Paolo Visonà is a Mediterranean archaeologist specializing in the cultural interaction between Greek and indigenous populations, and in Greek territorial defense systems, in the Calabria region of southern Italy.  He holds a Laurea in Lettere Antiche from the University of Padua, in Italy, an M.A. from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.  From 1987 until 2001 he conducted archaeological excavations at the Italic site of Contrada Mella (ancient Mamertion?); he co-edited the first excavation report volume Oppido Mamertina (Calabria – Italia).  Ricerche Archeologiche nel Territorio e in Contrada Mella in 1999.  Between 2005 and 2010, with support from the University of Kentucky and the Foundation for Calabrian Archaeology (a nonprofit corporation), he also directed the exploration of a Greek archaic and classical fort on the summit of Monte Palazzi, in the hinterland of ancient Locri Epizephyrii.  These investigations revealed that the main Greek cities in the toe of Italy built similar outposts to guard the mountainous borders of their territories against invasion by rival city-states.  Preliminary results of the Monte Palazzi project were highlighted in a 2011 exhibition at Lexington’s Central Library, which was made possible by a grant from the Archaeological Institute of America. (www.digcalabria.org/ under: Gallery).

     As a numismatist with expertise in Greek, Roman, and Byzantine coinage, Paolo Visonà has contributed three coin reports for the American excavations at Carthage and has written extensively on Carthaginian coins minted in Africa, Sicily, Sardinia, and southern Italy, as well as on the issues of the Greek colonies in Dalmatia.  His scholarly interests are focused upon the monetary economy of the Punic world before the Roman conquest.  After completing research on this topic as a Margo Tytus Fellow at the University of Cincinnati in 2011, he is currently preparing a corpus of Carthaginian bronze coins based on the holdings of museum collections worldwide.  A member of the American Numismatic Society and a Fellow of the Royal Numismatic Society, Visonà also serves as an officer of the Kentucky Society of the Archaeological Institute of America.  At the University of Kentucky, he offers courses on Greek and Roman art and visual culture, and on classical mythology.