Ex Novo Issue 9 explores the diverse, dynamic, and often contested landscapes of African archaeology. Moving beyond long-standing colonial and Eurocentric frames, this volume highlights how African pasts are interpreted, represented, and sustained today. From the Sebou Basin in Moroccowhere natural and cultural heritage intertwineto the lived experiences of early-career African archaeologists navigating structural inequalities, the thematic core addresses both the material and institutional conditions shaping the field. A study of Roman Africa on screen interrogates enduring orientalist stereotypes, while reflections on the ATLAS project and the Invisible Cities exhibition showcase collaborative approaches to connectivity and urbanism across North Africa and southern Spain.
Complementing the African focus, our Off-Topic section tackles broader disciplinary concerns: the limits of citation metrics, academic responsibility amid political crisis, and the epistemological foundations of archaeology. Together, these contributions reaffirm archaeologys entanglement with the ethical and political urgencies of the present.
Jesús GARCÍA SÁNCHEZ & Martina REVELLO LAMI: Learning, teaching,
changing African Archaeology
Abdelkader CHERGUI, Said EL BOUZIDI, Réda AJARAAM: The historic Sebou Basin:
An asset of universal value
Degsew MEKONNEN, Osman KHALEEL, Humphrey NYAMBIYA, Nompumelelo MARINGA:
Against All Odds: An Archaeologist's journey in Africa
Oskar AGUADO-CANTABRANA: Roman Africa on screen: An exotic otherness
Off-Topic
Andrea DI RENZONI: Lost in citations: Why standard Metrics fail archaeology
and regional scholarship. A critical analysis of bibliographic indexing and
research evaluation
Elsa CARDOSO: A conversation between the sword and the neck: On censorship,
colonialism and academic responsibility
Reviews
Belén HERNÁEZ MARTÍN: Exploring Late Antiquity through cities in southern
Spain and northern Africa, and beyond: A review of ATLAS final colloque and
the Invisible Cities exhibition
Elsa CARDOSO: Review of Eric Calderwood, On Earth or in Poems: The Many Lives
of al-Andalus, Harvard University Press, 2023
Agostino SOTGIA: Review of Edoardo Vanni, L'ideologia degli archeologi:
Egemonie e tradizioni epistemologiche alla fine del postmoderno, BAR
International Series 3050, Oxford 2021
Martina Revello Lami is an Assistant Professor of Material Culture Studies in the Department of Archaeological Sciences, contributing to both the BA and MA curricula.
