I am a researcher in archaeo-geophysics at the University of Valencia (UV) since August 2023 and an affiliated researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). With a background in archaeology (UV, 1993-1998) and ~7 years in rescue archaeology (Spain and UK), I developed my engagement with geophysical prospection via an MSc (Bradford University, England, 2007-2008) and a PhD (University of Glasgow, Scotland, 2009-2013). I have held research and consultancy positions in Norway (NTNU, Trondheim, 2017-2023), Austria (Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization-CTBTO CTBTO, Vienna, 2015-16), and Greece (FORTH-IMS, Rethymno-Crete, 2013-15). 

My research portfolio is cross disciplinary between archaeology, applied geophysics, geosciences and heritage management and showcases the potential of geophysical methods in archaeological studies. It focuses on the digital and cost-effective discovery, exploration, and recording of buried archaeological sites and landscapes, quite often at risk, due to an increase in the intensity of agricultural practices, urban development, or climate change. It demonstrates that these minimally invasive diagnostic methods are the best ally to complement and maximise the results provided by more traditional archaeological strategies (e.g. research excavation or trial trenching in archaeological evaluation). I have been exploring the integration of soil characterisation as part of archaeo-geophysical investigations to provide more detailed interpretations of sensed/proxy data (Cuenca-Garcia et al 2018, Cuenca-García 2019, Cuenca-Garcia et al. 2023). I have been also working on landscape-scale archaeological investigations of a wide range of sites in Greece, Cyprus, Norway, Emirates, Spain, Estonia and Denmark using both single channel geophysical instrumentation and motorised multi-sensor magnetometer and GPR platforms. Current work includes the following projects: NIDAROD (EE-BI009) 'From Nidaros to Novgorod: Cultures Along the Historic St Olav Routes' (Estonia), Invisible and Visible Cultural Heritage - Investigations of WW2 bunkers at Hanstholm (Denmark), and SENSING IBERIANSCAPES (CIDEXG/2022/55) 'Revealing Iron Age sites and landscapes in the Iberian Peninsula' (Spain).

Besides archaeological investigations, my interests have also developed in humanitarian applications of geophysical prospection. These include the use of high-resolution geophysics to find unmarked human burials, mass graves, and illegal infrastructure. I am a CTBTO inspector (roster) for the implementation of geophysical surveys during on-site inspections (verification regime of compliance with the CTB Treaty). I am a member of two international networks related to climate change, social justice and heritage: the COST Action CA20134 and the Climate Heritage Network.

I am opened to supervising Masters and Doctoral thesis related to topics such as archaeological geophysics, landscape archaeology in the Nordic and Mediterranean regions, and monitoring endangered cultural heritage. If you have any inquires or need guidance in these areas, please feel free to reach out to me. 

I graduated in History (2002) and I got a PhD in Archaeology (2009) by the University of Valencia with a Doctoral Thesis on the urban morphology of the ancient city of Carthage (Tunisia) between the 8th and 2nd centuries BC. I have made pre-doctoral study stays in the University of Bologna (1999-2000), in the School of History and Archaeology in Rome of the CSIC (2005-2007) and in the Royal Academy of Spain in Rome (2008-2009). I have made short study stays at l'École française d'Athènes (2010) and at Oxford University (2011). I have enjoyed postdoctoral research contracts at the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin (2011-2013) and at the Maison méditerranéenne des sciences de l'homme d'Aix-en-provence of the CNRS (2015-2016). Since 2018 I enjoy the Ramon y Cajal research contract granted by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.

I am currently leading a Research Project on the territorial bases of the Carthaginian urban phenomenon and the exploitation of the natural resources of the landscape surrounding the ancient city of Carthage (Tunisia), both in Punic and Roman times. The project is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, by the Spanish Institute of Cultural Heritage and by the Palarq Foundation, and is being developed in close collaboration with the Tunisian National Institute of Heritage.

