115 search results for “excavation” in the Staff website
-
Wei Chu receives SNMAP funding for dating earliest dwelling structures in Ukraine
At some point in the deep past the first known dwelling structures were built out of mammoth bones in a country we now know as Ukraine. Archaeologist Wei Chu would have visited the site in summer 2022, were it not for the war. Now he has received funding from SNMAP with the aim to better establish the…
-
The ancient Egyptians were just like us
The people who lived in Saqqara, City of the Dead in Egypt, died thousands of years ago, but they are not all that different from us. This is what a study by the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, The Netherlands concludes. If you wanted to prove that you had good taste in ancient Egypt then…
-
Prestigious Gutenberg Research Award for archaeologist Wil Roebroeks
Leiden archaeologist Professor Wil Roebroeks receives the 2021 Gutenberg Research Award of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). "By granting Wil Roebroeks the 2021 Gutenberg Research Award, we are honoring his extraordinary contributions to paleoanthropology through his field research, his interdisciplinary…
-
Leiden archaeologist works with Kazakhs on numismatic collections
In May of 2023, an agreement was signed between Leiden PhD candidate Jonathan Ouellet and General Director Onggar Akan of the A. Kh. Margulan Archaeological Institute in Almaty. The aim: a detailed study of the numismatic history of Southern Kazakhstan.
-
Petra Sijpesteijn elected to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (AIBL), one of the five academies that make up the Institut de France, has elected professor Petra Sijpesteijn as foreign corresponding member (correspondant étranger), to fill the seat of the renowned Egyptologist Edda Bresciani.
-
Beaver exploitation testifies to prey choice diversity of Middle Pleistocene hominins
Exploitation of smaller game is rarely documented before the latest phases of the Pleistocene, which is often taken to imply narrow diets for earlier hominins. In a study now published in Scientific Reports, a team of German and Dutch archaeologists present new data that contradict this view of Lower…
-
Archaeology students make documentary on the Cypriot past
The Leiden Archaeology social media team presents its first documentary on one of our faculty's research projects. A team led by Bleda Düring, Victor Klinkenberg, and Maria Hadjigavriel explores the Cypriot Chalcolithic period in Palloures, Cyprus.
-
Fifty years of teaching and research in Egypt: ‘Visit to Cairo a highlight for students’
The Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo (NVIC) is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Thousands of students and researchers from eight partner universities in the Netherlands and Flanders have been able to gain valuable experience in Egypt through the institute. Good reason for a celebrat…
-
Data Management Internships for students: Future learning and sustainable preservation of archaeology
Whilst the world is opening up, the teaching will continue in a hybrid form next academic year. During the past year, when all of us were bound to our home offices and computer screens, new forms of education had to be developed – some of which proved to be efficient in preparing the students for their…
-
Archaeologist Lennart Kruijer's year: a Cum Laude dissertation, a grant, a fellowship
In May 2022 Lennart Kruijer succesfully defended his PhD, which he wrote as a member of the VICI Project ‘Innovating Objects’, led by prof. Miguel John Versluys. So succesfully, in fact, that he was awarded the Cum Laude honors. Just a short time later he was awarded a grant and a fellowship to further…
-
Neanderthals changed ecosystems 125,000 years ago
Hunter-gatherers caused ecosystems to change 125,000 years ago. These are the findings of an interdisciplinary study by archaeologists from Leiden University in collaboration with other researchers. Neanderthals used fire to keep the landscape open and thus had a big impact on their local environment.…
-
Looking for the earliest European home with an ERC Consolidator Grant
During the Late Pleistocene, Europe was a cold and unforgiving place to live. Even so, groups of early modern humans roamed around, just like their Neanderthal counterparts. It is unclear what kind of dwellings these people inhabited to shelter them against the elements, especially in regions without…
-
Investigating ancient irrigation tunnels with a remote controlled car
In ancient times, the desert in the Udhruh region in Jordan was transformed into a green oasis. An intricate network of underground water channels was part of an ancient system of water management, storing water and preventing loss through evaporation. Archaeologist Mark Driessen found a new way to…
-
Month of Tutankhamun: Egypt's most legendary pharaoh
November marks exactly 100 years since the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. To celebrate this special discovery, the Faculty of Humanities, together with various parties, is organising the 'Month of Tutankhamun': a month full of activities around Egypt's most legendary pharaoh.
-
In Memoriam: Wilfred van Soldt (1947-2021)
We regret to share the news that our colleague, friend, and former professor of Assyriology at Leiden University, passed away on 15 May 2021.
