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Martijn A. Wijnhoven is a senior researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Brno. Craft has always been at the heart of his work, shaping his approach to ancient military studies and the reconstruction of armour from the Iron Age to the Middle Ages. His research combines history, anthropology, and archaeology with hands-on experimental practice, recreating artefacts to uncover the chaîne opératoire behind their production. Through this craft-centred perspective, he explores the technical, material, and cultural dimensions of ancient technologies. Outside his academic research, he is an avid bookbinder, keeping craft close to his hands as well as his heart.

Dajana Ehlers currently serves as head of the administrative office of the Gateway Gründungsnetz e.V. in Cologne where she coordinates financial management, workshop organisation and networking events for founders and everyone curious about taking their first steps into entrepreneurship. In the neighbouring building, at the Archaeological Institute of the University of Cologne, she is working on her doctoral thesis on the presence and transformation of antiquity and its material cultures in modern videogames, ranging from sculpture and architecture to small finds.

Driven by a deep enthusiasm for digital worlds, she spends much of her free time analysing games for traces of Roman culture. She also experimented with glass bead making and admires anyone who possesses the patience and steady hands that this craft demands.

Kaja Stemberger Flegar currently acts as head of the research institute Primus Devotus, while simultaneously working as small finds specialist in commercial archaeology (PJP d.o.o.). After completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Ljubljana, she gained her PhD at King’s College London, where she reinterpreted the cemeteries of Colonia Iulia Emona (modern Ljubljana). For her studies she was awarded the Ad Futura scholarship of the Slovene Human Resources Development and Scholarship Fund. Curious about all things SPQR, she is academically very active, with her interest focussed on archaeological theory, mortuary archaeology, and crafts. In her free time she experiments with textile work (tatting, knitting, and crochet), drawing, and archaeological illustration.

Ana Kovačič is an archaeologist specialising in the Central European Roman period with a focus on material culture. She has worked extensively as a small finds specialist and fieldwork supervisor on multi-period sites across Slovenia. She is currently employed at the largest archaeological company in Slovenia, where she leads the finds department. Her interest in the Roman period has motivated her to pursue further studies. She is enrolled in a PhD programme at the University of Primorska, where her thesis offers a detailed examination of the period through its material culture. In her free time, she enjoys traditional crafts, particularly crochet and sewing, and is currently learning pottery, which allows her to deepen her understanding of ceramic technologies encountered in archaeological contexts

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Jason Lundock completed his undergraduate degree at Harvard University, followed by his graduate and post graduate studies at King’s College London in Classics Research. His research foci include Roman provincial archaeology, small finds and archaeological theory. He has worked for institutions such as the Portable Antiquities Scheme, the British Museum and the Appleton Museum of Art as well as has published a number of books and articles on various aspects of Roman studies and archaeology. He is currently based at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida where he teaches mythology and ancient studies.