Bones hold a wealth of information about a person’s life, revealing details about where they came from, how old they were when they died and what diseases they may have had. Scientists can use this data to piece together aspects of an individual's life, offering valuable insights that can help address…

CT scanning of skeletal remains can tell us about how strong or weak a persons bones were and we can relate that back to diet, activity, and reproductive factors.

Japanese animated films are often fantastic to watch. What's less known is that anime often has a political message. Mari Nakamura researched this phenomenon. PhD defence 14 March.

This project unites these two perspectives by taking a deep dive into the microstructure of historic Dutch bones. We will study human skeletal remains curated at the Faculty of Archaeology by micro-CT scanning them at LUMC facilities. With detailed micro-CT scans, we can examine bone quality in the…

Bones contain a wealth of information about a person's life. Leiden archaeologists glean information from skeletons about human development and find ways of combating diseases. Read more in the research dossier on 'The skeleton as source of information'.

Osteoarchaeology is a rich field for reconstructing past lives in that it can provide details on sex, age-at-death, stature, and pathology in conjunction with the cultural, social, and economic aspects of the person’s environment and burial conditions. While osteoarchaeological research is common in…

Day-to-day activities are important in the development of social identities, the establishment of social standing, and the communal understanding of societal rules. This perspective is broadly referred to as practice theory and relates to the power of an overarching social structure and the individual…

It may well be possible to remove nitrate from polluted groundwater and at the same time produce ammonia in a sustainable way, according to PhD candidate Phebe van Langevelde and Professor Marc Koper of the Leiden Institute of Chemistry in Joule on 26 January. Together with a German colleague, they…

This research project studies the distribution and impact of medieval malaria in the Netherlands.

Our recent excavations have focused on the more recent New Kingdom/Late Period (ca. 1500-332 BCE) material.

We asked a lot of everyone last year. The Personnel Monitor showed that the workload was high in 2022 and Covid took its toll. I therefore think everyone deserves some downtime. Time away from the daily grind.

Many people were using social media to follow last weekend’s march on Moscow by the Wagner mercenaries. And they weren’t the only ones: intelligence services were also watching with great interest. What kind of information do they obtain from social media and what are the advantages and disadvantage…

As part of the NEXUS1492 project, this project will use ancient DNA techniques to shed new light on the demographic and health history of the Caribbean and the impact of European colonization on indigenous communities in the region.

This thesis focuses on the study of transient and variable radio sources in the universe.

Even as a teenager Asa Splinter was determined to study Japanese in Leiden. A HAVO diploma and a change in legislation threatened to throw a spanner in the works, but Asa persevered. After ten years of studying, Asa obtained a master’s degree in Japanese and was nominated for the IHLIA thesis award…

This research investigates the impact of socioeconomic developments on the physical condition of medieval populations in Holland and Zeeland between AD 1000 and 1600 through the analysis of human skeletal remains from three archaeological sites.

The Faculty of Archaeology at Leiden University offers education in Human Osteoarchaeology. We offer a second-year Bachelor course in Human Osteoarchaeology and an extensive one-year track in the Master’s in Archaeological Science specialisation, resulting in a Master of Science degree after complet…

In this research project Rohana analyzes and reflects on taqsīm recordings by two leading figures of ‘ūd playing who were pillars of modern Arabic music, namely the Egyptians Muḥammad al-Qaṣabjī (1898-1964) and Riyāḍ al-Sunbāṭī (1906-1981).

Since August 2017, dr. Sarah Schrader is working at the Faculty of Archaeology in the department of Archaeological Sciences. Her expertise is human osteology with a specific focus on the bio-archaeological reconstruction of daily activities. Recently she took over the management of the Osteoarchaeology…

The dental remains of 25 enslaved Africans from the site of Newton's Plantation, on Barbados, were subjected to isotope analysis. Previous research had pointed out that the locally born individuals were subjected to high concentrations of lead poisoning. A new study, done by Dr Jason Laffoon among others…

A study into the impact of historical socioeconomic changes on the respiratory health of past Dutch populations (ca. 470-1850 CE)

The aim of the project is two-fold: first, to further scholarly understanding of the human dynamics that shaped the growth of Dorestad in a broader, international context; and second, to test the potential of multi-isotopic analyses on an early medieval Dutch assemblage.

