About - Bérénice BELLINA

Bérénice Bellina, an archaeologist specializing in South and Southeast Asia, is Research Director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). She founded and co-directed the French Archaeological Mission in the Thailand-Myanmar Peninsula (2005-2022) in collaboration with Silpakorn University (Thailand) and the Department of Archaeology of Myanmar. Her research investigates the maritime exchange between the eastern Indian Ocean and the South China Sea during the late prehistoric and early historic periods and its legacy. Her research has two main focuses: 1) the interconnectedness of Asian maritime basins and the co-evolution of different populations and their environments in relation to long-term exchange. She applies a technological approach to material culture, using the analysis of technical systems to characterize socio-economic and political contexts, ethnic dynamics and their evolution through trade. 2) Multidisciplinary research with a strong ethnological component on communities and heritage. This includes the study of contemporary representations and uses of the past in Southeast Asia, indigenous and community archaeology, participatory heritage processes, and the promotion of local knowledge in collaboration with communities—especially maritime groups such as sea nomads.