J. Andrew Dufton is an archaeologist who interrogates how cities, ancient and modern, shape the daily experiences of their inhabitants. His research focuses on the long-term dynamics of urban change in North Africa, from the Iron Age into late antiquity. An additional methodological dimension to his work centers on the role of new digital technologies for the collection and communication of archaeological data.

Andy received a B.A. (Honours) in Anthropology from McGill University in 2003 and completed an M.Sc. in GIS and Spatial Analysis in Archaeology from University College London (2005). He worked for six years in the British commercial sector, an experience that involved all aspects of archaeological fieldwork: survey, excavation, project management, digital archaeology, and public outreach. Andy’s dissertation, “Works in progress: regional trends and grassroots developments in the cities of Roman North Africa”, explored the transformation of North African cities in the period of Roman control. Using the lens of urban process — a concept borrowed from modern urban studies — this work highlights not the centralized uniformity of a supposedly ‘Roman’ city but the diversity, haphazardness, and improvisation that best characterize urban life.

Andy has excavated at sites across the Mediterranean world, including at the imperial villa and medieval monastery at Villa Magna (2006–2010); at the Tunisian site of Utica with the Tunisian-British Utica Project (2010–present); and survey with the Brown University Petra Archaeological Project at Petra, Jordan (2012–14). He also worked on the development of one of the Brown University's first forays into the world of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), Archaeology’s Dirty Little Secrets.