07/24/2026
Archeology just lost an important soul in Clemente Marconi. I met him several times at NYU, where he was a professor and I attended a lecture and conference.
He was sent to Selinunte when he was just 21, as a student and had been returning ever since in his capacity as Professor in the History of Greek Art and Archaeology and Director, IFA Excavations at Selinunte. He specialized in the Archaic and Classical periods.
Selinunte is such an evocative place, an important early Greek settlement perched above the crashing waves of the azure blue Mediterranean Sea. The layers of history left behind are dense. Selinunte achieved such remarkable sophistication, that it eventually influenced Greece, and Professor Marconi dedicated much of his life to piecing al of it together.
Distinguished historians like Marconi, are the ultimate detectives. Their scholarly eyes can analyze a potsherd no bigger than a cracker and date it from the material, the coloring, the type of decoration or portrait, where it was found, and what other items were around it.
I salute the dedication and work of Clemente Marconi and all the people who help us understand from where we have evolved, while enabling us to learn from, and marvel at, the abilities, ingenuity, style, and priorities of past societies.
