Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World

Vicki Moses is an anthropological archaeologist whose research focuses on the Mediterranean during the 1^st Millennium BCE. She is a zooarchaeologist and environmental archaeologist primarily contributing to archaeological projects in Italy (Rome, Pompeii, Calabria, and Sicily). Previous zooarchaeological research took her to southern Tunisia and Greece (Arcadia).

In addition to her zooarchaeological research, Vicki collaborates with archaeogeneticists to connect DNA, archaeological, and historical evidence with social practices and mobility. Vicki is teaching The Secrets of Ancient Bones: Discovering Ancient DNA during Spring 2026. Vicki’s work bridges scientific and humanistic approaches.

She joins JIAAW following a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University where she was part of multidisciplinary teams (MHAAM, SoHP) and appointments in the Department of History and Human Evolutionary Biology (The Reich Lab). Beginning in September 2023, Vicki’s Getty Dual Postdoctoral Fellowship paired her with an archaeogenetics postdoc to produce collaborative research on ancient DNA during Classical Antiquity (c. 800 BCE-500 CE) across the Mediterranean and Western Asia.

Vicki received her BA with Highest Honors from the University of Michigan (Anthropology and French and Francophone Studies). She received her MA and PhD from the University of Arizona (Anthropology). Her research has been generously supported by grants and fellowships, such as a two-year predoctoral Rome Prize Fellowship (FAAR ’20), the AIA-NEH Archaeological Research Grant, and the Wenner Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant. Her research has been published in journals such as Cell, Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology,  Antiquity, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, and Current Anthropology. She has also contributed to edited volumes, such as Dogs: Archaeology beyond Domestication (University of Florida Press) and Ricerche nell'area dei templi di Fortuna e Mater Matuta (University of Calabria Press).