Professional Summary
Jacob Engstrom is a PhD student specializing in Aegean Prehistory. He received his BA Honours with Distinction in Greek and Roman Studies from the University of Victoria, Canada, in 2020. His honours thesis analyzed Tomb 11 at ancient Eleon, Boeotia, through a multi-disciplinary contextual approach, in order to establish the nature and history of the ossuary's use and its relationship to the monumentalized Blue Stone Structure cemetery. In addition to his work on funerary archaeology, Jacob's research focuses primarily on the household and settlement archaeology of the Aegean Bronze Age, especially the Late Helladic mainland. He holds further research interests in local and regional responses to intercultural interaction, cultural entanglement, the archaeology of post-antique Greece, and the history of archaeology in the Aegean. Jacob is currently preparing an MA thesis based on research in the Department's archives. His thesis offers a critical historiographic analysis of the UC Troy Expedition conducted by Carl W. Blegen during the 1930s. Other projects include a study of an incised marble slab bearing the image of a helmeted warrior from the Bronze Age site of Ayia Irini, Kea, and ongoing collaborative research on the lead figurines from the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia in Sparta.
Jacob has worked on the excavation of ancient Eleon with the Eastern Boeotia Archaeological Project as a trench supervisor and small finds analyst. He has also excavated with the Olynthos Project and the Palace of Nestor Excavations, serving as a trench supervisor with both projects.
Publications
Peer Reviewed Publications
(with G. C. Braun) (2022. ) Lead Figurines from the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia at Sparta in the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (Canada): Problems of Typology and Collections History .Annual of the British School at Athens, , 117 ,
Presentations
Paper Presentations
Engstrom, Jacob M. and Nicholas P. Herrmann (2020. ) Tomb 11 at Ancient Eleon (Boeotia): An Early Mycenaean Ossuary in a Built Funerary Environment .121st AIA Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.