Catherine (Kate) Klesner, Research Associate, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Kate Klesner is a postdoctoral researcher in archaeological ceramics at the University of Cambridge. Her research focuses on reconstructing ancient ceramic technologies through archaeometric analysis, exploring how technological knowledge was developed, transmitted, adopted, and adapted in the past. Her doctoral research (Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering, University of Arizona, 2021) examined early Islamic period lead-glazed ceramics from Silk Road cities in Central Asia, revealing insights into trade networks and technological innovation in the region. She has worked on diverse material assemblages, including ceramics, lithics, and rock art, from regions across the Americas, Asia, and Europe. She has conducted fieldwork throughout Central Asia and Europe, developing her archaeometric expertise through research and training with institutions such as the University of Missouri Research Reactor, the Institute for the study of the Ancient World (NYU), and Demokritos (Greece). Her current work investigates craft organization in pre-Hispanic South America, focusing on resist-painted ceramics from Nariño, Colombia, and integrate compositional analysis, microscopy, and 3D geometric morphometrics to reconstruct the chaîne opératoires of three distinct ceramic traditions.