How to investigate an archaeological site that became inaccessible? When the Egyptian Western Desert was closed for security reasons in 2016 just before the start of the first archaeological excavation at Umm al-Dabadib, in the Kharga Oasis, this question became the starting point for an unexpected journey in search of an alternative methodology.

Our multidisciplinary team, including Egyptologists, archaeologists, architects, historians, engineers, mathematicians, IT experts, botanists and hy...

Ancient Egyptian animal mummies can be found in almost every Egyptological museum collection. These mummified bodies of animals—from cats and falcons to scarabs and fish—played a role in animal cults and religion, but could also represent a favourite pet or serve as food for the deceased. Especially in Graeco-Roman Egypt, large numbers of animal mummies were deposited as votive offerings related to animal cults, thus playing a significant role in local economies. Studying their remains he...

Dorestad was the largest town of the Low Countries in the Carolingian era. As an inland port on the edge of the Frankish Empire, it functioned as an international hub, connecting the North Sea World with the Continent and the Low Countries with Italy. In 2024, the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden hosted its quinquennial international congress based around Dorestad, located at present-day Wijk bij Duurstede. This fourth edition, ‘Dorestad and Everything After’, coincided with the l...

During a considerable part of prehistory stone tools were indispensable. Flint in particular had properties that made it very suitable for making razor-sharp implements and could often, but not always, be collected locally. Hunters, gatherers and fishers mostly used small tools but with the transition to an agricultural way of living this situation changed, as larger implements became necessary, to cut down trees and work wood for instance.

The raw material suitable for this was often not av...

This volume brings together a series of case studies on the social and economic interaction and organisation in the medieval and early modern European countryside. In particular, it focuses on rural and smaller trade and markets that have remained relatively underexposed so far. It provides comprehensive presentations of new research on rural socio-economic interactions and networks, and how these are integrated into regional, trans-regional and even global exchange systems. The volume is cha...

This volume brings together a series of case studies on the social and economic interaction and organisation in the medieval and early modern European countryside. In particular, it focuses on rural and smaller trade and markets that have remained relatively underexposed so far. It provides comprehensive presentations of new research on rural socio-economic interactions and networks, and how these are integrated into regional, trans-regional and even global exchange systems. The volume is cha...

This volume presents the proceedings of the HOMER 2021 international conference, held in September/October 2021 on the Island of Oléron, France. The conference focused on recent advances in coastal and island archaeology across a wide geographical area, covering the Atlantic north of the equator. From the 55 oral presentations and 24 posters, 49 papers emerged, contributed by scholars from seven countries.

The publication showcases the diversity of maritime archaeology, spanning fieldwork to...

One of the largest collections of Egyptian and Sudanese antiquities worldwide was accrued by the Egyptologist Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bissing (1873–1956). As a scholar, university professor, and politically engaged Prussian nobleman he was an important link in the international network of Egyptology and in the distribution of archaeological objects to museums. He was also active in other disciplines regarding the ancient world, such as Etruscology. Already during his life, the collec...

Deze bundel vormt de neerslag van de 12e Nederlandse metaaltijdendag, gehouden op 18 oktober 2024 in Leiden. Het congres werd dit jaar gecombineerd met een bezoek aan de zojuist geopende tentoonstelling ‘Bronstijd. Vuur van verandering’ in het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden. In de ochtend werden er lezingen gehouden rondom het thema ‘bronstijd’. In de middag was er een parallelle sessie en plenaire sessie waarin ruimte was voor een breed scala aan onderwerpen die de gehele periode van de me...

In the spring of 1497, the Hispaniolan cacica (chieftess) Anacaona presented Columbus’ brother, Adelantado (Governor) Bartolomé Colón, with a lavish assortment of Indigenous wealth, including both woven textiles and balls of spun cotton, “so large that a man could hardly lift them.”

These had been stored among the cacical reserves, held in readiness for distribution in ways deemed useful to the chiefs and their communities – from spun cotton for artisanal commissions, to finished ob...