Dessales Hélène
Archaeology of water / of Roman bulding

, by Marc-Antoine Rey

Associate Professor in Archaeology (ENS)

• Contacter Hélène Dessales
• BIBLIOGRAPHIE AOROC


Research areas

  • Archaeology of Roman water systems and aqueducts.
  • Archaeology of Roman bulding : building methods, masonry techniques.
  • History of archaeology and study of graphical archives : corpus of images of XIXth century architects and travellers in Pompeii.

Current activities

  • Current research projects
    • Coordination of the project D’eau et de pierre : research on the hydraulic network of Pompeii and its construction, by the laboratories of archaeology and geology of the Ecole normale supérieure (since 2007). www.archeo.ens.psl.eu (Project funded by the CNRS ATIP Young researchers).
    • Archaeology of the construction and the study of water structures on the sanctuary of Apollo Moritasgus, Alesia (collective research project, founded by the Culture Ministry, coordinated by Olivier de Cazanove, professor, Université Paris I).
    • Development of a project on automatic recognition of the huge corpus of architects’ drawings done in Pompeii from the 19th to 20th, with a team of computer scientists (Willow, CNRS-ENS-INRIA). www.di.ens.fr
  • Publications in preparation
    • Archaeological study of the aqueducts in Arles, (collective research project, founded by the Culture Ministry, coordinated by Ph. Leveau (emeritus professor, Université de Provence) (2008-2011).
    • Publication en cours of two unpublished XIXth century sketchbooks on Pompeii : Pompeiana. Pompeii revisited by William Gell, « topographer » of the Grand Tour (1801‐1835) (Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art, Library, Collections Jacques Doucet)
  • Teaching
    • Courses on methods and procedures in archaeology.
    • Seminar on Archaeology of Roman building (in collaboration with the Univ. Paris I-Pantheon Sorbonne), for Master/PhD students.
    • Regular courses at the Ecole d’Architecture de Versailles, for Master students.
    • Training on the field (for Master and PhD students) in archaeology of Roman construction : Ostie (2002-2005), Pompéi (2007), Barbegal (2008, 2009), Genainville (2009, 2010, 2011). See teaching curriculum at l’ENS

Academic achievements

  • Career
    • 2003-now : Associate Professor in Archaeology, Ecole normale Supérieure ; member of AOROC,
    • 2000-2003 : Research fellow (“Membre”) of the Ecole française de Rome, Archaeology and Classical Studies section.
    • 1996-2000 : Teaching assistant / curator, Université de Paris I / Library Jacques Doucet (now Bibliothèque de l’Institut national d’histoire de l’art).
  • Education
    • 1996-2002 : PhD Thesis in Archaeology, Université d’Aix-Marseille I. Ph.D. adviser : Pierre Gros. Title : La distribution de l’eau dans l’architecture domestique de l’Occident romain (Pompei, Herculanum, Ostie) : formes, usages et mise en scène, du Ier au IVe siècle ap. J.-C. Award : Summa Cum Laude.
    • 1994-1995 : Certificate of studies in architecture, Ecole d’architecture de Versailles.
    • 1994 : “Agrégation” (French highest competitive examination) in Classical Philology.
    • 1991-1996 : Fellow (« Elève » of the Ecole normale supérieure, Paris).
  • Research diffusion
    • Multimedia
      • 2000 : CD-Rom Pompéi : la colère du volcan : Rédaction de fiches explicatives sur Pompéi et expertise des restitutions architecturales.
      • 2003 : Articles (Aqueducts, Water in Rome) for te CD Rom Rome, 2700 ans d’histoire
      • 2004 : Supervision withc K. Gruel of site Archéologies en chantier.
    • Exhibitions
      • 2004-2006 : Como el agua que fluye / Au fil de l’eau / Come l’acqua che scorre, Sevilla, Aix-en-Provence, Ostia antica
      • 2009 : D’eau et de pierre. Recherches des laboratoires d’archéologie et de géologie sur le réseau hydraulique de Pompéi.
      • Contributions to Pompeii exhibition catalogues (Bliesbruck, 2006, Paris Musée Maillol, 2011)
    • Congresses
      • 2007, 2008, 2009 : 3 international workshops on Roman construction process, at Mérida (2007), Siena (2008), Paris (2009), with S. Camporeale (Univ. Siena) and A. Pizzo (Instituto de Arqueología de Mérida).
      • 2006 : national congress on Roman construction process in Ostia and the West Roman provinces (ENS ; Soprintentendenza archeologica per i beni archeologici di Ostia antica). www.diffusion.ens.fr
      • 2002 : international congress on Archaeological methods and approaches : industry and Commerce in Ancient Italy, with E. De Sena (American Academy in Rome, Ecole française de Rome)
      • Member of scientific committees of international congresses : Décor et architecture en Gaule entre l’Antiquité et le Moyen Age (Toulouse, 2009) ; Arqueología de la Construcción IV (Padua, 2012). Member of the national support group of the 4th international congress on construction history (Paris, 2012).
  • Scientific responsibilities
    • Running the team « Bâtir et décorer dans l’Antiquité » since 2009
    • Coordinator of the CNRS GDR (Research group on Pompeii and the cities of Vesuvius), from 2012
    • Coordinator of the ATIP Jeunes Chercheurs (Action Thématique et Incitative sur Programme), CNRS, for the project Pompéi. D’eau et de pierre.
    • Design et coordination of an European “Culture 2000” framework program, “Workshops for European archaeology and architecture on Roman sites”, with a field session in Ostia and Itálica (Ecole française de Rome, Soprintendenza per i beni archeologici di Ostia antica, Junta de Andalucia).
    • Member of the CNU (national council of universities which decides on the measures relating to the recruitment and career of professors), section 21 (History and Archaeology of Antiquity and Middle Ages) (nominated by the Ministry Research), from 2012.
    • Member of the board of the SFAC (French society of classical archaeology) (elected), since 2008
    • Member of the scientific council of the Pont du Gard site (invited).
    • Member of various recruitment committees, for assistant professors, in History and Archaeology : Univ. Paris 1, Paris 4, Lille 3, Brest, ENS.