Cory Ettiene

My work sits at the intersection of material culture, women’s agency, and the study of intangible heritage. I focus on Amazigh weaving communities in southern Morocco, examining how motifs, colours, and weaving technologies move through households and shift across generations. Much of this research is time-sensitive, as globalisation, migration, and ecological change are reshaping the practices and oral traditions that once defined these communities.
My fieldwork in the Drâa Valley combines participant observation, study of domestic workspaces, and ethnographic interviews with both settled and nomadic families. I record oral histories, map weaving techniques, and document the symbolism attached to motifs and colour choices. This sits within a wider commitment to feminist archaeology and community-led approaches to cultural preservation.
Alongside my work in Morocco, I contributed to the Partnership for Heritage programme in southern Tunisia. There, I supported women’s cooperatives across several villages by helping them develop heritage-based craft economies and strengthen the transmission of local knowledge.
My broader interests include:
the archaeology of gendered labour
motif symbolism and cosmology
domestic craft technologies
community-driven heritage preservation
decolonising ethnographic archives
Supervised by Dr Anna Leone and Paolo Fortis

Staff profile