BrainMap

Mr. Andrei Asandulesei

PhD

Lecturer / Scientific Researcher II - UNIVERSITATEA "ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA" IASI

Researcher | Teaching staff | Scientific reviewer | Manager

Andrei Asăndulesei is a faculty member at the Faculty of History (UAIC) and a researcher with notable contributions in interdisciplinary archaeology and cultural heritage documentation. His expertise stems from extensive training, including international internships at prestigious institutions such as the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology in Vienna (Austria), and advanced courses provided by Geometrics (USA). He has received funding from leading academic centers and served as the director of a DAAD-funded grant. He participated in summer schools and workshops within international projects like Radio-Past in Ammaia, Portugal, and the Archaeoethnography School at Flinders University, Australia. He was part of research teams from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, engaging in non-invasive surveys in Kurdistan-Iraq, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Caucasus, Russia, and Bavaria. His involvement in both Romanian and international projects allowed

Web of Science ResearcherID: A-7902-2019

Curriculum Vitae (17/06/2025)

Expertise & keywords

Prehistoric centres of pottery production and distribution? An integrated strategy of studying an ancient craft Call name: P 5.1 - Proiecte de Cercetare Exploratorie - Competiția 2023
PN-IV-P1-PCE-2023-0040 2025 - 2027

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA "ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA" IASI

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA "ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA" IASI (RO)

Affiliation:

Project website:

Abstract:

The project proposes an innovative strategy of interdisciplinary research that will constitute a working tool for identifying the centres of ceramic production from the Chalcolithic period, namely the Cucuteni B phase. The presence of such centres was postulated in the literature but their existence was never scientifically demonstrated. Thus, we suggest an approach that corelates the results obtained from the archaeometrical analysis of pottery, geophysical surveys of prehistoric settlements, GIS analysis, ethnoarchaeological research and archaeological excavations. The investigations will be applied to at least ten Cucuteni B settlements for which there is presumption of contemporaneity (verifiable by 14C dating) and are located relatively close to each other. The geographic area of study corresponds south-east of Moldavian Plain. The analysis of pottery collected from the targeted sites will allow us to ascertain fabric groups whose chemical and mineralogical 'signature' might suggest the existence of manufacturing centres. Their identification on field will be possible through geomagnetic surveys of the areas, thus identifying traces of pottery production (primarily kilns, with distinctive magnetic fingerprint). The areas will be verified through small scale archaeological excavations. The results will be interpreted in GIS through specific analyses (spatial distribution, density, territoriality, possible routes linking settlements etc).

Halieutica Scythiae Minoris. Fishing and Fish Industry at the Mouth of the Danube in Roman and Early Byzantine Times Call name: P 1 - SP 1.1 - Proiecte de cercetare pentru stimularea tinerelor echipe independente - TE-2021
PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2021-0544 2022 - 2024

Role in this project: Key expert

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA "ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA" IASI

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA "ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA" IASI (RO)

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA "ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA" IASI (RO)

Project website: https://www.findart.page/

Abstract:

The main goal of the project is to demonstrate the extent to which fishing and the fish industry played a role in the regional economic development of Schythia Minor in the Roman and Roman-Byzantine eras. The fish industry refers both to the potential of exploitable biological resources (primarily fish stocks), and to the strategy of capitalizing on this potential (transport, storage, processing of resources and marketing of products obtained).

The project is an inter- and transdisciplinary approach, which connects archeology and ancient history with studies related to economics, and which integrates, at the same time, concepts and methods specific to limnology, archaeozoology, geoarchaeology. The holistic approach, by corroborating, as much as possible, all the sources available at the moment, is a novelty in the context of research on the fisheries in Scythia Minor. Also, the comparison and analogy, at local level, between the local sources and sites and their integration in the context of the Pontic and Mediterranean halieutic circuit represent elements of novelty and originality. The results of this project could represent a starting point for an economic synthesis for the studied area, integrated in the parameters of a new theoretical framework and competitive in the current interdisciplinary debates, and will include the research area on the fishing map of the Roman Empire.

