I graduated from the University of SheffieldÌýwith a degree in Archaeology and Prehistory, swiftly followed by an MA in European Historical Archaeology and a PhD examining the burial of the urban poor in Roman Italy. After this I was Rome Fellow at the British School at Rome (2005-2006), during which I conducted further research into Roman mortuary customs with a project concerning the rite of os resectum. Subsequently I spent some time as a project officer with an archaeological consultancy, held an early career lectureship at Cardiff University (2007-2008), two teaching fellow positions in the School of Classics at the University of St. Andrews (2008-09 and 2010-2011) and a further teaching fellowship at the University of Leicester (2011-2012). I joined the Department of Classical Studies in September 2012.
My research is focused primarily on the archaeology of Roman Italy and the ways in which it informs us about the construction of ancient identities and lived experiences. Mortuary practices and the treatment of the human body lie at the heart of much of my earliest work and I have written several articles which explore themes such as personhood and manipulation of the corpse, funerary commemoration and memory, as well as sensory interactions with human-made and natural environments. I am particularly interested in exploring the application of relational approachesÌýto the Roman past. My recent book project addressed this by adopting a broadly posthumanist and new materialist approach to ancient lived religion, using assemblage theory to exploreÌýthe intersection of divergent experiences of the body in relation to material things and religious practices in Roman Italy.
Recent work has also taken me into the realm of ancient disability and bodily well-being, particularly mobility impairments, as well as infant health and ritual practice in early Roman Italy, including a project focused on terracotta votive offerings modelled in the form of infants wrapped in swaddling bands. You can listen to a . This has led to an interest in votive practice more generally, especially anatomical ex-votos. In June 2012 I organised a conference on this subject at the British School at Rome (). With Jessica Hughes I also edit a website devoted to discussion of votive offerings of all types: .ÌýI am the Deputy Director of Ìýand have regularly contributed to the Centre's , as well as a recent online seminar series on 'Reassembling Ancient Religion' linked to the publication of my book Reassembling Religion in Roman Italy (2021). The recordings of these seminars can be .ÌýÌýÌý
I was recently academic advisor for the BBC/Lion TV/OU three-part documentary series ''. More information and an interactive tour of Pompeii are available on .
I am Series Editor forÌýÌý- please get in touch if you are interested in contributing to the series.Ìý
You can hear me talkingÌýabout my experiences of making learning material for the OU and some of my research on ancient disabilities, votives, and sensory archaeologiesÌýin a . For Disability History Month 2021ÌýI gave a talk (with captions and BSL) for the MMU 'Cultures of Disability' project/Manchester Classical AssociationÌýon . I also contributed to a Classics Confidential Ìýand a (filmed) British School at Rome 'Being Human 2018' event on , at which I talked about my research on Roman mortuary practices and the change from cremation to inhumation.
I welcome enquiries from prospective PhD students who would like to work in any of these areas. (You can find more information about how to do this on the Classical StudiesÌýÌý±è²¹²µ±ð.)Ìý
Ìý
Graham, E-J. 2021.ÌýReassembling Religion in Roman Italy. Abingdon and New York, Routledge. (For a preview, see the .)
Draycott, J. and Graham, E-J. (eds). 2017. Bodies of Evidence: Ancient Anatomical Votives Past, Present and Future. AbingdonÌýand New York, Routledge.
Devlin, Z.L. and Graham, E-J. (eds). 2015. Death Embodied: Archaeological Approaches to the Treatment of the Corpse. Oxford, Oxbow Books.
Carroll, M. and Graham, E-J. (eds). 2014. Infant health and death in Roman Italy and beyond. Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary series 96.
Graham, E-J. 2006. Death, disposal and the destitute: The burial of the urban poor in Italy in the late Roman Republic and early Empire. BAR Int. Series 1565. Oxford, Archaeopress.
Graham, E-J. 2024. The Fluidity of Things. Exploring the sensory transposition of place in late Roman Italy and beyond.ÌýAccordia Research PapersÌý16, pp. 199–215.
Graham, E-J. 2024. The haptic production of religious knowledge among the Vestal Virgins: a hands-on approach to Roman ritual. In A. Graham and B. Misic (eds).ÌýSenses, Cognition, and Ritual Experience in the Roman World. Cambridge, pp. 59–88.Ìý
Graham, E-J. 2024. Death's ritual symbolic performance. In M. Erasmo (ed.).ÌýA Cultural History of Death in Antiquity. Bloomsbury, 67–82.