-
In memoriam: Dr Andrzej Antczak (1956-2024)
On February 28th of this year Dr. Andrzej Tadeusz Antczak died of cancer after a long battle. Until his retirement in 2023 Andrzej was attached to the Faculty of Archaeology as an Associate Professor in Caribbean Archaeology. From 2017 until 2020 he was the Head of the Department of World Archaeology,…
-
Open Day Archaeological Field School in Oss
Open Day
-
Evening Tours Archaeological Field School in Oss
Open Day
-
Investigating Caribbean migrations with a Vidi grant: ‘With isotope analysis we can look at individual behaviors and long term patterns’
Archaeologist Jason Laffoon was awarded an NWO Vidi grant for an innovative investigation into ancient migrations in the western Caribbean. The innovative character of this research project lies in the wide-scale application of isotope analysis and isotope mapping. ‘We aim at further developing methods…
- Support for earthquake-hit Turkey and Syria
-
Byzantine consumers focal point of a new publication
Recently Professor Joanita Vroom’s book Feeding the Byzantine City was published by the prominent academic publishing house Brepols. This volume is the fifth in a series called Medieval and Post-Medieval Mediterranean Archaeology, of which she is the editor. ‘This series aims to offer new perspectives…
-
Sigrid Kaag avant la lettre: Women played a significant role in eighteenth-century diplomacy
With her Veni research, investigator Rosanne Baars from the Institute of History aims to demonstrate that women played a role in the eighteenth-century diplomatic circles of the Ottoman Empire. ‘We already know that one woman led the entire embassy.'
-
Data Management: Where to permanently store the digital archaeological datasets these days?
It is the end of your archaeological research project, and you may be wondering where to deposit your data. After the excavation, all of the finds are drawn, scanned, digitised, and the database is completed. Perhaps you have also accumulated a lot of data through further scientific analysis of the…
-
LUCAS on a trip to NIMAR in Morocco
It was more than two years in the making, but despite the delays, giving up was not an option. In May, eighteen staff members of LUCAS and the Faculty of Archaeology visited NIMAR.
-
The Ethics Committee at Archaeology: ‘Think ahead before starting your research, that’s the point’
In the past decade many academic journals have started to require that researchers provide evidence of ethical review when submitting papers, for example when working with human participants or human remains.. In order to support researchers to ensure their projects are able to meet these expectations,…
-
In Memoriam: Katharine MacDonald (1976-2022)
Our dear colleague and friend Kathy MacDonald passed away unexpectedly on August 9th, 2022, a few days after her 46th birthday. Her sudden passing came as a tremendous shock to her colleagues and friends at the Faculty of Archaeology and to colleagues and former students both in The Netherlands and…
-
Archaeologist Wouter Verschoof-van der Vaart wins the IALA dissertation award for his doctoral thesis
‘I was very happy and honoured that my thesis was recognised as a valuable contribution to the topic of landscape archaeology.’
-
Meet postdoc Ana Zora Maspoli: ‘I came to Leiden to find a new way to look at the dilemma of Romanisation’
Looking for a different approach in the ongoing discussions on the ethereal matter of Romanisation, Ana Zora Maspoli joined Miguel John Versluys’ research group as a postdoc guest researcher. While she has been active in our Faculty since February 2022, you may not have met her yet due to the Covid-19…
-
This is Emma, the new student ambassador Cultural Anthropology
Since the beginning of September, Emma van der Plas (20) is the new student ambassador for CADS. Emma is a third-year student and is currently following a minor in Sustainable Development in Leiden. Her goal? To eliminate the stigmas surrounding anthropology. "When I tell people I'm studying anthropology,…
-
Archaeologists come up with a more precise estimate for how long modern humans and Neanderthals co-existed
Modern humans and Neanderthals may have co-existed in France and Northern Spain for up to 2,900 years until the Neanderthals disappeared. This is what archaeologists from Leiden University and Cambridge University write in a new publication in Scientific Reports.
-
Karsten Lambers appointed as Professor of Digital and Computational Archaeology
In January, Dr Karsten Lambers was appointed as Professor of Digital and Computational Archaeology at Leiden University's Faculty of Archaeology. With his extensive background in both archaeological research and computational sciences, the installation of Professor Lambers further strengthens this discipline…
-
Archaeology student Anne Wagemakers wins LISF prize for report on research in Spain
With the help of a LUF grant, archaeology student Anne Wagemakers investigated an archaeological assemblage in Spain. Now her research report has won the annual LISF prize.
