996 search results for “mediterranean archaeology” in the Public website
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NWO Free Competition Grant for Al-Jallad and Akkermans
Dr. Ahmad Al-Jallad and Prof.dr. Peter Akkermans have been awarded with the NWO Free Competition Grant for their research project 'Landscapes of Survival: Pastoralist Societies, Rock Art and Literacy in Jordan's Black Desert, c. 1000 BC to 500 AD'. Together, they study settlements, burials and inscr…
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Maiden voyage of prehistoric dug out canoe replica
After 30 days of work, the experimental reconstruction of the iron age canoe of Vlaardingen Vergulde Hand is finished! Its maiden voyage will take place on Friday the 16th of February when it will be paddled for the first time by schoolchildren from Vlaardingen.
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Conflict between Turkey and Greece about territorial waters
Thanks to modern technology, it is now possible to extract more gas and oil in the eastern part of the Mediterranean than in the past. As a result, a conflict has once again erupted between Turkey and Greece, in which Turkey is making claim to part of the Mediterranean Sea around Cyprus.
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Grant Byvanckfonds for Dennis Braekmans
Dennis Braekmans receives funding from the Byvanckfonds for the research
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How a very international archaeologist was born
From mandrill teeth to the microstructure of bones: archaeology alumna Simone Lemmers (31) is determined to reveal the past by studying old remains. Her curiosity has led to a very international career, also in the UK, where she witnessed the Brexit referendum.
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Preserving Syrian excavation data: ‘the documentation here in Leiden is the only thing that’s left’
The Faculty of Archaeology used to be involved in several excavations in Syria, before the outbreak of civil war made travel to the region impossible. One of these excavations is the one of tell Hammam al-Turkman, which started in 1981. Student Ruben Hartman, together with archaeologist Dr Diederik…
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New method of determining geographic origin of humans
Leiden researchers have developed a new method of determining the geographic origin of humans. Archaeologist Jason Laffoon and his team used the technique to discover where precolonial pioneers in the Caribbean region came from.
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Research by Leiden archaeologists in The Jordan Times
Recent fieldwork at the vast desert region in north-eastern Jordan has revealed an immensely rich heritage of an area that is difficult to access and archaeologically less known. Professor Peter Akkermans was interviewed about his groundbreaking research in this area, known as the Black Desert.
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Widespread cultural diffusion of knowledge started 400,000 years ago
Different groups of hominins probably learned from one another much earlier than was previously thought, and that knowledge was also distributed much further. A study by archaeologists at Leiden University on the use of fire shows that 400,000 years ago knowledge and skills must already have been exchanged…
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Global Fishing in the North Atlantic: Archaeological research on Basque fisheries in Canada and Ireland
Conference
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Changes that threaten heritage
The oil pipeline in Dakota, the widening of the motorway near Stonehenge, the construction of dams in Turkey and Iraq: newspapers and social media are full of alarming articles about threats to heritage as a result of large-scale construction work. Heritage experts at Leiden University have developed…
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Maarten Jansen compares ancient Mexican writing systems as Distinguished Emeritus Professor in Bonn
Maarten Jansen, professor emeritus at the Faculty of Archaeology, was appointed as Distinguished Emeritus Professor for two years at the University of Bonn. In this position, Jansen, a world-renowned specialist on ancient Mexican pictorial manuscripts, will further expand upon the long-standing collaboration…
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What is there to do at Leiden University in 2023? Six events to look forward to
From sponsored runs to festivals and from open days to concerts: Leiden University hosts lots of events each year. We are highlighting six of them for 2023.