Graham, E-J. 2021. At home with theÌýLares: lived religion rematerialized at Pompeii.ÌýIn J. Hughes (ed.). Material Religion inÌýPompeii.ÌýOpen Arts Journal 10 (Summer 2021). Available at:Ìý
Graham, E-J. 2021. Interactional sensibilities: bringing ancient disability studies to its archaeological senses. In E. Adams (ed.)ÌýDisability Studies and the Classical Body: The Forgotten Other. Routledge, pp. 165–191.
Graham, E-J. 2020. Hand in hand: Rethinking anatomical votives as material things. In V. Gasparini, M. Patzelt, R. Raja, A-K. Rieger, J. Rüpke, E. Urciuoli (eds).ÌýLived Religion in the Ancient Mediterranean World: Approaching Religious Transformations from Archaeology, History and Classics. Berlin, De Gruyter, pp. 209–235.Ìý(Open Access). Available at Ìý
Graham, E-J. 2020. Mobility impairment: identifying lived experiences in Roman Italy. In C. Laes (ed).ÌýA Cultural History of Disability in Antiquity.ÌýBloomsbury, pp. 31–45.
Graham, E-J. 2019. Pilgrimage, mobile behaviours and the creation of religious place in early Roman Latium. In J.ÌýKuuliala and J. Rantala (eds).ÌýTravel, Pilgrimage and Social Interaction from Antiquity to the Middle Ages.ÌýRoutledge, pp. 15-36.
Graham, E-J., Sulosky Weaver, C.L., and Chamberlain, A.T. 2019. ‘Pars Pro Toto’ and Personhood in Roman Cremation Ritual: New Bioarchaeological Evidence for the Rite of ‘Os Resectum’, Bioarchaeology International 2(4), pp. 240–254, DOI: ÌýÌý
Graham, E-J. and Robson, J. 2018. Classics online at the Open University: teaching and learning with interactiveÌýresources. In A. Holmes-Henderson, St. Hunt and M. Musié (eds).ÌýForward with Classics:ÌýClassical Languages in Schools and Communities. London, Bloomsbury,Ìýpp. 217–229.
Graham, E-J. 2018. ‘There buds the laurel’: Nature, temporality, and the making of place in the cemeteries of Roman Italy.ÌýTheoretical Roman Archaeology JournalÌý1(1): 3, pp. 1–16, DOI:ÌýÌý (Open Access).
Graham, E-J.Ìý2017. Babes in arms? Sensory dissonance and the ambiguities of votive objects. In E. Betts (ed.). Senses of the empire: multisensory approaches to Roman culture. London and New York, Routledge, pp. 122–38.
Graham, E-J. 2017. Partible humans and permeable gods: enacting human-divine personhood in the sanctuaries of Hellenistic Italy. In J. Draycott and E-J. Graham (eds). Bodies of Evidence: Ancient Anatomical Votives Past, Present and Future. London and New York, Routledge, pp. 45–62.
Graham, E-J. and Draycott, J. 2017. Debating the anatomical votive. In J.Draycott and E-J. Graham (eds). Bodies of Evidence: Ancient Anatomical Votives Past, Present and Future. London and New York, Routledge, pp. 1–19.
Graham, E-J. 2017.ÌýMobility impairment in the sanctuaries of early Roman Italy. In C. Laes (ed.). Disability in Antiquity (Rewriting Antiquities series). London and New York, Routledge, pp. 248–66.
Graham, E-J. 2016. Wombs and Tombs in the Roman World. Material Religion 12(2), pp. 251–254. Available at:
Graham, E-J and Hope, V.M. 2016. Funerary Practices. In A. Cooley (ed.). A Companion to Roman Italy. Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 159–180.
Graham, E-J. 2015. Corporeal concerns: the role of the body in the transformation of Roman mortuary practices. In Z.L. Devlin and E-J. Graham (eds). Death Embodied: Archaeological Approaches to the Treatment of the Corpse. Oxford, Oxbow, pp. 41–62.
Graham, E-J. 2015. Embodying death in archaeology. In Z.L. Devlin and E-J. Graham (eds). Death Embodied: Archaeological Approaches to the Treatment of the Corpse. Oxford, Oxbow, pp. 1–17.
