Archaeology (Research): Town and Country in the Mediterranean Region and the Near East

Town and Country is directed by Professor P. Akkermans. The programme entails the close cooperation between staff members in the Classical-Mediterranean Archaeology department and the Near Eastern Archaeology department.

Specialist courses include topics on both city life and rural settlement in the Mediterranean region and the Near East through the ages. When studying art or material culture, there is an emphasis on issues such as cultural identity, ethnicity and power relations. Aspects of environmental archaeology are regularly featured, as well as the social and economic foundations of society in the past in the many and highly diverse regions under consideration.

The courses directly relate to current staff and PhD research projects, and are based upon fieldwork and related studies in many parts of the Mediterranean region and the Near East. The cutting-edge research programmes range from the investigation of ancient settlement systems to imperial developments and the role of material culture in antiquity.

You are encouraged to spend part of your programme at other institutions or on field projects run by teams outside Leiden, to enrich your experience of different research cultures, but the Classical-Mediterranean and Near Eastern group also offers opportunities to become involved with Leiden field and museum projects which include several regional survey and excavation programmes and training schools abroad.

Track leader:
Prof. dr. P.M.M.G. (Peter) Akkermans