Promotores: Prof.dr. J. Zaanen & Prof.dr. K.E. Schalm

Beads are among the oldest types of human artistic expression. Even so, the small ornaments have a bad status record regarding archaeological investigation. PhD candidate Mette Langbroek, usually at home studying early medieval beads, had the opportunity to work on a publication and exhibition on 5000…

Kralen spreken tot de verbeelding. Ze zijn aantrekkelijk en persoonlijk vanwege hun kleuren, materialen, patronen en associaties. Je draagt ze op je lichaam, waar je ze voelt en anderen ze zien. Kralen zijn waardevol en verplaatsbaar, tegelijkertijd reizigers en souvenirs.

Numerous beads and pendants of amber, jet and bone have been found in Dutch Neolithic and Bronze Age context, both in settlements and in graves. Because ornaments are personal items, they are closely linked with people’s identity.

the production, use and exchange of bodily accoutrements through the lenses of the microscope

SMR can be used to measure the mass of adsorbed protein to nanoparticles with a high precision in the presence of free protein.

What are the capabilities or limitations of traveling between islands and how does this reflect seasonal variation? Is it possible to show higher levels of connectivity between islands based on generated pathways between several sites on two separate islands?

Lysosomal acid glucosylceramidase (GBA1) is a lysosomal enzyme that degrades glucolipids with its main substrate being glucosylceramide (GlcCer). Defects in the GBA1 gene lead to glycosphingolipidosis Gaucher disease (GD), in which the hydrolysis of GlcCer is impaired and therefore, it accumulates in…

The genetic information of all living organisms is contained in their DNA. Cells modify the degree of DNA compaction by epigenetics, which largely determines what genes are read out and which genes are transcriptionally silent.

The role of material culture in early colonial encounters in the Caribbean

Brownian motion is the random motion of (colloidal) particles due to collisions with the atoms and molecules of the solvents, which are moving due to temperature.

Within the MAC our Enabling Analytical Technology team is working to innovate all steps of analytical workflows. This includes developing novel sample preparation modules, creative sample handling methods, automated workflows, and more. Several projects implement the microfluidic principle of segmented…

In this thesis, bioorthogonal chemistry is combined with correlative light-electron microscopy to selectively label and study pathogenic intracellular bacteria within the host immune cell.

On the 23rd of June Arianna Sacco successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

A neolithic settlement on the Dutch North Sea coast c. 3500 CAL BC.

Long-distance Trade in Early Medieval Landscapes (ca. 6th-12th centuries)

Subproject of

Two researchers from the Faculty of Archaeology have received a grant from the Museums, Collections and Society (MSC) interdisciplinary programme. This grant is for collection-based research. Jason Laffoon is using his grant for research into the origins of Central American turquoise, while Dr Marike…

The artefacts that still remain from the traditional culture of the indigenous Yukon, Canada, are spread over dozens of museums throughout the world. Yukon Indian Ukjese van Kampen carried out research to bring this culture to light. This is the subject of his dissertation entitled ‘The history of Yukon…

Browse the latest articles and issues of Inter-Section.

La Grande Roche is one of the rare archaeological sites that preserved a long sequence of deposits formed at the time of contact between late Neandertals and early Homo sapiens.

Update : August 2017 Dr Willem van Haarlem

The refurbished P.J. Veth Building - the first completed sub-project in the Humanities Campus project - was officially opened in the summer of 2017. The Faculty of Humanities moved in straight away. . The building was meticulously transformed into a modern teaching building with attractive areas for…

In the beginning of December 2016 PhD candidate Catarina Guzzo Falci was awarded a scholarship for a collections study by Musée du quai Branly. The Musée du quai Branly has implemented this scholarship programme to document its collections.