Graham, E-J. 2014.ÌýInfant votives and swaddling in Hellenistic Italy. In M. Carroll and E-J. Graham (eds). Infant health and death in Roman Italy and beyond. Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary series 96, pp. 23–46.
Graham, E-J. 2013. The making of infants in Hellenistic and early Roman Italy: a votive perspective. World Archaeology 45.2, pp. 215–231.
Graham, E.-J. 2013. Disparate lives or disparate deaths? Post-mortem treatment of the body and the articulation of difference. In C. Laes, C. Goodey and M.L. Rose (eds). Disabilities in Roman antiquity. Disparate bodies ‘a capite ad calcem’. Brill, Leiden, pp. 249–274.
Graham, E-J. 2011. Memory and materiality: re-embodying the Roman funeral. In V. M. Hope and J. Huskinson (eds.). Memory and Mourning: Studies on Roman Death. Oxford, Oxbow, pp. 21–39.
Graham, E-J. 2011. From fragments to ancestors: re-defining os resectum and its role in rituals of purification and commemoration in Republican Rome. In M. Carroll and J. Rempel (eds) Living through the Dead: Burial and Commemoration in the Classical World. Oxford, Oxbow, pp. 91–109.
Graham, E-J. 2009. Becoming persons, becoming ancestors: personhood, memory and the corpse in Roman rituals of social remembrance. Archaeological Dialogues 16(1), pp. 51–74.
Graham, E-J. 2006. Discarding the destitute: Ancient and modern attitudes towards burial practices and memory preservation amongst the lower classes of Rome. In B. Croxford et al. (eds). TRAC 2005. Proceedings of the Fifteenth Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference. Birmingham 2005. Oxford, Oxbow, pp. 57–71.
Graham, E-J. 2005. The Quick and the Dead in the extra-urban landscape: the Roman cemetery at Ostia/Portus as a lived environment. In J. Bruhn, B. Croxford and D. Grigoropoulos (eds). TRAC 2004. Proceedings of the Fourteenth Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference. Durham 2004. Oxford, Oxbow, pp. 133–143.
Graham, E-J. Moving with time and space at the Sanctuary of Juno, Gabii (Italy). In S. Hamilton, P. Jordan, and S. Mura (eds)ÌýSensing the Past: Recent Advances in Applied Sensory Archaeology and Heritage Assessment. London, UCL Press.
Graham, E-J. Getting a feel for things: objects, senses and affect in Roman polytheism. In J. Alvar Ezquerra (ed.)ÌýSteps Ahead: New Trends in the analysis of Roman polytheism. Leiden, Brill
Graham, E-J. Woollen objects, neighbourhood rituals and non-human others: reassessing the materiality of the urban Compitalia. In M. Flohr and A. Haug (eds) Objects and Urbanity.Ìý
Graham, E-J.ÌýMobility, kinaesthesia, imagined movement and the making of place in the sanctuaries of ancient Italy. In E. Angliker and M. A. Fowler (eds).ÌýArchaeology of Ritual in the Ancient Mediterranean: Recent Finds and Interpretative Approaches. Liége, Kernos suppléments.Ìý
Graham, E-J. Relationships, establishing and maintaining (gifts, votives). In J. Bremmer,ÌýG. Petridou and J. Rüpke (eds) Religion in Context, New Pauly Supplement.Ìý
See also for further details of Emma-Jayne Graham’s research publications.
In addition to the history and archaeology of the Roman world I have experience of teaching a wide range of subjects, from Etruscan Italy to Viking Scandinavia and from Greek temples to early Christian art. At the Open University my teaching contributions include chairing and writing for . This Level 3 module draws on archaeological, textual and epigraphic evidence to explore what the empire was and what it meant to ‘be Roman’ in different places and at different times. I wrote about Roman childhood and the archaeology of the Acropolis for the module . I have also been closely involved in the development of the newÌýMA in Classical Studies for which I wrote units on fragmented bodies, humans, non-humans and the environment, sensory worlds, ancient rivers, and religion and the non-human world. I am interested in developing innovative forms of learning and assessment and completed a scholarship of assessment project looking at ways to re-design examinations. As Director of Level 1 Teaching (Arts) I was responsible forÌýoverseeing the initial stages of the remake of the Level 1 curriculumÌýfor the Arts programme and was chair of the Level 1 interdisciplinary module , for which I wrote a unit about the Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi among other things. I am also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Watch a to A340 The Roman empire.
