Megan B. Gatton



I am an art historian and archaeologist, specializing in the material cultures of the ancient Mediterranean Basin during the Early Iron Age and Archaic periods (ca. 1000 to 500 BCE). My work uses lenses from art history, environmental archaeology, and cultural anthropology to ask questions of historical significance. 

As a PhD candidate at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts, I am writing the dissertation, Bones for the Goddess: Craft and Communication in Greek Sanctuaries, 7th-6th Centuries BCE. This project examines objects carved from the bones, teeth, antlers, and horns of animals. Though often marginalized in canonical studies of Greek art and archaeological “small finds,” these objects provide invaluable insight into the confluence of animal matter, creative action, and religious practice. My dissertation has been supported by a Fulbright-IKY Award to Greece (2026-27).

I am currently involved with the NYU-IFA and University of Milan archaeological project investigating the main urban sanctuary of Selinunte (Sicily). In the field, I supervise and document stratigraphic excavation; in the laboratory, I coordinate the project’s environmental archaeology program. I also study and publish the ivory and worked bone materials discovered in relation to Temple R (ca. 570 BCE). Since 2022, I have also worked as a Research Associate for the Quirinal Project (Rome). In this role, I study and publish on the site’s ancient fortification walls. My zooarchaeological experience includes analyzing faunal assemblages in Greece and the United States. As a Regular Member (2024-25) at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, I contributed to the online exhibition, Early Women Travel Writers to Greece.

My current publications include peer-reviewed articles in the Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology and the Journal of Ancient Architecture. I regularly present my work at academic conferences and lectures. 

I have taught courses in global archaeology and cultural anthropology at the University of Connecticut-Stamford and led sections of art history courses at New York University and Barnard College. Both my pedagogical practice and academic work critically examine the production of archaeological knowledge and often engage with cultural heritage, museums, and public outreach. 

I hold a BA (magna cum laude) in Classics-Art History from New York University and an MSt (Merit) in Classical Archaeology from the University of Oxford. 

mbg408@nyu.edu 


Publications

  • 2026. Gatton, M. B. “Somatic Shape, Artifact Terminology, and the Racialization of Anthropomorphic Figurines.” Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 38 (1): 28-53. Read

  • 2026. Hopkins, J.N., M. Serlorenzi, J. Bellviure, S. Burnette, M. Carcieri, M. D’Acri, C. Davis, M. Gatton, S. Ross, and N. Terrenato. “Evidence for Roman Architecture and Construction Practice in Light of Discoveries at Palazzo Canevari.” Journal of Ancient Architecture 3 (2024): 105-126. Read

  • 2019. Gatton, M. B. “Marsden in Mexico: Finding American Modernism.” Ink & Image 11: 22-35. Read

Conference Papers

  • 2026. “Supplying Supplicants: Modern Restorations of Late Canosan Funerary Vessels” (with Kerry Joyce). Aesthetics, Objectivity, and Interpretation in Archaeological Visual Practices. Fairfield University. 

  • 2026. “The Many Lives of Bones” (with Dr. Arianna Romano). Twenty Years in Selinunte: The Institute of Fine Arts–NYU and University of Milan Project in the Main Urban Sanctuary (Colloquium). Archaeological Institute of America Annual Meeting, San Francisco. 

  • 2025. “Articulating the Goddess: Composite Figurines from Archaic Sicily.” Representing the Body in Sculpture, Figures, & Vessels (Open Session). Archaeological Institute of America Annual Meeting, Philadelphia. 

  • 2024. “La stratigrafia e l’identificazione di un muro monumentale in opus quadratum.” Gli scavi sul Quirinale: Nuovi spunti di riflessione. 

  • 2024. “Can Bone Tool Utility Affect Skeletal Part Representation in Archaeological Faunas? Evidence from Cowboy Cave, Utah.” Annual Stanley J. Olsen Zooarchaeology Conference. University of Utah.  

  • 2024. “Making Contact: Bone Knife Handles from Gallia Belgica, Pannonia, and Dacia.” The Archaeology of Identity in “Peripheries” of the Roman World. Boston University. 

  • 2024. “Re-Assembling the Stratigraphic Sequence of a Large Independent Wall in Opus Quadratum at Palazzo Canevari, Rome.” The Quirinal Project (Colloquium). Archaeological Institute of America Annual Meeting, Chicago. 

  • 2022. “Plates in Place: Embedded Porcelain Use in the Indian Ocean World, 15th–16th Centuries.” Emerging Voices in Indian Ocean Art and Culture: Flashtalks from Doha. VCUarts Qatar and the Getty Foundation. 

  • 2020. “Augustus in Blue: An Examination of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Faience Head of Augustus.” NYU Annual Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Conference on the Ancient World.

  • 2018. “Marsden in Mexico: Finding American Modernism.” Hunter Museum of American Art Annual Undergraduate Student Symposium.

Invited Talks

  • 2026. “Animals, Humans, and the Gods in Ancient Greek Sanctuaries.” Department of Visual & Performing Arts, Fairfield University 

  • 2024. “Antiquarians and Archaeologists: Representing Expertise from the Renaissance to Present Day.” Bedford Collective Lecture Series *public-facing*

  • 2023. “The Main Urban Sanctuary and Eastern Hill of Selinunte.” Texas Tech University Summer Abroad in Sicily Program