On the 12th of November, Xander Vertegaal successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Xander on this achievement!

A study into the investment and impact of construction projects on Mycenaean communities in Late Bronze Age Greece

Leiden University archaeologists are reconstructing houses from the Stone Age, using only resources available during that period. This method offers surprising insights into the ingenuity of our distant ancestors, and challenges existing archaeological views.

This project investigates the causes of the major archaeological change in the period of 40.000-20.000 BC in South Africa.

Also including: Wateringen 4 & Acquiring a taste.

ASLU 13

For three millennia, carved sculptures were ubiquitous among ancient peoples in the Americas. Sculpted in stone, metal or wood, they developed into the well-known totem poles, colossal Olmec heads, royal Maya stelae and golden Inca statues.

Tom Breukel analysed some 250 stone axes from the Caribbean and reconstructed their biographies. This increases our knowledge of production and trade in the period around the arrival of Columbus. PhD defence on 18 April.

On April 22, Lasse van den Dikkenberg defended his dissertation: Living with Flint. For this, he examined flint finds from the Rhine-Meuse Delta. These finds belong to the Vlaardingen culture, which existed here from 3400-2500 BC. His research revealed that import played a larger role in the Neolithic…

The Sharia, the Islamic legal system, pays greater attention to ethics than may have been thought. This was clear at the annual conference of the Leiden University Centre for the Study of Islam and Society (LUCIS). Academics from throughout the world considered the question of how modern Islamic law…

LiTechAe: Percussive stone tools related to stone masonry techniques seen through experimentation and use-wear analysis.

Archaeologist Dr Gerrit Dusseldorp's research project was covered by a South African newspaper. Dusseldorp and his team investigate the evolution of human behaviour through artefacts dug up in South African caves.

A new memorial stone on the facade of a student house in the Hugo de Grootstraat is a reminder of the dozens of Indonesian students who studied in Leiden before and during the Second World War. Some of them were active in the Resistance, which cost a number of them their lives.

Director General of ESO, Tim de Zeeuw received President of the Republic of Chile, Michelle Bachelet Jeria for a ceremony marking the first stone of ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT).

Early cave paintings of hunting scenes may give the impression our Stone Age ancestors lived mainly on chunks of meat, but plants were just as key to their survival. Plants rich in starch helped early humans to thrive even at the height of the last Ice Age, Leiden archaeologist Amanda Henry tells Horizon…

The Mycenaean civilization of ancient Greek times offers enormous potential for useful information: from innovative construction methods to ways of handling crisis situations as a society. Archaeologist Ann Brysbaert and her team analyse Mycenaean construction processes in the ERC Consolidator project…

We are currently gathering information about how safe Leiden’s residents feel. To do this, we are using online surveys that give us an idea of perceptions of safety in Leiden.

The faculty has been investigating hundreds of ancient stone tombs in Jordan’s Black Desert.

We live in a data-drenched society awash with numbers. An inhabitant of the democratic polis of Athens (5th and 4th centuries B.C.E.) increasingly found himself surrounded by numerical data. This project aims to analyze the communicative functions and the political meaning(s) ascribed to these public…

Tracking early human behaviour through plant processing and -exploitation.

Leiden Law School has a strong tradition of research in the field of fact-finding and evidence in criminal cases.

Once you have decided on your field of research, you should start looking for a supervisor as early as possible.

Basketry, cordage and textiles made of plant fibers or bark are rarely preserved in the archaeological record. By means of experimental archaeology and microwear analysis, we obtain indirect evidence about this important craft.

Links to various Digital Humanities organizations and resources, mainly in English.

The project’s main aim was to build a reconstruction of a prehistoric house plan, without using any metal tools. How effective are tools made of stone, flint, bone, antler and wood? What are the constraints imposed by the various building materials? How much labour do we need and how much knowledge…

In the eighties the Umhlatuzana rock shelter in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, was excavated. Results from this excavation led to an understanding when the Later Stone Age started in this area. This archaeological period is often associated with the structural presence of modern human behavior. Now a…

Find out how and when to search for your own housing. Start early!

Tracing the residues of Neolithic activities through the study of stone artefacts

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.

Learn all about the writing systems used in the famous wall poems of the city of Leiden.

This procedure is relevant for contract and external PhD candidates only.

Making public space more sustainable is considered very important in this project. The Humanities Campus will become a pleasant place to spend time, with lots of greenery. Here, people can relax and find coolness on hot summer days.

Papers written on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Institute of Prehistory, Volume I.

This procedure is relevant for contract and external PhD candidates only.

Room 4.28 in the LMUY Building is a dedicated lecture room for the Media Technology MSc program. Finding it for the first time may be challenging. Below is a description of how to find it.

A Study of Middle Palaeolithic Riverside Settlements at Maastricht-Belvédère (The Netherlands).

Kim Stroet is examining how the interaction between teachers and pupils influences pupils’ motivation. ‘Children need to have the feeling that they are in control of their own learning process.’

The paleo diet: eating like people in the Stone Age did, because it is supposed to be healthier. But how accurate are the recipes in this diet?

An experimental approach to organic palaeolithic technology

Foundation for Industry (FIND) brings together 5 universities with 10 labs, 11 Dutch companies, ranging from start-ups to multinationals, and 2 knowledge institutes to pave the way for a new wave of AI-based automation that helps the Dutch industry strengthen and keep its international competitive advantage…

Of Sponge, Stone and the Intertwinement with the Here and Now. A Methodology of Artistic Research

Maikel Kuijpers was invited to join a session on material rights, resource use, and craftsmanship during the Carnegie Peacebuilding Conversations held in The Hague’s Peace Palace in September. Organised by Major Alliance the session brought together a diverse panel to discuss “The Universal Declaration…

Antibiotics are a class of medicine most people take for granted. But pathogenic bacteria are becoming more and more resistant to our antibiotics, and this poses a great challenge for future treatments. There is thus a great societal need to identify new molecules that can address new targets and be…