Watch a to A112 Cultures.
I also developed a funÌýinteractive educational game for Open Learn based on the around the Roman empire during the second century CE.
Ìý
(2025)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
The Classical Review ((Early access))
(2024-11)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
Journal of Roman Studies, 114 (pp. 253-254)
(2024)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
Accordia Research Papers, 16 (pp. 199-215)
(2021)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
Open Arts Journal, 10(2) (pp. 33-50)
(2018-05-23)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
Theoretical Roman Archaeology Journal (TRAJ), 1, Article 3(1)
(2018)
Graham, Emma-Jayne; Sulosky Weaver, Carrie L. and Chamberlain, Andrew T.
Bioarchaeology International, 2(4) (pp. 240-254)
(2017-10-02)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
Material Religion, 13(4) (pp. 532-534)
(2016-06-22)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
Material Religion, 12(1) (pp. 251-254)
(2015-03)
Hughes, Jessica and Graham, Emma-Jayne
Material Religion, 11(1) (pp. 129-131)
(2013-06)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
World Archaeology, 45(2) (pp. 215-231)
(2009-06)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
Archaeological Dialogues, 16(1) (pp. 51-74)
(2020-11-10)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
ISBN : 9781138282711 | Publisher : Routledge
(2006)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
BAR international series
ISBN : 1841719951 | Publisher : Archaeopress | Published : Oxford
(2025)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
In: Jordan, Pamela; Mura, Sara and Hamilton, Sue eds. New Sensory Approaches to the Past: Applied Methods in Sensory Heritage and Archaeology ((In press))
Publisher : UCL Press | Published : London, UK
(2024-01-25)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
In: Erasmo, Mario ed. A Cultural History of Death in Antiquity. The Cultural Histories Series (pp. 67-82)
ISBN : 9781472536266 | Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing | Published : London, UK
(2024)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
In: Abigail, Graham and Blanka, Misic eds. Senses, Cognition, and Ritual Experience in the Roman World. Ancient Religion and Cognition (pp. 59-88)
ISBN : 978-1009355544 | Publisher : Cambridge University Press | Published : Cambridge
(2021)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
In: Adams, Ellen ed. The Forgotten Other: Disability Studies and the Classical Body. Studies in Ancient Disabilities (pp. 165-191)
ISBN : 9780367221959 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : Abingdon
(2020-04-06)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
In: Gasparini, V; Patzelt, M; Raja, R; Rieger, A-K; Rupke, J and Urciuoli, E eds. Lived Religion in the Ancient Mediterranean World: Approaching Religious Transformations from Archaeology, History and Classics (pp. 209-236)
ISBN : 978-3-11-055757-2 | Publisher : De Gruyter
(2020-01)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
In: Laes, Christian ed. A Cultural History of Disability in Antiquity (pp. 31-45)
ISBN : 978-1-3500-2852-4 | Publisher : Bloomsbury | Published : London
(2019)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
In: Kuuliala, Jenni and Rantala, Jussi eds. Travel, Pilgrimage and Social Interaction from Antiquity to the Middle Ages (pp. 15-36)
ISBN : 9780367137564 | Publisher : Routledge
(2018-08-09)
Robson, James and Graham, Emma-Jayne
In: Holmes-Henderson, Arlene; Hunt, Steven and Musié, Mai eds. Forward with Classics: Classical Languages in Schools and Communities (pp. 217-299)
ISBN : 9781474295956 | Publisher : Bloomsbury | Published : London
(2017-02-24)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
In: Betts, Eleanor ed. Senses of the Empire: Multisensory Approaches to Roman Culture (pp. 120-136)
ISBN : 9781472446299 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : Abingdon, Oxon
(2017)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
In: Draycott, Jane and Graham, Emma-Jayne eds. Bodies of Evidence: Ancient Anatomical Votives Past, Present and Future. Medicine and the Body in Antiquity (pp. 45-62)
ISBN : 9781472450807 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London and New York
(2017)
Graham, Emma-Jayne and Draycott, Jane
In: Draycott, Jane and Graham, Emma-Jayne eds. Bodies of Evidence: Ancient Anatomical Votives Past, Present and Future. Medicine and the Body in Antiquity (pp. 1-19)
ISBN : 9781472450807 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London and New York
(2016-09-30)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
In: Laes, Christian ed. Disability in Antiquity. Rewriting Antiquity (pp. 248-266)
ISBN : 9781138814851 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London and New York
(2016-02-19)
Graham, Emma-Jayne and Hope, Valerie M.