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Les Cottés excavations reveals how Neandertals and Homo sapiens adapted to a changing climate 40,000 years ago
The transition from Middle to Upper Paleolithic is a major biological and cultural threshold in the construction of our common humanity. Technological and behavioral changes happened simultaneously to a major climatic cooling, forcing human populations to develop new strategies for the exploitation…
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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…
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Researcher develops Google for archaeologists
An incredible quantity of archaeological reports are stored in digital archives. If you want to search for information in them, you have to do this manually. And that is a real chore. Archaeologist Alex Brandsen has now used deep learning, a form of artificial intelligence, to develop a search engine…
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Former research assistant Hannah Plug appointed at Liverpool University
Until September 2016, Hannah Plug was Research Assistant for the Consolidating Empire Research Project under the direction of Dr. Bleda Düring. Now, she has just begun her new appointment at Liverpool University, UK. Here she tells all about it.
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Alex Geurds receives NWO Vici grant for investigating human-environmental engagement across Central America & Colombia
During pre-Columbian times, the Central American isthmus was marked by dynamic exchange and human mobility. Despite this, indigenous communities were archaeologically stable between AD 300 and the 16th-century Spanish colonisation, contrasting with the cycles of florescence and decline of neighbouring…
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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…
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Replica of unique prehistoric sword unveiled in Oss
The Faculty of Archaeology has a long research tradition in the municipality of Oss. Since 1974, researchers and students have been carrying out archaeological research here. In Januari 2019, an enormous replica of one of the top local finds was unveiled standing in the middle of a roundabout.
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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…
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Four Rubicon grants for Leiden researchers
Four young Leiden researchers have been awarded a Rubicon grant to conduct research abroad. They will be working in Germany, the UK and the US studying such topics as the origin of galaxies and risk behaviour in young people.
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A digital eye for archaeologists
Wouter Verschoof-van der Vaart is refining an artificial intelligence system that can detect and classify archaeological objects on digital images. Such a system is desperately needed because human archaeologists around the world are being flooded with data.
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They came, they saw, they left: on the first humans in the Low Countries
Over hundreds of thousands of years, our region witnessed the comings and goings of various types of hominin. This depended on the temperature as ice ages alternated with warmer periods. In ‘De eerste mensen in de Lage Landen’ (‘The First Humans in the Low Countries’) Leiden archaeologists Yannick Raczynski-Henk…
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Decentring the Archaeology of West Asia – Reconsidering Early Trade Networks and Social Complexities
Inaugural lecture
- The F-word: feminist archaeologies for the twenty-first century
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EAMENA (Endangered Archaeology of the Middle East and North Africa): One database to rule them all?
Lecture
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Maikel Kuijpers
Faculteit Archeologie
m.h.g.kuijpers@arch.leidenuniv.nl | +31 71 527 2386
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Karsten Wentink
Faculteit Archeologie
k.wentink.2@arch.leidenuniv.nl | +31 71 527 2727
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Aris Politopoulos lectures like an Assyrian king: ‘Video lectures need to be ten times more engaging’
There are some lecturers who are better equipped to provide remote education than others. And then there is Aris Politopoulos, who already owned professional streaming gear long before he could apply this in his education. Now he lectures on ancient Assyria while sitting in an Assyrian palace, moving…
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New research indicates Hunter-Gatherer impact on prehistoric European landscapes
The starting point of human-induced landscape changes has been under permanent debate. It is widely accepted that the emergence of agriculture strongly increased human impact on their environments. However, foragers can and do actively transform land cover and ecosystems. Ethnographic observations,…
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Leiden archaeologists identify skull of sabre-toothed cat
Leiden archaeologists have identified a number of bone fragments that were excavated in Germany two years ago. The fragments are from a sabre-toothed cat and appear to be parts of the skull of a prehistoric feline that is over 300,000 years old.
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Archaeologist Ady Roxburgh receives two-year research grant from the Estonian Research Council
Ady Roxburgh has been awarded a two-year grant to continue his research into the choices behind the composition of Roman, copper-alloy artefacts. The Estonian Research Council has awarded him a fully funded Mobilitas Pluss postdoctoral grant. The Evaluation Committee decided to fund the first 5 applications…
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Impressions from the Nexus 1492 fieldwork in the Dominican Republic
The summer has flown by and the Nexus 1492 team in Valverde, Dominican Republic, has once again had an exciting and successful season!
