SITE DIRECTORS
Miguel
Ángel Cau, Ph.D.
Dr. Cau is a research professor at the Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), an associate professor of Archaeology at the University of Barcelona and co-director at Pollentia. Born in Mallorca, Dr. Cau specializes in late antiquity Mediterranean insular systems, late Roman cooking wares and the application of archaeometry to ceramics.
In addition to Pollentia, Dr. Cau co-directs the excavation of the Roman villae of Sa Mesquida as well as the early Christian basilicas of Illa del Rei and Fornells in Menorca. He is also the scientific director of the excavations at the early Christian complex of Son Peretó in Mallorca.
Esther
Chávez Álvarez, Ph.D.
Dr. Chávez is a co-director at Pollentia and professor of Archaeology at the University of La Laguna on the Canary Island of Tenerife. She has participated in various archaeological excavations and surveys in the Canary Islands, mainland Spain and abroad, focusing on prehistoric, protohistoric and Roman periods.
Her research interests focus on the protohistoric and Roman settlement of southeastern Iberia, Roman settlements in Mallorca, Roman pottery production, ancient North Africa and its relation to the Canary Islands, and archaeological tourism in the Canaries.
ARCHAEOSPAIN
STAFF
Unai Aurrekoetxea
A professional archaeologist from Bilbao, Unai co-led the ArchaeoSpain High School groups from 2007 to 2009, and directed our international crews for three years prior at Tiermes and Pintia. With around 15 years of archaeological experience, Unai has lived and worked in Spain and Scotland, excavating dozens of sites.
Unai graduated with an MA in Archaeology from the University of Deusto. He is currently working for a commercial archaeology firm, and speaks Spanish, English, and Basque.
Chari Alcalá
Chari graduated from the University of Granada with a History degree, and she is an expert in heritage-related urban planning.
For four years she led field and lab teams at the Paleolithic site known as the Angel's Cave in Córdoba, and she has worked in commercial archaeology at various sites in her native Granada. Chari also worked several years as a group leader for a study abroad company that sent young students to England.