Stephanie Moser is an Australian archaeologist and academic. She is a professor and head of the department at the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

, England. Her work explores the exhibition and reception of the human past. Moser's research examines visual images from antiquity through the lens of modern

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

Education

Her B.A. was completed in 1989 at

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...

, Melbourne. In 1995, Moser was awarded a Ph.D in archaeology from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, with a thesis is entitled ''Archaeology and its disciplinary culture: The Professionalisation of Australian Archaeology.''

Career

Since 1995, Moser has been a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of archaeology at the

, England. Moser is a member of the

Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

. She served as Council Member for the Society of Antiquaries from 2013 to 2016, and is a member of the Antiquity Trust, which supports the publication of the archaeology journal Antiquity.

Research

For her thesis, ''Archaeology and its Disciplinary Culture: The Professionalization of Australia's Prehistoric Archaeology'', Moser describes how professional archaeologists used their newfound methods and culture to exclude amateurs from their trade. Archaeologists, according to Moser's

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

, need to go into "the field" to become "real" archaeologists. Establishing archaeological representation as a research field within anthropology was Moser's first major research enterprise. For "The visual language of archaeology: a case study of the Neanderthals," she investigated how one artist's depiction of

Homo sapiens Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

Neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...

ensis single-handedly forged our modern impression of the species. Since the late 1990s Moser has investigated how Ancient Egypt has been represented in 19th century England. In addition to this, in 2002, she published a paper on how to collaborate with indigenous populations in the presentation of their cultural heritage. In "Transforming Archaeology Through Practice: Strategies for Collaborative Archaeology and the Community at Quseir, Egypt," Moser and her colleagues outlined inclusive methods archaeologists should adopt when investigating people's heritage. The basis of the paper stemmed from Moser's training in Australia which involved working with Australia's indigenous people. Moser's other research deals with how the mechanisms of museum displays contribute to knowledge. She addresses the interplay of exhibition analysis, art collecting, and archaeological representation. In 2019, Moser was investigating the roots of

archaeological illustration Archaeological illustration is a form of technical illustration that records material derived from an archaeological context graphically.Barker 1977 Overview Archaeological Illustration encompasses a number of sub disciplines. These are: * ''Sur ...

at the Society of Antiquaries of London and how it was used to facilitate their research ventures. Moser was also researching Egyptologist and artist Joseph Bonomi and the ways he contributed to the understanding of ancient Egypt.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moser, Stephanie Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Academics of the University of Southampton Australian archaeologists Australian women academics Australian academics La Trobe University alumni University of Sydney alumni Australian women archaeologists Australian emigrants to the United Kingdom Australian expatriates in England