material culture studies approaches.

His main research interest is armed conflict in pre-state societies, both in its practical aspects as well as in its broader ideological and social implications.  He is also interested in metalwork circulation and deposition during the Bronze Age, and he is very active in the efforts to establish a methodology for the application of microscopic analysis and experimental archaeology to the study of metallic items.

In his past research, he crossed skeletal data with grave goods to gain insights on the social identity and practices of Iron Age ‘warrior burials’ in Central Italy. Successively, he investigated the phenomenon of Bronze Age weapon depositions in the Low Countries with a combined approach of microscopic wear analysis and experimental archaeology.

Currently he is researching the patterns of use on swords and spears from Bronze Age Germany and Central Europe, focusing on the changes in the ways these items were used and regarded through time and space.

Curriculum Vitae:

Cum Laude Bachelor of Arts in History and Preservation of Artistic and Archaeological Heritage at the University of RomaTre (Rome) - 2013

Cum Laude Research Master in Archaeology at Leiden University, Faculty of Archaeology – European Prehistory department (Leiden) – 2017

PhD in Archaeology at Leiden University, Faculty of Archaeology – Material Culture studies department (Leiden).  NWO (Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research) grant - 2024

Postdoctoral researcher at Seminar für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Universität Göttingen (Göttingen). DFG (German Research Foundation) grant – current position

Prizes and awards:

Best research presentation at the Symposium Onderzoek Jonge Archeologen (SOJA) -2015

W.A. van Es Prize for ‘the best Master thesis in Archaeology of the last two years’ by the  Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency – 2017

Publications:

Journal Articles

Gentile V. van Dijk C.J. Ter Mors O. (2024), Multi-stage experiments in Bronze Age spear combat: insights on wear formation, trauma, and combat contexts, Journal of Archaeological Science 170: 106044 (106044). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2024.106044

Gentile V. (2022), Reconstruct the unknown, replicate the uncontrollable: current issues in the experimental archaeology of combat, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 46: 103709. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103709

Gentile V. & Gijn A.L. van (2019), Anatomy of a notch: An in-depth experimental investigation and interpretation of combat traces on Bronze Age swords, Journal of Archaeological Science 105: 130-143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2019.02.004

Chapters in Books

Gentile V. & SteffensB. (2024), Strange by design: The Tollebeek spearhead revised . In: Amkreutz L.W.S.W. & Fontijn D. (Eds.), Larger than Life The Ommerschans hoard and the role of giant swords in the European Bronze Age (1500-1100 BC). Papers on Archaeology from The Leiden Museum of Antiquities no. 30. Leiden: Sidestone Press. 329-340.

Amkreutz L., Fontijn D.R. & Gentile V. (2019), Down by the River. A Late Bronze Age full-hilted sword from the river Meuse near Thorn and Wessem. In: Arnoldussen S., Ball E.A.G., Dijk J. van, Norde E. & Vries N. de (Eds.), Metaaltijden 6.. Leiden: Sidestone Press. 113-121

Gentile V., Sparacello V.S., D'Ercole V. & Coppa A. (2018), Martial Practices and Warrior Burials: Humeral Asymmetry and Grave Goods in Iron Age Male Inhumations from Central Italy. In: Dolfini A., Crellin R.J., Horn C. & Uckelmann M. (Eds.), Prehistoric Warfare and Violence. Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches: Springer. 61-83. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78828-9_4

Popular Magazines

Amkreutz L, Fontijn D.R. & Gentile V. (2020), Gevechtsporen op een bronstijdzwaard uit Thorn-Wessem, Archeologie in Nederland 4(4): 48-50.

Gentile V., Gijn A.L. van & Amkreutz L.W.S.W. (2019), Op het scherpst van de snede: gevechtssporen op prehistorische zwaarden, Archeologie in Nederland 3(4): 56-59. 'Non-refereed' artikel in tijdschrift