Maria Carme Belarte

Maria Carme Belarte

Institut Català d'Arqueologia Clàssica

Humanities

I am an archaeologist, a PhD in Geography and History (1995) for the University of Barcelona. From 1996 to 1998 I was a postdoctoral researcher at the CNRS (UMR 5140 - Lattes, France). From 1999 to 2003 I had different postdoctoral positions at the University of Barcelona where I combined research with teaching tasks and spent research periods in France. In 2004, I took a position at the ICAC. I joined ICREA in 2006 as a researcher and became an ICREA Research Professor in 2010. I currently lead the Protohistory Archaeology team at the ICAC. I have conducted fieldwork in Spain, France and Tunisia. I made stays as an invited researcher at the Universities of Chicago and Montpellier. In 2013, I received Positive Assessment from the AQU Catalunya (Catalan Evaluation Agency) in order to apply for a University Full Professor position. Since 2019 I am Academic Supervisor of the Advanced Training Area at the ICAC.

Research interests

The general goal of my research is to study the processes that transformed the Late Bronze Age local-scale groups into the complex societies of the Western Mediterranean Iron Age. Within this general goal, I deal with more specific topics such as urban planning, architecture, household organisation, domestic activities and funerary practices and rituals. Since 2020 I have been conducting the 'Transdisciplinary and experimental study of combustion structures in the western Mediterranean during Protohistory' Project. Within this project, an interdisciplinary methodology for studying fire installations in the Iron Age societies of the Western Mediterranean has been implemented. It integrates different techniques coming from Bioarchaeology and Geoarchaeology, as well as Experimental Archaeology, in order to gather information on the use of fuels, natural resources management, and daily activities related to fire.

Selected publications

- Belarte MC 2022, 'Iron Age houses in the eastern Iberian Peninsula: construction, organisation of daily activities and social use of space (c. 600-200 BC)', J Garcia Targa & GG Martín Medina ed, La Casa Arqueológica, BAR S3096, Oxford.

- Belarte MC, Pastor Quiles M, Portillo M, Saorin C, Mateu Sagués M, Pecci A, Vila S, Pou J, Castells G, Morer J & Fernández J 2022, 'Experimental Archaeology of Iron Age Firing Structures from the Western Mediterranean', EXARC Journal, 2022/2, pp 141-158.

- Berganzo-Besga I, Orengo HA, Canela J, Belarte MC 2022, 'Potential of Multitemporal Lidar for the Detection of Subtle Archaeological Features under Perennial Dense Forest', Land, 11, 11, 1964.

- Belarte MC, Noguera J, Bertral A, Armentano N, Tomàs-Gimeno X, Prada JL, Euba I, Sala R, Bergadà M, Jimeno D & López D 2022, 'El ritual funerario en las necrópolis ibéricas a partir de nuevas aproximaciones metodológicas: Les Esquarterades (Ulldecona, Tarragona)', Trabajos de Prehistoria, vol. 79(1), pp. 141-158.

- Belarte MC 2022, 'On microhistory, Iberian culture and other neglected Mediterranean ancient civilizations', Archaeological Dialogues, vol. 29,1, pp 14-16.

Selected research activities

Oral communication: Belarte MC, Portillo M, Mateu M, Saorin C, Pastor M, Pou J, Morer J, Castells G, Vila S, Pescini V, 'From fuel to embers: experimenting on Iron Age combustion structures in the western Mediterranean', 28th EAA Annual Meeting. Budapest, Hungary, 3 September 2022.

PI: Estudio transdisciplinar y experimental de estructuras de combustión en el Mediterráneo occidental durante la protohistoria (1er milenio a.C.)(PID2019-104661GB-I00)

PI: El territori de Cessetània occidental al primer mil·lenni aC: del bronze final a la romanització (CLT009/22/00012)

Professor of the Master of Applied Classical Archaeology. URV-UAB-ICAC.
 
Academic Supervisor, Advanced Training Area at the ICAC (Applied Classical Archaeology Master).

Member of the Doctorate Committee (Doctorate in Classical Archaeology). URV-UAB-ICAC.