Settling Selection Patterns and Settlement Layout Development in the Chalcolithic Cucuteni Culture of Northeastern Romania Call name: P 1 - SP 1.1 - Proiecte de cercetare pentru stimularea tinerelor echipe independente
PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2019-2232 2020 - 2022

Role in this project: Project coordinator

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA "ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA" IASI

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA "ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA" IASI (RO)

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA "ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA" IASI (RO)

Project website: https://www.archaeolandscapes.ro/

Abstract:

Although there is a long history of research concerning the last great Eneolithic civilisation of Old Europe, the Cucuteni-Trypillia cultural complex, at only a handful of sites has archaeological research completed a comprehensive planimetric image. This makes it impossible to determine a typological evolution of the internal organization of Cucutenian sites, both diachronically, across the three great phases of the culture (A, A-B and B), and spatially, from Southeastern Transylvania to the Republic of Moldova, and towards the steppes of Ukraine. Accordingly, many essential behavioural aspects of Cucutenian communities, in certain environmental conditions, are far from understood.

A number of recent integrated non-invasive investigations have introduced into the scientific circuit novel and original research directions in support of the theory whereby the internal spatial organization of the circular mega-sites from the Rep. of Moldova and Ukraine has its origins in Northeastern Romania. Thus, the main objective of the project proposed is to further develop and refine this theory. As such, the generalisation and integration of non-invasive prospecting methods — LiDAR, aerial photography, earth resistivity, magnetometry, and their integration through GIS — represents a feasible alternative for this purpose. These complementary investigation methods will be applied for a number of case studies from different chronological phases, located in the Moldavian Plateau on different landforms types, emphasis being put on the conjoint use of the datasets obtained from each technique.

Among the innovative characteristics of this project are the considerations on the intra-site spatial organization, the typology of the fortification systems, the confirmation of the existence of ritual or delimitation ditches, and of the presence of habitations outside the delimited/fortified areas.

Geoarchaeology of the Danube delta from Neolithic to Middle Ages Call name: P 3 - SP 3.1 - Proiecte de mobilități, România-Franța (bilaterale)
PN-III-P3-3.1-PM-RO-FR-2019-0297 2019 - 2021

Role in this project: Partner team leader

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI (RO); Aix Marseille Université (FR)

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI (RO)

Project website: https://istorie.unibuc.ro/cercetare/proiecte-cercetare/

Abstract:

This project aims to quantitatively characterize the connections between environmental changes, water resources, natural disasters and ancient societies in different times and areas, along the Danube delta (Romania). The project intends to combine research methods specific for geosciences (geomorphology, geology, geochemistry, geophysics) with the archaeological and historical research, in order to decipher the evolution of the delta starting 6000 years ago. Revealing the evolution of the Danube delta is crucial in the context in which this area has been inhabited ever since the Neolithic. The spatial distribution of human settlements, reflected in their internal development, as well as in their evolution and decline, is an indicator not only for the delta’s morphogenesis, but also for the constraints and potential of this area. The sites included in the project (from upstream downstream: Noviodunum, Halmyris, Enisala, Orgame, Caraburun and Histria) constitute some of the most important ancient settlements on the territory of Romania. Understanding the evolution of the environment at a local (site) and regional (Danube delta) level will offer a better contextualization for the archaeological data and the historical evolution of the above-mentioned sites.

The Ethnoarchaeology of Salt in the Inner Carpathian area of Romania Call name: P 4 - Proiecte de Cercetare Exploratorie
PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2016-0759 2017 - 2019

Role in this project: Key expert

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA "ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA" IASI

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA "ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA" IASI (RO)

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA "ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA" IASI (RO)

Project website: http://ethnosalro.uaic.ro/ethnosalro3/

Abstract:

