About

Eleni Hasaki is a faculty member at the University of Arizona, specializing in Anthropology and Classics. Her research focuses on ancient Greek ceramic production, workshop organization, and social networks of artisans. She has utilized ethnoarchaeological approaches, energetics, and social network analysis to study pottery workshops, vessel handling, and the organization of labor in ancient Greece. Her work includes detailed studies of the spatial layout of workshops, the embodied knowledge of potters and painters, and the social connections among artisans, with particular attention to the Archaic and Classical periods. Hasaki has contributed to understanding the site of Mandra, the organization of ceramic workshops, and the networks of vase painters and potters in ancient Athens. She has co-directed projects such as the Social Networks of Athenian Potters (SNAP) and has developed tools like the WebAtlas of Ceramic Kilns in Ancient Greece to facilitate research on ceramic production and distribution across different periods.

Research topics

• Engineering
• Social Science
• Mechanical engineering
• Computer Science
• History
• Sociology
• Classics
• Archaeology
• Demography
• World Wide Web

Selected publications

• “L’ espace opératoire de la chaîne opératoire”: Ethnoarchaeological approaches to spatial patterning of pottery workshops in the Mediterranean

  Journal of Archaeological Science Reports · 2025-08-07

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  • First quantitative study of spatial allocation to different production stages. • Study of the spatial layout of workshops sheds light on manufacturing stages (chaîne opératoire). • Workshop space distribution criteria include open vs. covered space, single or multi-use areas, archaeologically identifiable or not areas. • Ethnoarchaeological studies of pottery workshops can aid archaeologists recovering and interpreting archaeologically recovered workspaces. • Workshop mode of production (household-oriented vs. market-oriented) has different spatial patterned behavior. Pottery workshops have been studied through a wide range of analytical lenses focusing either on materials or personnel: procurement of raw materials, apprenticeship strategies, forming and firing technologies, and connoisseurship studies of stylistic signatures. The spatial layout of these workshops where the chaîne opératoire is performed and where the agency of potters is manifested has not been explored fully. This paper provides the first spatial ethnoarchaeological dataset of select workshops for plain wares of small, medium, and large size in the potters’ quarter of Moknine (Tunisia). The space allocation is calculated for all major stages of ceramic manufacturing, from clay gathering to storage of fired pots, as well as the required circulation paths. The data is then reconfigured to address several questions, such as how much space of each workshop is open or (semi-) covered, how much space can be flexible for multiple uses vs. inflexible for single use, and finally how much of this space would have left substantial clues for its correct identification by archaeologists.

  PublisherDOI

• 8 Timing Euxitheos and Euphronios: Energetics and the Scale of Production in the Athenian Potters’ Quarters

  2024-11-18

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  8 Timing Euxitheos and Euphronios: Energetics and the Scale of Production in the Athenian Potters’ Quarters was published in Technology, Crafting and Artisanal Networks in the Greek and Roman World on page 91.

  PublisherDOI

• The stratigraphic context of the “temple’s” object assemblages

  Peeters Publishers eBooks · 2023-11-01

  book-chapterSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Deities, Cult and Activity at Archaic Mandra

  Peeters Publishers eBooks · 2023-11-01

  book-chapter
  PublisherDOI

• The “temple’s” deposit:

  Peeters Publishers eBooks · 2023-11-01 · 1 citations

  book-chapterSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Potters at Work in Ancient Corinth

  2022 · 11 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • History
  • Engineering
  • Mechanical engineering
  PublisherDOI

• The Ancient Greek Potter’s Wheel: Experimental Archaeology and Web Applications for Velocity Analysis

  Interdisciplinaria Archaeologica - Natural Sciences in Archaeology · 2021

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Computer Science
  • Engineering

  The potter’s wheel is central to the understanding of ancient technology, knowledge transfer, and social complexity. With scant evidence of potter’s wheels from antiquity, experimental projects with replica potter’s wheels can help researchers address larger questions on ceramic production. One such set of experiments, performed using the Ancient Greek wheel replica in Tucson modelled on Athenian and Corinthian iconographic evidence, provided useful insight into the qualitative experience of ancient potters. In past experiments, the quantitative analysis of the throwing sessions included data on wheel velocity which had been collected collected over large intervals, comprising entire stages of the throwing process. While this method provides an overview of rotational speed, a continuous velocity graph provides a clearer picture collected data on wheel velocity. To address this, we developed a web application (WheelVis; brandonneth.github.io/wheelvis) to aid in the velocity analysis of experimental potter’s wheels. Users provide a recording of the throwing session and while advancing through the recording, they mark points where the wheel has completed rotations. Using the time intervals between these points, the tool reconstructs a graph of the velocity of the wheel throughout the throwing session. This innovative application provides fast, fine-grained velocity information, and helps archaeologists answer questions about the physical properties of their experimental replicas or wheels used in traditional workshops. Future development of the application will include contextual partitions to allow users to split the throw into different stages, enabling further analysis into the throwing process. Moreover, intelligent error detection would notify users when a mark is likely to be made in error and allow them to correct their mistake.

  PublisherDOI

• E. Hasaki and D. Harris Cline. 2020. Social Network Analysis and Connoisseurship in the Study of Athenian Potters’ Communities

  2020

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Sociology
  • Sociology
  • Social Science
  Publisher

• Terracotta statues from Ayia Irini, Kea:

  Archaeopress Publishing Ltd eBooks · 2018-04-30 · 1 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Ship iconography on the Penteskouphia pinakes from Archaic Corinth (Greece).

  Barkhuis eBooks · 2017-09-25 · 1 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Robert Sutton

  3 shared

• Yannos Kourayos

  3 shared

• Christina Rathossi

  2 shared

• Emanuela De Marco

  Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Pisana

  2 shared

• D. Kondopoulou

  Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

  2 shared

• Ι. Zananiri

  Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration

  2 shared

• V. Spatharas

  Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

  2 shared

• Brandon Neth

  University of Arizona

  1 shared

Labs

• Eleni Hasaki LabPI

Awards & honors

• NEH-American School of Classical Studies at Athens SBS Deans…
• University of Arizona's Excellence in Graduate Teaching and…
• Second-place winner for the Graduate and Professional Studen…
• Honorable Mention for the Five Star Teaching Award
• Laboratory for Traditional Technology Ceramic Potter Residen…