Simone DILARIA

Simone Dilaria obtained his Master's Degree in Archaeological Sciences in 2014 and his Specialization Diploma in Archaeological Heritage in 2016. In 2020, he earned his PhD with honors in History, Criticism, and Conservation of Cultural Heritage at the University of Padua. Subsequently, he carried out post-doctoral research at the Department of Geosciences and the Department of Cultural Heritage of the same university.

From February 2022 to January 2025, he held the position of fixed-term Researcher type A (RTD-A) in Classical Archaeology (SSD L-ANT/07) at the University of Padua. He is currently a research fellow (SSD GEO/09 – Mineral Resources and Mineralogical-Petrographic Applications for the Environment and Cultural Heritage) at the Department of Cultural Heritage of the same university.

Between 2021 and 2022, he was also a Visiting fellow at the University of the Peloponnese (Greece) and, in 2024, a Visiting Professor at the Venice International University (VIU). Since September 2025, he has also been an Adjunct Professor at Ca' Foscari University of Venice (SIE - International School of Higher Education).

He has received international awards and recognitions from the Society of Archaeological Science, the Society of Antiquaries of London, and the Oscar Montelius Foundation. He has also obtained two Marie Curie Seals of Excellence. He served as Principal Investigator for the project MoReS: Unveiling Modern Restorations in Pompeii. A Novel Tool to Solve the Vesuvian Heritage Conservation Dilemma funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation (2025), the mini-SID Trade and Use of Volcanic Pozzolans in the Roman World (2023) funded under the BIRD 2023 program of the University of Padua, and Investigation of Pozzolanic Products in Ancient Lime-based Binders and Glasses (2021) co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF), and the Greek Ministry of Development (Aristeas program).

He actively collaborates with numerous Italian research institutions (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, University of Udine, Verona, Siena, Federico II of Naples, Catania), Superintendencies and Museum networks, as well as international institutions (University of Notre Dame – USA; Binghamton University - SUNY; Université de Lausanne; University of Haifa; MHAS - Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments in Split; University of Regensburg; Geological Survey of Slovenia).

He holds the National Scientific Qualification (ASN) for the role of Associate Professor (competition sector 10/A1 – Archaeology).

His research combines fieldwork with advanced analytical methodologies in the laboratory, focusing on ancient building or decorative materials—such as mortars, pigments, stones, and plasters—using techniques such as Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, optical and electron microscopy, XRF (and pXRF), and (LA)ICP-MS. His main areas of specialization include ancient production technologies, provenance studies, and scientific dating methods such as radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL). He is also involved in coordinating the archaeological missions of the University of Padua in Aquileia (Udine) and Nora (Cagliari).

He is the author or co-author of over 60 scientific publications, including articles in international peer-reviewed journals (ISI) and Class A journals (ANVUR), as well as a monograph on archaeometric approaches to ancient building materials. His H-index is 11 (Scopus), 10 (Web of Science), and 13 (Google Scholar). He has participated as a speaker, including by invitation, in numerous national and international conferences and serves as a peer reviewer for international scientific journals such as Scientific Reports, Journal of Archaeological Science, Archaeometry, and Journal of Roman Archaeology. He is also an Associate Editor for the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.