Leiden archaeologists investigate how people in the past impacted their environment. Together with scientists, environmental scientists, and humanities experts, they use this information to draw conclusions about the present – and show what we can learn from it for the future.

The emergence of metalwork deposition during the Bronze Age in Northwest Europe, c. 2300-1500 BC

This is an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility project of the Faculty of Humanities with three partners in Uzbekistan.

Leiden University has been promoting studies on Latin America and the Caribbean for a long time.

The two-year programme is a challenging combination of general advanced courses, practical modules such as teaching assistance and conferences/workshops, a personal course profile, and research.

An Investigation into the role of copper-alloy craft production in the early medieval economy of northwest Europe.

This long term project in Jordan is at the basis of many specialists’ studies and has several off-shoot projects. The project, with its many approaches, is also a framework for much teaching in Levantine Archaeology at Leiden University, especially concerning fieldwork methods, artefact studies, research…

Neural networks have a wide range of applications. In Leiden, psychologists use them to build robot brains, whereas archaeologists use them to hunt for prehistoric graves.

The international bachelor's programme in Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology covers three years, allowing you to establish a firm foundation and specialise in topics that you find interesting.

The specialisations Art History and Museum Studies both engage in critical perspectives and in current practices and the development of a professional network. The specialisation Art History puts emphasis on the analysis of art works within a museal and curatorial context. Our courses, taught by art…

The specialisation Museum Studies focuses on the art museum and places it in an artistic, cultural, social and political context. Our courses, taught by art historians and museum experts, reflect on the latest academic debates and the latest insights from the working field.

Lecture, CHiLL series

Since January 2026, Alex Geurds has been the new Dean of the Faculty of Archaeology. His start was calmer than many expected, but behind that calm lies a period of exploration, listening, and strategic forward thinking.

On February 18th Dr Gerrit Dusseldorp gave a talk about the Umhlatuzana Rock shelter in Kloof (South Africa). This site has preserved some of the earliest traces of Modern Humans and helps us understand how people in deep prehistory lived, survived and adapted. The talk was streamed by Arise creative…

Cosmopolis seeks to explore the transnational and cultural dimensions of intra-Eurasian encounters through Dutch sources.

Two courses on Central Asia will be offered within the Leiden Central Asia Initiative, funded by the research profile area Asian Modernities and Traditions. 'History of Central Asia & Afghanistan' will be open to BA students of Middle Eastern Studies and 'Material Culture, Memory and Commemoration along…

What happens to the different waste streams?

Catia Antunes is one of the main partners in the ‘ForSeaDiscovery – Forest Resources for Iberian Empires: Ecology and Globalization in the Age of Discovery’ project that has been awarded the prestigious Marie Curie – ITN grant for Academic/Civil Society training, cooperation and outreach.

The Hortus Botanicus is celebrating its 425-year anniversary this year. It’s the oldest botanical garden in the Netherlands, but how did it come into existence and what kind of research takes place there?

The origins of Surinamese rice, a digital twin of the Earth and a large big-data project in the Chilean sky: three Leiden scientists receive an ENW-KLEIN grant for innovative, fundamental research.

The proposed investigation focuses on the Pre-Hispanic archaeological site Aguas Buenas recently documented by Dr. Alexander Geurds

This project incorporates spatiality into the discussion of medieval demography, allowing for a more nuanced view on medieval town populations. It establishes a maximum population count for towns for periods prior to 1400 and provides a means to compare the ranking of towns using size and density instead…

Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society (LUCAS) is dedicated to ground-breaking and interdisciplinary research dealing with the relations between culture and society.

Thursday 21 November 2024

This interdisciplinary project applies data science techniques to qualitatively and quantitatively visualize the interaction between the University and the city of Leiden (Town&Gown) from 1575 onwards. One of the possible angles for follow-up research is diversity, especially from the international…

The pre-master's is a bridging programme for students who have applied for the MA Arts and Culture, but who, according to the Board of Admissions, still have deficiencies in their educational background. Once you have completed the pre-master’s programme, you will be admitted to the relevant specialization…

The APL (Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia) is published once a year and showcases the increasingly diversity of research conducted at the Faculty of Archaeology. The APL currently forms a showcase for the faculty as a whole in which all employees can publish their research. By alternatingly publishing…

Silk Road Virtual Museum - A virtual museum of the art and culture of the regions that lay on the trade routes between Europe and Asia, popularly known as the ‘Silk Road’.

Water, Urbanism, and Sustainability in Roman Ostia

The Faculty of Archaeology

How does global change across time and space lead to convergence and loss of variation or increasing diversity and conflict?

Read on these pages all about the history of Leiden University, the oldest university in the Netherlands. The Academia Lugduna Batava was founded in 1575 and its motto is: Libertatis Praesidium ('Bastion of Freedom').

Our East Asia experts work across various disciplines on global issues such as migration, heritage, and colonialism.

Get the most out of your studies at Leiden University by taking part in our extracurricular activities.

The pre-master's is a bridging programme for students who have applied for the MA Arts and Culture, but who, according to the Board of Admissions, still have deficiencies in their educational background. Once you have completed the pre-master’s programme, you will be admitted to the relevant specialization…

In the BA African Studies you will gain in-depth knowledge of Africa and the specific theme of your choice. At the same time, you will develop valuable academic and digital competences, as well as personal skills.

This project investigates how sign languages change and spread over time, and how this is influenced by their transmission history.

Book by Dr. Mariana Françozo resulting from her research into the collection of count Johan Maurits of Nassau-Siegen, governor of the Dutch colony in Northeastern Brazil between 1637 and 1644.

In developing cooperation with Indonesia, Leiden University focuses on projects that benefit culture, nature, society and economy, in Indonesia as well as in the Netherlands.

The Faculty of Archaeology at Leiden is the leading academic institute for Archaeology in the Netherlands, and one of the largest in the world. The Faculty is an international front-runner, in the top ten of the QS World University Ranking, at subject level.