Stakeholder engagement practices are on the rise in regulatory governance. This raises an important question regarding implications for regulatory legitimacy. Engagement mechanisms are not by default legitimizing: Even when initiated to tap into an array of ‘benevolent’ desiderata, unless carefully…

Dr. Barbara Veselka recently published an article on Vitamin D deficiency in 19th century skeletal remains in the International Journal of Paleopathology.

Bone remains that are thousands of years old are often too fragmented to be identified. PhD candidate Frido Welker is the first person to be able to distinguish human bones from one another on the basis of old proteins. PhD defence 18 May.

Leiden Archaeology students may write their master's theses on the recently acquired collection skeletons from the city of Arnhem. We interviewed osteoarchaeologist Dr Rachel Schats, who is very happy with the news:

Our MSc in Human Osteology student Judyta Olszewski, together with Raven Todd Da Silva, made the first of a series of videos on the study of human bones. The videos were created for the website Dig it with Raven, Raven's video blog aiming to make learning about Archaeology, Art Conservation, and History…

The CNaVT exam is the official, international exam of Dutch as a Foreign Language for all who learn Dutch all over the world. The Catholic University of Leuven organizes the exam. The Dutch Language Union has commissioned this collaboration.

The aim of this project is to gain a better understanding of daily life, diet, mobility and health in late medieval Zeeland, as well as to test the potential of multi-isotopic analyses on a Dutch assemblage.

In this research project Nizar Rohana analyzes and reflects on taqsīm recordings by two leading figures of ‘ūd playing who were pillars of modern Arabic music, namely the Egyptians Muḥammad al-Qaṣabjī (1898-1964) and Riyāḍ al-Sunbāṭī (1906-1981).

Research by bioarchaeologists from Leiden and Canada has shown that 19th-century Dutch farmers regularly had bone defects. These may have been caused by wearing clogs. Publication in the International Journal of Paleopathology.

Rachel Schats has been a familiar face at the Faculty of Archaeology since she started her bachelor’s in Archaeology in 2005. Now she is an assistant professor, working on her Veni project on malaria in the Middle Ages. ‘I have included in this project so many skeletal collections that no one has ever…

Dr Sarah Schrader, an expert in the study of human remains, received a VIDI grant for a research project on health and inequality. In present day people with a high socio-economic status encounter fewer health risks than those in lower socio-economic strati. ‘Now we will look at this process in the…

Studying the impact of urbanisation on the respiratory health of past Dutch populations (1200-1850 CE).

The Southwestern part of Finland isn’t exactly known as a great place for archeologists to go and find anything than the sturdiest of remains. The conditions in this part of Finland make artifacts crumble quickly over time. Therefore, two archeologists decided to look in an unexpected place: between…

PhD candidate Maia Casna was a guest on the new episode of the Wetenschappelijke Wezens podcast. In it, Maia discusses her research on urbanisation and respiratory diseases while uncovering the intricacies of studying the human past and bones.

On March 21 2018, a study was published in Nature, co-authored by Professor M. Soressi from the Faculty of Archaeology of Leiden University, announcing the sequencing of five new Neandertals, raising the number of high-coverage sequenced Neandertals from two to seven. A tooth lost by a Neandertal woman…

On 8 March, International Women’s Day, equal opportunities for women worldwide, empowerment, and gender equality take centre stage. For years, the role of women in the past has been nearly invisible. Four archaeologists reflect on this inequality of focus, from hunter-gatherers in the palaeolithic to…

Obsidian, a volcanic glass-like material, is often used for making tools by Mesoamerican societies. In Honduras, certain obsidian artefacts do not yet have a known provenance. PhD candidate Marie Kolbenstetter and Assistant Professor Dennis Braekmans were awarded a Corrie Bakels Grant to explore thus…

PhD-student Maia has received multiple awards regarding her research on the impact of tobacco on the respiratory health of past Dutch populations.

The Laboratory for Archaeozoological Studies underwent a big reorganization and received a great donation from the Institute of Biology this summer. Laura Llorente Rodriguez explains the impact of this donation and reorganisation in this interview.

In the summer of 2011, from June 14th until August 5th, the Laboratory for Human Osteoarchaeology conducted an excavation on the former cemetery of Middenbeemster in cooperation with archaeological company Hollandia. The cemetery, which is located next to the church of Middenbeemster can be dated between…