Marie Pareja

Bio

Dr. Marie (Nikki, or Doc to her students) Nicole Pareja is an archaeologist, art historian, and anthropologist who serves as an Assistant Professor of Art History in the Art Department. Doc is the founder and director of the Aegean Bronze Age Studies Initiative (ABASI), and the Plasters Analysis Project (PLAN), which is based in the University of Pennsylvania Museum's Center for the Analysis of Ancient Materials (CAAM). She is co-founder and co-director of the Aegean-Indus Bronze Age Research Network (IA-BARN), a project that grew out of the first international workshop on Bronze Age relations between the Indus and Aegean, at the University of Oxford. She is actively involved in several Bronze Age Aegean excavations: Sissi Archaeological Project; Gournia Archaeological Project; Mochlos Archaeological Project; Stelida, Naxos Peak Sanctuary Project. She is also working on legacy plaster material from the South House at Knossos and the Royal Road at Knossos.

Research Interests

Doc specializes in prehistoric iconography, technologies, materiality, trade, and exchange. This expertise best pairs with collaborative work, so that specialists in other, appropriate fields are invited to contribute to the study of new finds, discoveries, and perspectives on the material and visual culture on which Nikki focuses. Consider, for instance, her work on the blue monkeys in wall paintings from the Bronze Age Aegean and their close, careful study by a taxonomic primate illustrator (Stephen Nash, who understands the ways an artist views, approaches, and renders scientifically accurate images of primates) and primatologists with morphological and behavioral knowledge of old world species. The monkeys from one wall painting are langurs, who are indigenous to Bhutan, Nepal, and India. This investigation by the appropriately-trained specialists revealed a new understanding of interconnectivity and trade in prehistoric Afro-Eurasia.

See coverage of this find by the Smithsonian: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/painted-bronze-age-monkeys-hint-interconnectedness-ancient-world-180973789/

Or by New Scientist: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2227146-ancient-monkey-painting-suggests-bronze-age-greeks-travelled-widely/
Teaching Philosophy

Because she believes that hands-on, experiential learning is a key component of education, Doc designed, built, and directed outdoor dig simulators for different universities as a critical component of World Archaeology. Excavation is a necessarily destructive practice, and therefore archaeologists have a great responsibility to preserve and document as much as possible. Because of this, and the anxiety it often inspires in students about digging, she created the simulator. Now students who are interested in archaeology can participate and train in excavation from a controlled, low-risk environment while also learning many of the practical skills that are useful within the discipline, broader academia, and beyond (for more on student excavation at universities where Doc launched simulators @docsdig on Instagram).

In the classroom, Doc strongly emphasizes a honing of skillsets: critical thinking, object-first and transdisciplinary methodologies, and collaboration via highly discursive class time. These skillsets, as well as genuine curiosity, careful skepticism, and professional, respectful conduct and participation are pillars of success in her courses.
Current Courses
Spring 2026
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Fall 2026
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Service Activities and Community Relations

Since 2022, Doc has been the founder and executive director of a non-profit institution dedicated to supporting undergraduate experience and learning in the Bronze Age Aegean. This organization is called ABASI: The Aegean Bronze Age Study Initiative.

In 2025, Doc was elected for a second term as co-chair of the Ancient Painting and Decorative Media Interest Group for the Archaeological Institute of America. Since 2015, she has been a consulting scholar for the Mediterranean section of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology in Philadelphia, PA.

At Salisbury University, Nikki serves on the AI Taskforce, the Anti-Tobacco and Nicotine Taskforce, Fulton Grants Committee, the Art Curriculum Committee, and the Art History Committee.
External Collaboration Highlights

When not teaching in spring or autumn terms, Doc is most frequently traveling and working abroad in Greece or the UK. In order to continue her work as a specialist in the Bronze Age Aegean, she both excavates and studies material and visual culture in Greece, for which governmental and local permissions are required, as well as collaboration with the various international individuals, teams, and institutions with which she collaborates. Doc works as a material specialist for a Belgian-led international team, the Sissi Archaeological Project; two American-led teams at Gournia and Mochlos, sites on Crete; a Canadian-led international team, the Stelida, Naxos Archaeological Project. Her work with legacy material includes painted lime plaster from the South House and Royal Road at Knossos. These sites are often associated with British and Greek archaeological teams.
Press Releases
1. SU Welcomes 22 New Faculty for Fall
  Tuesday, September 24, 2024

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