The Inner-Carpathian area of Romania has the highest potential of Europe for ethnoarchaeological research on the preindustrial civilisation of salt. This area harbours some of the most representative and best preserved European archaeological sites related to the continuous exploitation of rock salt and salt-spring brine from ca. 3500 BC until present. Archaeological investigations revealed a prehistoric technique of salt exploitation unique in the world — the so-called “trough technique”. Aside from this, the communities of this area still maintain traditional behaviours related to the exploitation of salt springs and salt outcrops. An ethnoarchaeological investigation of this still living phenomenon creates the premises for a complex understanding of the exploitation of salt in pre- and proto-history, opening new lines of interpretation and issuing new hypotheses. If Romania is the only country in Europe in which preindustrial exploitation of salt is still being carried out on a wide scale, Transylvania and Maramureș are the centrepiece in this regard. The central scope of the project is to produce a complete ethnoarchaeological referential on salt, based on complex interdisciplinary research. Continuing two previous projects (cf. ethnosal.uaic.ro and ethnosalro.uaic.ro), this project will produce, both in terms of the integrated methodology and of the area covered, the world's first ever ethnoarchaeological research on salt, in one of the richest saliferous regions of the world. The implementation of this project will open unexpected opportunities to capitalise the ethnoarchaeological potential of other resilient areas in emergent or even developed countries. The complete ethnoarchaeological referential provided by this project will have an appreciable impact on scientific paradigms in the fields of world archaeology and ethnoarchaeology.

Non-destructive approaches to complex archaeological sites. An integrated applied research model for cultural heritage Call name: Joint Applied Research Projects - PCCA 2013 - call
PN-II-PT-PCCA-2013-4-2234 2014 - 2017

Role in this project: Project coordinator

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA "ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA" IASI

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA "ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA" IASI (RO); ACADEMIA ROMÂNĂ - FILIALA IAŞI (RO); ARHEO MANAGEMENT SRL (RO)

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA "ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA" IASI (RO)

Project website: http://arheoinvest.uaic.ro/research/prospect/

Abstract:

The assertion of the new paradigms in the archaeological research during the second half of the last century, paved way to new means of analysis of natural and anthropical inhabited in times past, on local or regional level. Their profound and inherently interdisciplinary nature was emphasized by numerous collaborations between archaeologists and scientists from other field of research, many of them designed to underline the interdependence relationship of mankind towards the environment.

Presently, within the scientific milieu dedicated to archaeology, it is universally accepted that the archaeological sites are more than ever being endangered by the natural factor, but, more importantly by the human factor. As a result of their activity, archaeologists are nowadays fully aware of this real problem, aknowledging the necessary use of new investigation methods borrowed from archeometry. A wise management of the national cultural patrimony aligned to the concept of CRM-cultural resources management, intensely used and applied worldwide, forces the scientific community to employ modern techniques of analyzing the archaeological sites, which can be a non-destructive pattern of research suited for all historical cycles.

In other words, the main objective of this project aims at developing and implementing a functional model of applied research based on integrating and improving of non-destructive techniques, while understanding and valuing the complexity of prehistoric archaeological sites.

The choice in limiting the research area at the eastern part of Romania, the Moldavian Plateau, lies in the incredibly rich archaeological potential, which was, until now, rather unequally and insufficiently investigated. This territory, marked by a complex landscape, with diverse forms of relief arranged into a natural and organic geographical unit, represented an auspicious frame for the presence and development of human communities; as a result there is an uninterrupted habitation starting with the dawn of human civilization, from early paleolithic (approximately 700.000 BC – 120.000 BC) until present time.

We consider that deciphering and analytical interpretation of the geo-systemic balance from the area through a careful selection of a few prehistoric sites, that are going to be attentively researched using topographic and archaeological cartography, aerial photography, the analysis of spectral images, terrestrial tridimensional scanning and geo-physics prospections (magnetometry with cesium steams and fluxgate, GPR-ground penetrating radar technology, soil resistivity and electrical tomography) is essential. The unified interpretation of results obtained through GIS, using specific analysis, will decisively contribute to the perception of settlements landscape, as well as to understanding the mechanisms of occupying the land in Prehistory, and obviously offer precious data regarding the relantion between human-environment, inherently to any appropriate interdisciplinary archaeological study.

In direct connection with the ideas mentioned above, we will consider the identification, evaluation and monitoring the endangered sites, either by natural or human factors, based on the same unified research model, made up of methods and principles also mentioned above. Moreover, a careful examination of the geomorphological and morphometric features and especially of the dynamics of the erosive processes only completes the obtained information body, which will represent the basis of a predictive model based on coherent and relevant information for this type of research. During the final stage of the project, we will focus on developing a strategy of revaluation and tourism management, mainly in the virtual medium for the prehistoric archaeological sites.