In: Cooley, Alison E. ed. A Companion to Roman Italy. Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World (pp. 159-180)
ISBN : 9781444339260 | Publisher : Wiley-Blackwell | Published : Oxford
(2015-05-31)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
In: Devlin, Zoë L. and Graham, Emma-Jayne eds. Death Embodied: Archaeological Approaches to the Treatment of the Corpse. Studies in Funerary Archaeology (9) (pp. 41-62)
ISBN : 9781782979432 | Publisher : Oxbow | Published : Oxford
(2015-05-31)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
In: Devlin, Zoe and Graham, Emma-Jayne eds. Death Embodied: Archaeological Approaches to the Treatment of the Corpse. Studies in Funerary Archaeology 9 (pp. 1-17)
ISBN : 9781782979432 | Publisher : Oxbow Books | Published : Oxford
(2014)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
In: Carroll, Maureen and Graham, Emma-Jayne eds. Infant Health and Death in Roman Italy and Beyond. Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary Series (96) (pp. 23-46)
ISBN : 9780991373000 | Publisher : Journal of Roman Archaeology | Published : Ann Arbor
(2014)
Graham, Emma-Jayne and Carroll, Maureen
In: Carroll, Maureen and Graham, Emma-Jayne eds. Infant health and death in Roman Italy and beyond. Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary Series (96) (pp. 9-22)
ISBN : 978-0-9913730-0-0 | Publisher : Journal of Roman Archaeology | Published : Portsmouth, Rhode Island
(2013)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
In: Laes, Christian; Goodey, Chris and Rose, M. Lynn eds. Disabilities in Roman Antiquity: Disparate Bodies ‘A Capite ad Calcem’ (pp. 249-274)
ISBN : 9789004251250 | Publisher : Brill | Published : Leiden
(2011)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
In: Hope, Valerie and Huskinson, Janet eds. Memory and Mourning: Studies on Roman Death (pp. 21-39)
ISBN : 978-1-84217-990-1 | Publisher : Oxbow | Published : Oxford
(2011)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
In: Carroll, Maureen and Rempel, Jane eds. Living through the Dead: Burial and Commemoration in the Classical World. Studies in Funerary Archaeology (5) (pp. 91-109)
ISBN : 978-1-84217-376-3 | Publisher : Oxbow | Published : Oxford
(2006)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
In: Croxford, Ben; Goodchild, Helen; Lucas, Jason and Nick, Ray eds. TRAC 2005: Proceedings of the Fifteenth Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference. Birmingham 2005 (pp. 57-71)
ISBN : 978-1-84217-219-3 | Publisher : Oxbow | Published : Oxford
(2005)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
In: Bruhn, James; Croxford, Ben and Grigoropoulos, Dimitris eds. TRAC 2004: Proceedings of the Fourteenth Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, Durham 2004 (pp. 133-143)
ISBN : 978-1-84217-173-8 | Publisher : Oxbow Books | Published : Oxford
(2005)
Graham, Emma-Jayne
In: Carroll, Maureen; Hadley, D. M. and Willmott, Hugh eds. Consuming Passions: Dining from Antiquity to the Eighteenth Century. Revealing history (pp. 49-65)
ISBN : 978-0-7524-3445-2 | Publisher : Tempus | Published : Stroud
(2016-12-12)
Draycott, Jane and Graham, Emma-Jayne eds.
Medicine and the Body in Antiquity
ISBN : 9781472450807 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London
(2015-05-31)
Devlin, Zoë L. and Graham, Emma-Jayne eds.
Studies in Funerary Archaeology
ISBN : 9781782979432 | Publisher : Oxbow | Published : Oxford
(2014-01-31)
Carroll, Maureen and Graham, Emma-Jayne eds.
Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary Series
ISBN : 9780991373000 | Publisher : Journal of Roman Archaeology | Published : Ann Arbor