David K. Pettegrew

Greek and Roman History, Late Antiquity, Early Christianity, Historical Archaeology, Digital Humanities

• Ph.D., History, The Ohio State University
• M.A., History, The Ohio State University
• B.A., Anthropology, Greek, Wright State University

• Western Civilization
• Roman History
• Late Antiquity
• Historical Archaeology
• Digital History 
• Field School in Archaeology in Greece
• First Year Seminar: Indiana Jones and Me

David Pettegrew is a scholar of the ancient Mediterranean world, who uses material evidence and digital tools to write and produce regional histories. As an archaeologist and historian, David has participated in and directed archaeological research programs in the United States, Greece, and Cyprus, and authored articles and books on Greek and Roman cities and landscapes. As a digital historian, David manages blogs, websites, and interactive historical maps, and coordinates digital humanities activities at Messiah. His ongoing research projects include publishing the excavations of ancient coastal sites in Cyprus, an archaeological survey in Corinth, Greece, and an introduction to the archaeology of early Christianity. He also continues to develop the Digital Harrisburg Initiative. He lives in Camp Hill, PA, with his wife and three children.

Books and Edited Works

• Harrisburg, Digital Public History, and the ‘City Beautiful’,” editor with James B. LaGrand. Special issue of Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies 87.1 (Winter 2020).
• The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology, editor, with William R. Caraher and Thomas W. Davis, New York 2019: Oxford University Press.
• The Isthmus of Corinth: Crossroads of the Mediterranean World, Ann Arbor 2016: University of Michigan Press.
• Pyla-Koutsopetria I: Archaeological Survey of an Ancient Coastal Town, with W.R. Caraher and R.S. Moore, and with contributions by M. Andrioti, P.N. Kardulias, D. Nakassis, and B.R. Olson, American Schools of Oriental Research Archaeological Reports No. 21, Boston 2014: American Schools of Oriental Research.

Recent Articles

• “Harrisburg, the City Beautiful: Recasting the History of Urban Reform in a Small American Capital,” with James B. LaGrand. Pennsylvania History 87.1 (2020), pp. 1-10.
• “The Digital Harrisburg Project: Placing the Population of a Progressive Era City,” with Albert Sarvis. Pennsylvania History 87.1 (2020), pp. 22-44.
• “The Greek Communities of Harrisburg and Lancaster: A Study of Immigration, Residence, and Mobility in the City Beautiful Era,” with Kostis Kourelis. Pennsylvania History 87.1 (2020), pp. 66-91.
• “Harrisburg's Historic African American Community: An Interview with Calobe Jackson Jr.,” with Kostis Kourelis. Pennsylvania History 87.1 (2020), pp. 212-224.
• “Life in an Abandoned Village: The Case of Lakka Skoutara,” with W.R. Caraher, in Deborah Brown and Rebecca Seifried (eds.), Deserted Villages: Perspectives from the Eastern Mediterranean, Digital Press of the University of North Dakota (2020).
•  “The Archaeology of Early Christianity: The History, Methods, and State of a Field,” with William Caraher. In The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology, Oxford 2019: Oxford University Press.
• “Pyla-Koutsopetria Archaeological Project: Recent Work at the Site of Pyla-Vikla,” with W. Caraher, R.S. Moore, and D. Nakassis. Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, 2017.
• “The Changing Rural Horizons of Corinth’s First Urban Christians,” in J.R. Harrison and L.L. Welborn (eds.), The First Urban Churches 2: Roman Corinth, Atlanta, 2016: Society of Biblical Literature.
• “Imperial Surplus and Local Tastes: A Comparative Study of Mediterranean Connectivity and Trade,” with W.R. Caraher. In C. Concannon and L. Mazurek (eds.), Across the Corrupting Sea: Post-Braudelian Approaches to the Ancient Mediterranean, Burlington, VT, 2016: Ashgate.
• “Corinthian Suburbia: Patterns of Roman Settlement on the Isthmus,” in B. Gebhard and T.E. Gregory (eds.), ‘The Bridge of the Untiring Sea’: The Corinthian Isthmus from Prehistory to Late Antiquity, Princeton 2015: American School of Classical Studies at Athens.

Current Activities

David is currently working on an introduction to the archaeology of early Christianity (under contract with Oxford University Press) and preparing the publication of archaeological data and discoveries from the Pyla-Koutsopetria Archaeological Project in Cyprus and the Eastern Korinthia Archaeological Survey in Greece. He is on research leave during the 2020-2021 academic year.