In an Advance Online Publication biophysicist John van Noort and others show using magnetic tweezers that DNA is folded in compliant helices of chromatin. This allows enzymes access to the DNA needed for gene expression. Van Noort's research group made the discovery in close partnership with researchers…

A group of single-celled organisms organises its DNA in a similar way to higher organisms such as plants, animals, and fungi. However, the way packaged DNA is read out differs between the two related groups, Bram Henneman discovered. PhD defence on 5 December.

The goal of the ANASTASIS project is the analysis and publication of early medieval (Merovingian) cemeteries in the Netherlands (c. 500 – 750 AD).

Dutch archaeologists are making three-dimensional virtual reconstructions of archaeological objects lost in the Syrian civil war.

On Friday 10 November 2017 the annual Janneke Fruin-Helb Scholarship was awarded to alumna Matilda Sebire. She graduated in the master's specialisation in Material Culture Studies.

Visual art played an important role in the development of cooperative human behaviour. This is the finding of Larissa Mendoza Straffon, a PhD candidate in archaeology, whose dissertation explores the biological and psychological foundations of visual art.

During the summer, staff of the Faculty of Archaeology travel to all parts of the world, initiating or joining fieldwork projects. Read some of their stories here!

To what extent is the image of the Taino settlements on Hispaniola representative for the whole island, or is it only related to a few large settlements of known caciques?

The way genes are folded determines their activity in our body. Leiden biophysicists are now the first to unravel this structure molecule-by-molecule. Publication on December 1st in Nature’s Scientific Reports.

The First Americans exhibition in the National Museum of Ethnology showcases the resilience and creativity of native Americans. Striking artworks, fashion and prints show that the past is never far away. Artist Jacob Meders was inspired by 16th-century prints from the Leiden University Library. The…

In the last weeks of May 2017 a team of students, PhD’s and postdocs of Leiden University led by prof. Frans Theuws excavated a small but exclusive cemetery from the late 7th and early 8th century in the town of Veldhoven in the southern Netherlands. Leiden University cooperated with the Town of Veldhoven,…

Leiden Physicists have found evidence for the Berry-force that could be used for driving tiny nanomotors, just like a river drives a water wheel. Nanomotors could be used for drug delivery in the human body. Publication in Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology.

Floris Keehnen has been awarded the Volkskrant thesis prize 2012 for his MA thesis entitled:

In January 2015, during an excavation ahead of a road-building project in the west of the Netherlands, archaeologists from the Faculty of Archaeology at Leiden, ARCHOL BV and ADC Archeoprojects recovered an extraordinary set of Bronze Age artefacts.

Our master’s alumna Marie Kolbenstetter was recently awarded a NWO subsidy for a PhD in the Humanities. With this funding she will be able to continue her master’s thesis research on the archaeology of Honduras at our Faculty. ‘I’m really happy to have my own project. This has been two years in the…

A Leiden Groningen student team has reached the European finals of the BISC-E competition. In this annual competition students have to come up with a sustainable solution to a major social problem. The team invented Suckerspheres: a natural alternative to the plastic microbeads that are still widely…

Christopher Berg Smiet, who defended his thesis at LION with Dirk Bouwmeester, won the Christiaan Huygens prize for his thesis '‘Knots in Plasma’. On 7 October, he received a certificate, a bronze statuette and ten thousand euros.

In 2010, the remnants of a 16th century indigenous village were discovered in St. Vincent, on the construction terrain of the new International Argyle Airport.

Two Vidi subsidies for Faculty of Archaeology.

Archaeologist Virginia García-Díaz made replicas of centuries-old tools to be able to study North Holland settlements from the corded-ware culture. PhD defence 23 February.

Alireza Mashaghi from the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR) will use state-of-the-art technology to investigate proteins that play a role in muscular dystrophy. His goal is to provide new insights for designing novel therapeutic strategies in the future. To accomplish this, Mashaghi receives…

Studying ancient materials and the way they were made can give us groundbreaking insights into the past. Not only that, the interplay between people and materials is highly relevant for society today, says Ann Brysbaert, Professor of Ancient Technologies, Crafts and Materials, at the Faculty of Archaeology.…