Religion and Art in the Cucuteni – Tripolye Civilization (V-IV Millennia CAL B.C.) Call name: Exploratory Research Projects - PCE-2011 call
PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-3-0885 2011 - 2016

Role in this project: Key expert

Coordinating institution: Academia Romana - Filiala Iasi

Project partners: Academia Romana - Filiala Iasi (RO)

Affiliation: Academia Romana - Filiala Iasi (RO)

Project website: http://cucuteniar.ro

Abstract:

In over 125 years of research, countless discoveries were made that are suitable for their interpretation as religious manifestations of the Cucuteni-Tripolye civilization. Over 30,000 anthropomorphic statuettes and figurines, anthropomorphic plastic or painted representations on pottery, a remarkable number of scale-models of sanctuaries and buildings that, due to their architecture and the presence of large anthropomorphic representations and peculiar topography, have been interpreted as sanctuaries. En ronde-bosse, bass-relief, plastically modeled and painted zoomorphic representations also amount to over 15,000 findings. Several ritual complexes, composed of statuettes and sacred artifacts, have been discovered in situ, affording interesting observations on the religious ideas and concepts of the Cucuteni-Tripolye populations.

The Cucuteni-Tripolye civilization offers a unique database for use in attempting a reconstruction of the religious ideas and beliefs from a part of the South-Eastern European Chalcolithic. It is known that the Cucuteni-Tripolyean artisans created an impressive number of masterpieces, particularly in ceramic painting, but also in plastic art.

Our project seeks to identify the main religious ideas and beliefs of the Cucuteni-Tripolye people, and to capitalize the priceless artistic heritage of this civilization. We aim to publish several monographic studies and a synthesis work on the religious ideas and beliefs of the Cucuteni-Tripolye people.

The Ethnoarchaeology of Salt Springs and Salt Mountains from the extra-Carpathian zone of Romania Call name: Exploratory Research Projects - PCE-2011 call
PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-3-0825 2011 - 2016

Role in this project: Key expert

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA IASI

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA IASI (RO)

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA IASI (RO)

Project website: http://ethnosalro.uaic.ro/

Abstract:

This ethnoarchaeological project on salt – a primordial reference of humanity – represents a world premiere approach from the methodological perspective and as spatial extension. Starting from an original Romanian study of 1992, it continues the researches carried on by a Franco-Romanian team since 2003 and those within a Romanian Idei CNCSIS (2007-2010) exploratory project. This approach was tested on the eastern Sub-Carpathian area of Romania, with impressive results. The extension of the researches to the whole extra-Carpathian area is justified by the exigencies specific to a saturated model. Unlike the previous project, the researches take into account – besides salt springs – salt mountains/cliffs; the correlations between their exploitations are thus systematically analyzed for the very first time in the world. The research has as purpose two main axes: identifying salt springs and salt mountains/cliffs and the adjacent archaeological vestiges, and ethnological investigations through spatial analysis. These data modelled and interpreted in all dimensions, corroborated with the available ancient and medieval sources, will constitute a solid referential (valorising a unique situation in Europe) anywhere in the world where there are archaeological traces of salt exploitation, but not followed by current non-industrial practices. The researches will underline the universal invariants, without omitting the idiographic behaviours.

Chronology and Human Interactions in the Eneolithic of Southern Romania. Gumelnița – A Key Period of European Prehistory – Sites, Known and Unknown Spaces Call name:
PN II-PC nr. 92101/1.10.2008 2008 - 2011

Role in this project: Key expert

Coordinating institution: MUZEUL NATIONAL DE ISTORIE A ROMANIEI

Project partners: MUZEUL NATIONAL DE ISTORIE A ROMANIEI (); UNIVERSITATEA "ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA" IASI ()

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA "ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA" IASI ()

Project website:

Abstract:

FILE DESCRIPTION	DOCUMENT
List of research grants as project coordinator	Download (13.3 kb) 10/05/2016
List of research grants as partner team leader
List of research grants as project coordinator or partner team leader
Significant R&D projects for enterprises, as project manager
R&D activities in enterprises
Peer-review activity for international programs/projects