Professor of Archaeology at the University of Valencia. He has six recognized teaching sections and six research productivity sections. Member of the Grup de Recerca en Arqueologia del Mediterrani (GRAM) of the Universitat de València. Member of the International Scientific Committee of the Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani (under the auspices of the International Association for Classical Archaeology). Director of the Department of Prehistory and Archaeology at the University of Valencia (1999-2002). Coordinator in 2013 and member of the Academic Committee of the PhD Programme of the University of Valencia, Geography and History of the Mediterranean from Prehistory to the Modern Age (2013-2023). Director of the Master’s Degree in Cultural Heritage: Identification, Analysis and Management at the University of Valencia (2014-2023). He has directed 11 doctoral theses and currently directs 7 others in progress. He has been Principal Investigator for several national and regional R&D&I projects, as well as for some twenty non-competitive R&D&I contracts/projects with public administrations. His research activity has developed in the field of archaeology, mainly Roman with studies in Spain and Italy. He has directed or co-directed archaeological campaigns in Bilbilis (Calatayud, Zaragoza), Villa del Mitra (Cabra, Córdoba), Roman Temple of Cordoba, Roman aqueduct of Peña Cortada (Los Serranos, Valencia), Roman villa of L'Horta Vella (Bétera, Valencia). He has also directed several archaeological intervention projects related to the 1% Cultural in the Valencian castles of Chirel and Pileta (Cortes de Pallas), Buñol and Turís. He has also directed archaeological research linked to the Rehabilitation Project of the Palau de Cerveró in Valencia, current headquarters of the Institut d'Història de la Medicina i de la Ciència López Piñero of the University of Valencia. In Italy he has made the architectural study of the sanctuary of Juno in Gabii and has been part of the Spanish archaeological team in Pompeii, who has carried out the study of the Casa/Caupona I. 8. 8 and Casa I. 8. 5. He has carried out research stays in different universities and institutions of Rome, Bologna, Naples, Pompeii, Warsaw.

Main lines of research: 1) Roman urbanism and architecture; 2) Hispano-Roman cities, Valentia and its rural environment; 3) Roman hydraulics in Valencian territory; 4) Dissemination and enhancement of archaeological heritage. Of these themes, author or editor of 7 complete books and about 200 publications in scientific journals, book chapters and congresses, national and international. He has lectured in Spain, France, Portugal, Italy and Poland.

He has curated two exhibitions, El Apolo de Pinedo (Valencia) at the Prehistory Museum of Valencia (1994) and Bajo la cólera del Vesubio. Testimonios de Pompeya y Herculano en la época de Carlos III, in the Museum of Fine Arts of Valencia with several itinerances in Sagunto, Alicante and Murcia (2004-2005). He has also participated in the preparation of the exhibition Sotto i lapilli in the Auditorium of Pompeii (Italy) (1998).

[Biography, english version]

David Martínez Chico is an ancient historian, numismatist, archaeologist, as well as the founder and editor-in-chief of Revista Numismática Hécate (first Spanish numismatic journal to be indexed in Scopus). He completed his studies of history at the University of Murcia and obtained a master’s degree in archaeology at the University of Valencia. Martínez Chico has participated in several archaeological campaigns of  the Roman period. A grant-in-aid from the International Numismatic Council allowed him to stay in Oxford for a couple of months where he collaborated on the “Coin Hoards of the Roman Empire Project”, under supervision of Chris Howgego. Other grant from the Casa de Velázquez (École des hautes études hispaniques et ibériques) allowed him to stay in Lisboa in order to acces Portuguese hoards and ancient literature.

His central field of study covers the ancient period of the Iberian Peninsula and the Roman period. He is currently working on a doctoral thesis, under the supervision of Professor Pere Pau Ripollès (University of Valencia), about imperial hoards found in the Iberian Peninsula, investigating monetization and coin supply in Hispania from the reign of Augustus to the 6th century AD. Many of his papers have been published in Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom, Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, Romania and Switzerland, and translated into more than eighty bibliographic titles. He has published in the main numismatic journals of Europe, i.e., Numismatic Chronicle, Revue Numismatique, etc. Historical approaches focusing on ancient history, and always emphasizing the study of written and archaeological sources, have not been absent either. Roman epigraphy can be cited as a written source, a field in which he has published several works in Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik. He is currently working in new fields in order to establish interdisciplinary relationships (lead isotope analysis, Roman mining and trade).

