2024
Teilnahme am Doctoral Student Exchange Programme der BerGSAS: University of Oxford im Michaelmas term 2024

04/2022
Research Associate and PhD Candidate (since 12/2022) at the Institute for West Asian Archaeology, Freie Universität Berlin

07/2022 – 08/2022
Co-Area Supervisor, Tell Keisan Excavation, Israel (ISAC Chicago, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)

10/2020 – 11/2021
Masters Degree in Greek and Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)

10/2021 – 10/2021
Project Participant, Excavation of the Greek Temple at Apollonia near Shtyllas, Albania (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)

07/2021 – 08/2021
Project Participant, Excavations at the Sanctuary of Artemis Amarysia, Amarynthos, Greece (Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece)

10/2017 – 04/2020
Bachelors Degree in Classical Archaeology and German Literature (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)

09/2019 – 10/2019
Trench Supervisor, Excavation of a Roman Seaside Mansion at the Capo di Sorrento, Italy (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)

09/2018 – 09/2018
Project Participant, Excavations in the Archaeological Park of Salona, Croatia (University of Zagreb)

04/2018 – 04/2018
Participant, Archaeological Field Survey on Cyprus (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)

The Archaeology of Dance in Iron Age Cyprus

This dissertation investigates the largely overlooked archaeological evidence for dance in Iron Age Cyprus (ca. 1125/1100–310 B.C.E.) by establishing the first systematic study of its iconography, materiality, and contexts. Focusing on terracotta and limestone figurines—objects previously unexamined as a coherent corpus—the project analyses how dance was represented, how these portrayals developed over time, and what forms of movement they may imply. By integrating contextual data, comparative material from the Aegean and Levant, and selective ethnographic approaches, and by employing digital tools such as 3D modelling and database-driven analysis, the study investigates the social, ritual, psychological, and physiological dimensions of dance within Cypriot communities. In doing so, it advances the archaeology of performance in the Eastern Mediterranean and demonstrates the interpretive value of dance for understanding ancient lived experience.

in preparation 
Weiss, M., Daun, S. (forthcoming) "Results of the 2019 Season of Excavations in Saggio 20 and Saggio 21 at Capo di Sorrento", W. Filser, C. Klose (eds.), The Roman Maritime Villa of Capo di Sorrento. Excavation and Surveys of Architecture and Landscape from 2014 to 2022.  

2026 
Weiss, M. 2026. "Evidence and Distribution of Dance Representations in Iron Age Cyprus: A Preliminary Report". CCEC 56.  

Bonatz, D., Kallas, N., Helmholz, Y., Alshboul, L., Aprà, S., Schlegel, V., Tursi, G., Weiss, M., 2026. "Excavations at Tell Ushayer: A Preliminary Report on the 2021, 2022 And 2023 Seasons". ADAJ 62.  

2025 
Weiss, M. 2025. "Towards an Archaeology of Dance on Iron Age Cyprus: Methods and Approaches". K. Langenegger, S. Borkowski (eds.), BernBabylon 1, accessible through https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15590034  

2024 
Wilson, C., Röhrig, M., Weiss, M., 2024. "Preliminary Results of the 2022 Season of Excavations in Area G at Tell Keisan". WdO 54:1, pp. 8–22.