Three alumni of our Master’s degree programme in Ancient History talk to us about how they found a job after graduation during the coronavirus pandemic. During the interview, Gabriël hung a huge board covered in post-it reminders behind his laptop, Molly was glad that the members of the selection committee…

It is the eighth year in a row that the Faculty of Archaeology is placed in the top ten of archaeological institutes worldwide. The QS World University Rankings by Subject looks at criteria like academic reputation and citation ratios.

ICT, Security

When is the last time you made a fire? Not light a candle with a match, but an actual fire from scratch. Thousands of years ago, humans already made fire. Archaeologist Andrew Sorensen (Leiden University) explains when and how they did this.

Organisation

In the past months there have been some changes in the Faculty's Support Teams. We have listed the changes below for your convenience.

Jasper Kanbier is our new ICT & Education Coordinator. Aged 44, he is living with his wife and 2 daughters in Leiden. 'I have been working at Leiden University since 2007. First year as an ICT helpdesk, then as a system administrator and workplace support. Now I will be working for three days as…

In 2011, Dr. Amanda Henry published her findings from dental plaque picked from the teeth of Neanderthals who were buried in Iran and Belgium between 46,000 and 40,000 years ago. Plant microfossils trapped and preserved in the hardened plaque showed that they were cooking and eating starchy foods including…

When and how commenced the use of fire by early humans? Armed with stones, peat moss, and fungi, archaeologist Andy Sorensen tries to answer that question. In the February edition of the Dutch language version of National Geographic Magazine his research features in the section The Discovery.

Another year's end draws near. And what a year it has been! On December 12th staff and students of the Faculty of Archaeology came together to celebrate and reminisce. Professor Joanita Vroom got us in a festive mood by telling tales of Byzantine banquets, while a chef served historical dishes to sa…

The Faculty Council of Archaeology only has one staff member at the moment. Two seats are vacant. This is why we are holding irregular elections for staff members. These will be held from the 22-26th of august. The polling will be open from 7.00 hours on Monday to 16.00 hours on Friday. Cast your…

Organisation

Research

University Lecturer Bert van Den Berg shares about the recent research by The Greek Philosophical Schools project in Italy. The research sheds new light on the life and death of Plato.

For the following years, Dr Aitor Burguet-Coca will be a returning face at the Faculty of Archaeology. He will join Dr Amanda Henry’s team with his expertise on prehistoric fire use and the methodologies that studying ancient hearths requires.

Organisation

Starting February 1, the Faculty of Archaeology's HR department can be reached via this new e-mail address: HR@Arch.leidenuniv.nl. Administrative and basic HR queries may be directed at the PSSC, while complex questions may be sent to the Faculty's HR department. Please see the overview below…

You may already have seen him in the corridors. Starting last week, Jan Pronk has been meeting his new colleagues in the Van Steenis building. Until March 22nd Jan Pronk will be introduced to the Faculty by departing Executive Director Niels Laurens. Read more about Jan Pronk.

Meet the team of specialists at ECOLe, here to support your education.

In 2018 the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) was launched in the UK. The aim of this programme was to help laboratories work more sustainably and efficiently. The initiative got a Dutch spin-off in 2021. Since then, a couple of the laboratories at the Leiden Faculty of Science have…

Organisation

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…

In July 2022 our alumnus Samatar Botan received the news that he had received the NWO Mosaic 2.0 grant. This grant enables him to start a PhD research at our Faculty on the ancient Aksumite Empire, a topic that is close to his heart. We speak with him about his ambitions and drive. ‘I want to know more…

You are busy enough teaching. What you need is quick informative help without too much hassle. The Teacher Support Desk Archaeology will be your single portal for both technical and didactical questions, aiming to improve education quality by simple support, saving you time. Tanja de Bie (CFI) and Eva…

Education, Research

With Bleda Düring’s term completed, the roles within the Faculty Board are being shuffled. Now that Dean Jan Kolen also operates as Coordinator for the research programme Artificial Intelligence, two board members have been contracted to fulfil the portfolios in Education and Research. Dr Alex Geurds…

Human resources

Facility

Human resources

Banquets for the rich, porridge for the poor and a standard diet of bread, olive oil and wine. Just a few assumptions about the Roman diet.

The use of fire can tell us a lot about human evolution. Archaeologist Femke Reidsma has developed a more accurate technique to identify how our ancestors used fire. Existing archaeological studies will need to be revised. Reidsma’s study was published in Nature Scientific Reports on 2 November.

A New industry in an Ancient Land (NIAL) considers the vocabularies of tourism to think about the ways in which Palestine was both produced and consumed by both Arabs, Jews and Europeans. Archaeology, archaeologists and photography are central: they informed the tourism industry through the production…

Fake news a new phenomenon? Not according to Rens Tacoma and Indira Huliselan. In an NWO project, the associate professor and PhD student will delve into the twisting, scheming and tampering with facts that went on thousands of years ago.

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…

In 2019, Federico Cappadona was one of the first students to enroll in the new master’s specialisation Applied Archaeology. He recently graduated and he is happy to share his experience.

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…

Britain's biggest archaeology magazine has announced the nominees Book of the Year award and this time one of our own has been nominated!

Education