Amarasinghe, Kalaycı, and van Aerde study the Silk Road network as an object of political infrastructure. Their aim is to shed light on the modern “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) project led by... Show moreAmarasinghe, Kalaycı, and van Aerde study the Silk Road network as an object of political infrastructure. Their aim is to shed light on the modern “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) project led by China. The authors begin their investigation by highlighting the Silk Road’s intricate history, composed of multiple agents ranging from individuals to empires. They scrutinize the normative historiography of the Silk Road and pinpoint the problematic areas in the narrative. Their focus is mainly to identify the Chinese contributions to this Eurasian project, as well as how the current narrative is selectively exploited by the BRI project as a proxy for China’s ambition to achieve global governance. Show less
This book is the first comprehensive monographic treatment of the New Kingdom (1539–1078 BCE) necropolis at Saqqara, the burial ground of the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis, and addresses... Show moreThis book is the first comprehensive monographic treatment of the New Kingdom (1539–1078 BCE) necropolis at Saqqara, the burial ground of the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis, and addresses questions fundamental to understanding the site’s development through time. For example, why were certain areas of the necropolis selected for burial in certain time periods; what were the tombs’ spatial relations to contemporaneous and older monuments; and what effect did earlier structures have on the positioning of tombs and structuring of the necropolis in later times? This study adopts landscape biography as a conceptual tool to study the long-time interaction between people and landscapes. Show less
From an Ancient Egyptian plague to the Black Death and Spanish flu, epidemics have often spurred societal transformations. Understanding why can help us create a better world after covid-19
More and more, people do not experience the past through books, museums, or even television, but through video games. This chapter discusses how these popular entertainment products provide playful... Show moreMore and more, people do not experience the past through books, museums, or even television, but through video games. This chapter discusses how these popular entertainment products provide playful and fun experiences of the past. Show less
Recent archaeological research at Palpa, in the northern Nasca region, has shed new light on the origin, development and meaning of the famed Nasca geoglyphs in the desert on the south coast of Peru.
An introductory paper on new research into cultural interactions between the ancient East and West as evident from the archaeology of the Gandhara region, with focus on Buddhist material culture... Show moreAn introductory paper on new research into cultural interactions between the ancient East and West as evident from the archaeology of the Gandhara region, with focus on Buddhist material culture and its development and spread. Part of a (popular-academic) booklet published for Leiden University's "Dies Natalis" on aspects of globalisation, including (ancient) migrations, linguistic and ethnic diversity, the spread of faiths, and trade routes. With contributions by various Leiden-based academics on new research projects and results. Show less
Leiden. Op een veld in Texas worden elke dag honderd lijken bestudeerd voor politieonderzoek en de wetenschap. Het klinkt als een macabere werkplek, maar de Leidse archeologe Hayley Mickleburgh ... Show moreLeiden. Op een veld in Texas worden elke dag honderd lijken bestudeerd voor politieonderzoek en de wetenschap. Het klinkt als een macabere werkplek, maar de Leidse archeologe Hayley Mickleburgh (31) mikt op een beurs om hier nog jaren onderzoek te verrichten. ‘Er is niks griezeligs aan.’ Show less
The existence of communities and peoples develops over time, in a diachronic line of heritage and cultural memory as well as in a synchronous coexistence with the cosmos, marked by a cyclically... Show moreThe existence of communities and peoples develops over time, in a diachronic line of heritage and cultural memory as well as in a synchronous coexistence with the cosmos, marked by a cyclically returning rituals. Under the pressure of “clock time” (“time is money”) these organic “other times” of identity are eroding rapidly. In these respects, modernity has come to be characterised by a deep, dramatic and often violent conflict between traditional values of societies that have their own cultures and the processes of colonisation, urbanisation and and industrialisation, which usually presented as “progress”. This volume brings together complementary reflections of archaeologists, historians, anthropologists, sociologists and social activists on this issue. Central to their work is the perception and representation of time, its different symbolic aspects and its social impact. Espousing a comparatist methodology, the case studies focus on Mexico and Guatemala and on southern Italy. Show less
This study is presented in the form of a ‘thesis by publication’ comprising published journal articles and conference proceedings. The articles are thematically linked to the New Kingdom necropolis... Show moreThis study is presented in the form of a ‘thesis by publication’ comprising published journal articles and conference proceedings. The articles are thematically linked to the New Kingdom necropolis at Saqqara and grouped in three interrelated sections. This thesis sets as its main aim the study of the tombs, tomb owners and the use of sacred space in the New Kingdom necropolis at Saqqara by examining, as a point of departure, the sources pertaining to the early exploration of the necropolis. In the first section, unpublished archival material pertaining to the early, mid-Nineteenth Century exploration of the necropolis is studied. This includes the photographs taken by Théodule Devéria at Saqqara in 1859 capturing monuments that are today “lost”. Investigations into the collection histories of the individual objects enable a reconstruction of the history of dismantling the tombs. The second section examines the inscriptional sources that offer biographical information about the early Nineteenth Dynasty tomb owners. The officials’ titles constitute the main data of research in this section. The rationale of the tombs’ spatial distribution is analysed by combining information pertaining to groups of officials covering a longer period of time and extending over the whole necropolis. The titles are also used to study aspects of the administration of the city, Memphis, and its temples. The final section examines the actual use of the necropolis and the tombs therein. Due to the activities of the early explorers, few archaeological traces pertaining to past activities have remained for us to study in situ. The figural and textual graffiti that were left on the tombs’ stone elements offer the main data for research. Show less