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Vacancy for PhD at LUCAS/LUIH
Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society (LUCAS) and the Leiden University Institute for History (LUIH) are looking for a PhD in the History and Culture of Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity.
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Iron Age canoeing
In 2005 Leiden's municipal archaeologists excavated a 2,700-year-old canoe dug out from a tree trunk. Researchers from Material Culture Studies are now building a reproduction of this vessel using replicas of Iron Age tools. The researchers are hoping to gain a better understanding of the building p…
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How can you rescue clay tablets from the war in Syria?
On 7 June, the National Museum of Antiquities opened a mini exhibition 'Scanning for Syria'. The exhibition shows how Leiden archaeologists and Delft technical specialists make reconstructions of 3000-year-old Assyrian clay tablets. The originals, stored in museum depots in Raqqa (Syria), have been…
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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.…
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'Eastern Desert tombs reflect successful culture adapted to harsh environment’
The Jordan Times interviewed professor Peter Akkermans about this research on ancient tombs in Jordan's Eastern Desert. “The evidence of this flourishing culture can be seen, among other things, in the diverse and complex burial record which we are currently investigating.”
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Postdoc position (Mainz)
Within the Research Training Group “Byzantium and the Euro-Mediterranean Cultures of War. Exchange, Differentiation and Reception” at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz 1 postdoctoral position is to be filled by 1 April 2023, for a period of up to 4,5 years. Deadline: 5 January 2023.
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6 PhD positions Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz
The Research Training Group "Byzantium and the Euro-Mediterranean Cultures of War" is looking to appoint six PhD students. Candidates should apply before 15 November 2020.
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Our students in Alexandria
On the 11th of March, our students of Arabic/Islam and of Middle East studies traveled to Alexandria for their five-day trip to explore this fascinating Mediterranean city.
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Eugenio Cusumano on Euronews about EU's migration dilemma
A tv crew from Euronews came to Leiden to interview Eugenio Cusumano about his work on migrant rescue operations in the Mediterranean. Eugenio is an expert on international relations.
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Investigating obsidian sources in Honduras with a Corrie Bakels Grant
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…
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‘Heritage is never neutral. It is always interpreted’
As of 1 September 2019, Prof. Pieter ter Keurs will assume the position of Scientific Director at the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for Global Heritage and Development as well as that of Professor of Museums, Collections and Society at the Faculties of Humanities and Archaeology at Leiden University.…
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Traces of indigenous "Taíno" found in present-day Caribbean populations
A thousand-year-old tooth has provided genetic evidence that the so-called
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‘Heritage decisions limit our ability to imagine alternative forms of society’
It is difficult to imagine a society other than a hierarchical nation-state. This is in part because we neglect alternative forms from the past, argues archaeologist Lewis Borck in the Journal of Contemporary Archaeology.
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Leiden archaeologists contribute to unique Iron Age exhibition in Oss
Museum Jan Cunen in Oss presents the very first retrospective exhibition of the richest graves from the early Iron Age (800-500 BC), including the one of the iconic Lord of Oss. Leiden archaeologist Richard Jansen was guest curator and the exhibition tells the story of the funeral rituals of the local…
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Laura van Broekhoven: ‘For me, it’s about the stories and who’s telling them’
Laura van Broekhoven always knew she wanted to study archaeology, and that’s exactly what she did. Now this Leiden alumna is director of the Pitt Rivers Museum, one of the four museums of the University of Oxford.
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Citizen scientists discover more than 1,000 new burial mounds
Over the past few years, citizen scientists from the Heritage Quest project have scoured the entire Veluwe and Utrechtse Heuvelrug areas for unknown archaeological heritage. One of the results of this research is that the number of known burial mounds in this area has doubled.