-
More than just blue domes and camels: new Louvre film on Uzbek artefacts
Terracotta pottery, precious ikat fabrics and the bazaars where these goods are sold: all these can be seen in a new Louvre film premiering on Friday 9 December. University lecturer Elena Paskaleva collaborated on the film Uzbekistan a timeless journey in Central Asia about Uzbek artefacts.
-
Beavers had a big influence on how people in the Stone Age lived
For thousands of years, beavers had a big influence on the Dutch ecosystem and the people that lived there. This is the conclusion of research by archaeologist Nathalie Brusgaard.
-
Local Panama communities work with archaeologists on historic land rights
The question of land property titles is a common source of conflict between indigenous communities and federal authorities all over the Americas. A new Panamanian law have led indigenous communities to reach out to archaeologist Dr Natalia Donner. A grant from the Centre for Indigenous American Studies…
-
Research into grave goods sheds new light on traditional roles
New archaeological research into grave goods and skeletal material from the oldest grave field in the Netherlands shows that male-female roles 7,000 words ago were less traditional than was thought. The research was conducted by a multidisciplinary team of researchers led by Archol, the National Museum…
-
Neandertal Legacy Scientific Reports’ article in the top 100 most downloaded
With an off-the-charts number of downloads, outstanding media coverage, and more than 300 tweets, a small team behind the Scientific Reports article led by a Leiden PhD Igor Djakovic is living every researcher’s dream.
-
Ancient History (UMW) Research Seminar
Lecture, Ancient History (UMW) Research Seminar and Ancient Worlds Network Lecture
-
Karahantepe: A New Pre-Pottery Neolithic Site in Şanlıurfa, Turkey
Lecture, Faculty Lecture
-
‘Prehistory holds up a challenging mirror to us’
Leiden alumnus Luc Amkreutz is a curator at the National Museum of Antiquities. His exhibition about the submerged landscape of Doggerland highlights what we can learn from prehistory. ‘Just like the people of Doggerland, we are confronted with climate change, but we are responsible for the speed of…
-
Elephants in the Room
Lecture
-
Book Landscapes of Survival sheds new light on the habitation of the Jordan deserts
December 2020 saw the crowning publication of the Landscapes of Survival project by Professor Peter Akkermans. Its main topic is human habitation in marginal environments like the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. ‘The people living here built their own society, and they would not have viewed it as…
-
Meet the Faculty’s new Student Assessor: Imen el Idrissi
After two years in the Faculty Board, Student Assessor Zoë van Litsenburg makes room for a successor per September 1, 2022. Let’s meet the new Student Assessor Imen el Idrissi. ‘I want to focus on the communication between the Faculty and the students.’
-
Get inspired! Best practices for preparing for the job market
From interview training and competence tests to internships and contact with alumni. At Leiden University there are many ways for our students to prepare for the job market, but the support available is often too fragmented and hard to find. How can we best prepare our students for a job market that…
-
Archaeology alumna Oda Nuij wins Florschütz Thesis Award
Annually, the Dutch Palynologische Kring invites nominations for the Florschütz Award for best MSc thesis in Palynology and Palaeobotany. This year, the thesis of Archaeology alumna Oda Nuij was deemed to be the best one. Oda was surprised to hear she won, since she was not sure that the thesis would…
-
Hoard of Roman coins turns out to be offering for safe crossing
Several years ago, two amateur archaeologists from Brabant discovered over a hundred Roman coins near to Berlicum in the north of the province. After years of research, it now appears that the location, close to a ford in the river, was a site for offerings. Another interesting fact is that the coins…
-
Meet our new colleague Letty ten Harkel: ‘I am interested in what happens when different cultures come together’
In August 2022 we welcome our new colleague Dr Letty ten Harkel as Assistant Professor in Roman and Post-Roman Archaeology. For the past ten years she has built up an impressive track record in the School of Archaeology at the University of Oxford. Read the interview about her background and research…
-
Throwback to the panel discussion about the future of archaeology
As part of the celebrations around the 25th birthday of the Faculty of Archaeology, a panel discussion on the future of archaeology was organised on December 13th. For this discussion an international panel of scholars was invited to give their perspective and enter into conversation with our Faculty…
-
Scientific breakthrough: evidence that Neanderthals hunted giant elephants
Neanderthals were able to outwit straight-tusked elephants, the largest land mammals of the past few million years. Leiden professor Wil Roebroeks has published an article about this together with his German colleague Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser in the Science Advances journal.
-
Why we need to look underwater to understand our past
Traces of the past remain hidden in rivers, lakes and seas. In his inaugural lecture Martijn Manders will explain why underwater archaeology is important to understanding our history.