I was born in St. Albans Herts (GB) on the 4th January 1963. My parents emigrated to England in the early 1960s from Ciminna, a small Sicilian town near Palermo, therefore I can speak fluently three languages, English, Italian and Sicilian. I can also speak some French.
I’ve spent up to now half of my life in England and half in Sicily.
My education is mainly British even though I went to high school in Palermo receiving a diploma in Foreign Languages.
I started being interested in archaeology when my father took me to Verulamium, the Roman town located in St. Albans. But the real spark happened when he took me one day to the Pizzo of Ciminna. I was about 12 years old and I vividly remember that day. It was a Sunday morning and as we were walking uphill to the top I noticed that the site was a carpet of potsherds and the early morning frost made some black pottery shine very brightly. I picked up one and I was stunned by its beauty, its smoothness, its lightness. I later realized it was a fragment of Greek Black glazed pottery. Since then Archaeology has been part of my life and my dream was to dig there.
After my Diploma in Foreign Languages I attended a Regional Sicilian course for Assistant Archaeologist. Its purpose was to create a professional digger assisting the archaeologist.
When I moved back to London in the 1990s I worked for Prét a Manger and for Costa Coffee, becoming a manager and running several shops. As I was working I attended evening classes at Birkbeck College, University of London.
I received the following:
- Diploma in Field Archaeology, Museum of London, Birkbeck College.
- Bachelor of Arts in History and Archaeology, (Second Class Honours, Lower Division)
- Master of Arts in Classical Civilizations, (Merit).
- Master of Arts in Managing Archaeological Sites, UCL ( certificate of Attendance).
After my studies I worked for MOLAS, Museum of London Archaeological Services.
In 2001 I managed to get Birkbeck College interested in carrying out Archaeological investigations on the Pizzo of Ciminna. My dream was coming true. We dug there from 2001 to 2005. The structures that came to light belong to the 4th-3rd centuries BC among which stands out a rare, if not unique, building with an apse facing south-east. Among the finds noteworthy are the Cretulae, terracotta seals, some with stamped erotic scenes.
Since 2005 I have been the president of a non profit cultural association “Genesis Ciminna”, whose aim is to protect, promote and valorise Ciminna’s rich Heritage.
Soon I will be publishing some books about Ciminna, its history and archaeology besides papers regarding the digs carried out over 10 years ago.
I became a fully licensed Tour Guide in June 2014.
I am married to Lorena and we have two boys, Marco and Dario.
