Agnė Čivilytė, PhD Humanities

Senior Researcher

I am a senior researcher and archeologist at the Lithuanian Institute of History with areas of competence in European prehistory, particularly, in the Bronze Age. I participated in excavations in Southeastern Turkey (Giobekli Tepe) and Greece (Tiryns) as a doctoral student at the University of Heidelberg in Germany where I earned my Ph.D and went on to lead my own excavations in Lithuania. As a Fulbright scholar, I taught a graduate level class on European Archaeology at Buffalo University 2021. I am currently working with archaeometallurgy, with a focus on the chemical composition of metal artefacts and provenience of the metal ores. I strongly believe that archeological methodologies are transferrable to more than one scientific discipline. While examining elemental compositions—particularly concentrations of heavy metals—I developed a groundbreaking line of inquiry into the environmental and biological impact of ancient metallurgical practices. This led me to investigate how heavy metal toxicity entered the food chain and ultimately affected human health in the past. My research has since evolved to critically assess the sustainability of ancient metallurgical activities, revealing crucial insights into early awareness (or lack thereof) of environmental consequences.

I supervise four Ph.D. students, three of whom focus on Bronze Age metallurgy, diet, and economy—topics directly related to my research. I have also served on PhD defense committees not only in Lithuania, but internationally in Belgium (University of Ghent) and Latvia (University of Riga). I am also currently teaching at the university of Klaipėda and have a position of research assistant professor at the New York State university of Buffalo (USA).

My international collaborations include participation in prominent research groups, such as the Hertefeld site team in Germany and the Human Body project coordinated by RGK (Römisch Germanische Kommission).

Furthermore, I served as Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed journal Lietuvos Archeologija (2016-2024), where I initiated special issues featuring international scholars, showcasing my ability to generate impactful ideas and coordinate large-scale scholarly efforts.

I can speak and read 7 languages, which allows me to engage deeply with different cultures and academic communities. Outside of my professional work, I have a wide range of hobbies that keep me active and curious, enriching both my personal and academic life.

Projects as a PI:

Technology and social development in prehistory: A study of Bronze Age metal objects  (2012-2014)

Pan-European phenomenons in Prehistory: Bronze Age metal depositions in the Eastern Baltic region in the light of long-distance relationships (2018-2021)

Late Bronze Age (1100–500 BC) economy in the eastern Baltic region: towards a new model” (BRONZEKO) (2019-2022)

Fundings and grants:

1994-1995	Katholischer Akademischer Austauschdienst (KAAD), Germany
1995-1997	Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), Germany
1998-2001	Gerda Henkel Stiftung, Germany

  (2019/Covid 19- 2021)             J. William Fulbright grant

Contacts:

Email: agne.civilyte@istorija.lt

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8793-7255

Academia.edu: https://independent.academia.edu/AgneCivilyte

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Agne-Civilyte