Additionally, he is member of the Asociación Numismática Española, Societat Catalana d’Estudis Numismàtics, Royal Numismatic Society and Société Française de Numismatique.

Degree in History from the Universitat de València with Extraordinary Honor Prize (2006) and Doctor cum laude in Archaeology from the same university (2013). He developed his PhD The Requena-Utiel Plateau in the 2^nd-1^st centuries BC. The Romanization of the Iberian territory of Kelin under the direction of Prof. Consuelo Mata, in the framework of a pre-doctoral fellowship Cinc Segles UV and with a grant from the Instituto Alicantino de Cultura Juan Gil-Albert. The thesis was later published as a monograph in the Miscellaneous serie of the Servei d'Investigació Prehistòrica (2015). During the realization of the PhD, he developed research stays in the School of Human Evolution & Social Change of the Arizona State University (USA) under the direction of Prof. Michael Barton, in the School of Humanities of the University of Southampton (England) with Prof. Simon Keay and in the Department of Archeology at the University of Glasgow (Scotland) with Prof. Peter Van Dommelen. 

Subsequently, he enjoyed a VAL i+D GVA postdoctoral contract at the UV Department of Prehistory, Archaeology and Ancient History, with a one-year postdoctoral stay at the Joukowsky Institute for Archeology and the Ancient World at Brown University (USA). He has been an associate professor of Ancient History at the UV, an associate professor in the Department of Humanities at the Universidad Cardenal Herrera CEU and a collaborating professor at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. He is currently an Lecturer of ​​Archaeology at the UV. He has taught in the degrees of History, Art History and Philosophy, as well as in the master's degree in Archaeology.

He is specialized in Iberian Culture and his line of research is focused on Landscape & Territory analysis, rural habitat, pottery production, metallurgy, beekeeping, as well as Romanization processes of indigenous societies. He has co-directed the archaeological excavations in the Iberian rural settlement of Casa de la Cabeza (Requena, Valencia) and in the metallurgical workshop of Los Chotiles (Sinarcas, Valencia). Since 2017, together with Consuelo Mata, he has co-directed the project for the excavation, research and enhancement of the Iberian hillfort of Pico de los Ajos (Yátova, Valencia), in collaboration with the Museu de Prehistòria de València and the Ayuntamiento de Yátova, integrated within the Ruta dels Ibers. València. Likewise, he has carried out 4 surveying campaigns for the Iberian and Roman settlement pattern in the Requena-Utiel region and has worked on numerous excavations in Spain and Italy, highlighting his participation in the projects of the Casa di Arianna and Via degli Augustali (Pompeii, Italy), Truncu e'Molas & Pauli Stincus (Punic occupation in Sardinia, Italy) and Djebel Mergueb (territory of Carthage, Tunisia).

He is part of the editorial board of the journal Saitabi (Facultat de Geografia i Història, UV). He has been reviewer in journals such as the Cambridge Archaeological Journal, Trabajos de Prehistoria and SAGVNTVM. He has participated in the elaboration of two master plans, one of the Iberian Culture in Valencia and another of the aforementioned Pico de los Ajos.

He is head of initiative of the Vice-Principal of Culture and Society, coordinating the Unisocietat program in different locations (Requena, Bétera and Cullera). In addition to that, he coordinates the Seasonal Universities of Requena (Wine) and Ayora (Honey Culture). It is part of the Centro de Estudios Requenenses and the Instituto de Estudios Comarcales de la Hoya de Buñol-Chiva, an institution from which received a research prize in 2009. He has got 2 six-year research periods by ANECA.