Biography
Dr. Tiffany Earley-Spadoni is an associate professor of history and a specialist in the ancient Middle East.
At UCF, she directs the Kurd Qaburstan Project, a large-scale archaeological excavation of a Middle Bronze Age city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Her work focuses on how ancient societies structured space—politically, socially, and militarily—and what those arrangements reveal about power and resistance.The National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities have supported her work.
Her first book, Landscapes of Warfare: Urartu and Assyria in the Ancient Middle East (University Press of Colorado, 2025), received the 2025 Frank Moore Cross Award from the American Society of Overseas Research for the most substantial new volume in the field of ancient Mediterranean history.
Earley-Spadoni earned her PhD from Johns Hopkins University.
Beyond her academic work, she enjoys hiking, photography, and spending time with her husband and her ragdoll cat, Kali.
Education
- Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies from The Johns Hopkins University (2015)
Research Interests
Ancient Near East, Digital Archaeology, GIS and Remote Sensing, Fortifications, Digital Humanities, Spatial History
Recent Research Activities
Dr. Earley-Spadoni directs the Kurd Qaburstan Project, a large-scale, collaborative investigation of a Middle Bronze Age urban site in northern Iraq. Kurd Qaburstan is a likely candidate for the ancient city of Qabra, an important regional center well-known from historical sources. The team explores the spatial organization of urban life through analyses of large-scale public architecture, domestic areas, craft production zones, fortifications, and evidence for centralized planning in distinct neighborhoods.
Previously, she led the Vayots Dzor Fortress Landscapes Project, examining the creation of fortified regional networks developed in response to systematic warfare. This project has identified numerous forts and fortresses and uncovered evidence of sophisticated fire beacon communication systems, shedding light on the defensive strategies of ancient societies in the South Caucasus.
Professional Activities
Director of the Vayots Dzor Fortress Landscapes Project (2016-2022)
https://projects.cah.ucf.edu/armenia/
https://projects.cah.ucf.edu/infinitearmenias/Publications
Books
- Earley-Spadoni, T. (2025). Landscapes of Warfare: Urartu and Assyria in the Ancient Middle East. University Press of Colorado.
Articles/Essays
- Earley-Spadoni, T. and Harrower, M. (2020). “Spatial Archaeology: Mapping the Ancient Past with the Humanities and the Sciences,” International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing 14 (1-2):176–196.
- Cobb, P. J., Earley-Spadoni, T., & Dames, P. (2019). Centimeter-Level Recording for All: Field Experimentation with New, Affordable Geolocation Technology. Advances in Archaeological Practice, 7(3).
- Earley-Spadoni, T., Petrosyan, A., & Gasparyan, B. (2019). Danger along the high road: report from the 2017 field season of the Vayots Dzor Fortress Landscapes Project (VDFLP), Armenia. AJNES, XIII(I), 59–80.
- Earley-Spadoni, Tiffany. (2017). “Spatial History, Deep Mapping and Digital Storytelling: Archaeology’s Future Imagined through an Engagement with the Digital Humanities.” Journal of Archaeological Science 84: 95-102.
-
Earley-Spadoni, Tiffany. (2015). "Landscapes of Warfare: Intervisibility Analysis of Early Iron and Urartian Fire Beacon Stations (Armenia)." Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 3: 22-30.
Book Sections/Chapters
- Earley-Spadoni, T. "Towers Built upon the Mountain Peaks: Communicating at the Speed of Light in the Ancient Near East." In Sending the Message: Beacons and Military Communication from Antiquity to Early Modern Times, edited by Marie Ødegaard, Stuart Brooks, Thorsten Lemm, and Frode Iverson. Brill.
- Earley-Spadoni, T. "Rusa’s Paper Cities: Reframing Urartu." In Urartu and Beyond: Change and Interaction in the Iron Age Highlands, edited by Mehmet Işıklı & Rafet Çavuşoğlu. Brepols.
-
Earley-Spadoni, T. (2022). “Danger in the Mesopotamian Night: Mitigating
Peril in the Heartland of Cities.” In After Dark: The Nocturnal Landscape
and Lightscape of Ancient Cities, edited by Nancy Gonlin and Meghan Strong. Boulder:
University Press of Colorado: 50-70.
- Earley-Spadoni, T. (2022). “Fortified Roads as Communication Networks in the Ancient Near East.” In Global Perspectives to Landscapes of Warfare, edited by Hugo C. Ikehara Tsukayama and Juan Carlos Vargas Ruiz. Boulder: University Press of Colorado: 139-158.
Awards
2025 Frank Moore Cross Award for the most substantial scholarly volume(s) on the history, religion, epigraphy, or textual studies of the ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean
2025 Sheperd Urgent Action Grant
2024 American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR) Membership Service Award
2024 National Science Foundation Senior Archaeology Award (2344957), “Investigating Spatial Organization of Early Urban Life.” (PI: Tiffany Earley-Spadoni, Co-PI Glenn Schwartz)
2023 American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR) Membership Service Award
2022 National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend Fellowship
2022 American Institute of the South Caucasus Research Fellowship
2021 UCF Teaching Incentive Program Award
2018 American Institute of the South Caucasus Cultural Heritage Management Fellow
2016-2017 ASOR Mesopotamian Fellowship
Courses
| Course # | Course | Title | Mode | Days/Times | Syllabus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 83706 | ASH3200 | Anc Near Eastern Societies | Web-Based (W) | 7:00 PM - 7:00 PM | Unavailable |
| 93107 | ASH3204 | History of Mesopotamia | Web-Based (W) | 7:00 PM - 7:00 PM | Unavailable |
| Course # | Course | Title | Mode | Days/Times | Syllabus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12298 | ASH3204 | History of Mesopotamia | Web-Based (W) | 7:00 PM - 7:00 PM | Unavailable |
| 12978 | HIS3600 | Professionalizing History Maj | Mixed Mode (M) | Th 12:00 PM - 1:15 PM | Unavailable |
| 20511 | HIS6167 | Spatial History | In Person (P) | Th 6:00 PM - 8:50 PM | Unavailable |