This year's Marie Heim-Vögtlin Prize goes to archaeologist Cristina Murer. The SNSF is awarding her the prize for her research into grave plundering in late antiquity, a time of radical transformation.
Especially in times of upheaval and crisis, resources must be conserved through creativity, recycling and a circular economy. Under such circumstances, societies often turn to local resources in their immediate vicinity. This is the case today – and it was no different in late antiquity, as Cristina Murer's research has shown. However, in those days, people even helped themselves to funerary décor.
As an SNSF Ambizione fellow at the University of Bern, Murer researched such grave recycling. For her work, she is receiving the 2024 Marie Heim-Vögtlin Prize from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). The award ceremony will take place in Bern on 12 November.
Destruction as a form of preservation
“Late antiquity was not a period of decline for human civilisation; it was a time of transition,” says Murer. With the collapse of the marble trade, the luxurious, abandoned Roman tombs became readily available sources of material. “I was able to show that their looting and destruction were part of important recycling processes that took place in cities; a creative process from which something new was generated. The graves were not destroyed as part of anti-pagan measures, as previously assumed.”
Destruction, however, did not automatically mean the end. To the contrary, it was only through creative reuse that the décor of ancient tombs was preserved over time. “Almost everything from late antiquity that was not eventually recycled and repurposed has now been destroyed.”
Meticulous archival work with old excavation Journals
In addition to her study of the archaeological remains, Murer placed great value on evaluating them in an interdisciplinary way and placing them in their broader historical context. “I gathered a lot of information about grave robbing in late antiquity from legal texts and literary sources of the period. We also painstakingly worked our way through the Italian excavation journals from the early 20th century. This task is rarely done today, but it is of great scientific value.” In the past, there was no interest in the layers from late antiquity, and they were simply removed. “But with the old excavation journals, we were able to reconstruct them to some extent.”
Murer's interest in the period began when she was working on her doctoral thesis on honorific statues for wealthy women in public spaces. She discovered that many statues from the imperial period were reused in late antiquity, or in other words recycled. Often, these works of art came from abandoned graves. “At first, no one believed me – until I was finally able to prove it. Then I wanted to know what else this phenomenon entailed.”
Just a token woman?
Receiving the Marie Heim-Vögtlin Prize means a lot to Cristina Murer. “I am particularly pleased to receive this research prize for a niche subject like classical archaeology.” Being explicitly honoured as a woman is also very important to further raise the profile of female researchers in her field. “I was always taught only by men, and now I am the first female professor at the Institute of Classical Archaeology in Tübingen.”
This change is important for students. She has also found that female students now approach her as the person they trust with issues that specifically affect women. She has, however, been accused of being a token woman. But she says you have to rise above that. What advice does she have? “Develop a healthy sense of self-confidence, establish and foster contacts with other researchers in international networks and learn to promote yourself better.” To encourage the latter, Murer recently organised a public speaking course for her female students.
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Award for outstanding women Researchers
The SNSF awards the Marie Heim-Vögtlin (MHV) Prize each year to an outstanding early-career woman researcher. Prize winners are inspiring role models who produced remarkable results and significantly progressed their careers while benefiting from an SNSF grant. Since 2020, the prize has been awarded to former female grantees of the MHV, Doc.CH, Postdoc.Mobility, Ambizione and PRIMA funding schemes.
Marie Heim-Vögtlin, for whom the award is named, became the first Swiss woman to study medicine when she was admitted to the University of Zurich’s medical faculty in 1868. After completing her studies, she opened a gynaecological practice where she continued to work after giving birth to her two children. She is regarded as a pioneer in the fight to grant women access to higher education.
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The text of this press release, a download image and further information are available on the website of the Swiss National Science Foundation.