Vacaturenr.
15818
Functie-categorie
PhD-posities
Omvang (fte)
1,0
Extern/intern
Extern
Locatie
Leiden
Geplaatst op
1 juli 2025
Sluitingsdatum
1 augustus 2025

VACANCY NUMBER

15818
The Department of world Archaeology, Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, is looking for a PhD candidate in the field of Archaeology to join the Inequal Cyprus project funded by the European Research Council (ERC) and carried out at the Faculty of Archaeology of Leiden University.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, seeks to appoint a full-time PhD candidate to investigate late prehistoric migrations in Cyprus, between ca 4000 – 1700 BCE, using the technique of isotope research, in particular Strontium and Oxygen isotopes, to reconstruct mobility within and without Cyprus during the Chalcolithic, Early Bronze Age and Middle Bronze Age.
The successful candidate will work closely with colleagues in the bio-archaeology group at the Faculty of Archaeology, and with staff at a yet to be determined isotope laboratory. The research should lead you to obtain a PhD within a four-year timeframe (1.0 FTE). Candidates with a good knowledge of Cypriot prehistory and bio-archaeology are especially encouraged to apply. Candidates will be expected to master isotope protocols during the PhD research.
The PhD candidate will be supervised by Professor Bleda Düring (the project leader) and Dr. Jason Laffoon, who is a leading specialist in the field of isotope studies in archaeology.
The ERC AdG project Inequal Cyprus projects investigates the consolidation of social inequalities – a so far poorly understood development of crucial importance in the rise of complex societies in West Asia. Recent archaeological research into social inequalities has either used quantitative methods, such as the GINI measure, to demonstrate the emergence of inequalities, or questioned the existence of inequalities in early complex societies, for example in work of Graeber and Wengrow, leaving the complex question of how social inequalities were first consolidated unresolved.
To move this topic forward we need a mixed methods approach that combines quantitative and qualitative analysis, to reconstruct the significance and durability of social inequalities in prehistoric societies. In this project, the focus is on late prehistoric Cyprus (4000-1700 BCE). Decades of research have produced rich datasets from settlements and cemeteries, that suggest clear transformations in the articulation of social inequalities. In the Chalcolithic (4000-2500 BCE) we have evidence for short-lived social inequalities, especially in house sizes. By contrast, in the Prehistoric Bronze Age (2500-1700 BCE), social inequalities appear more consolidated, for example in graves.
This project will investigate social inequalities in everyday life (houses, objects, mobility, and diet), and in performed settings (burials, feasts, and figurative objects), to reconstruct how social inequalities featured in these social arenas. The aim is to both quantify evidence for social inequalities, and study how inequalities were culturally negotiated. The results will shed light on how and why social inequalities were consolidated in late prehistoric societies in Cyprus and contribute to broader discussions on the emergence of social inequalities.
The candidate will work as part of a research team. The PI will focus on methodological challenges for reconstructing social inequalities in late prehistoric Cyprus. Two postdocs will investigate the articulation of exchange networks and how diet and feasting played a role in the reproduction of society in late prehistoric Cyprus. Four PhD candidates will investigate how migration, buildings, burial practices, and figurative objects were used to negotiate social inequalities.

• Conduct collaborative and novel research in the field of isotope bio-archaeology;
• Contribute to the overall aims of the Inequal Cyprus project;
• Participate in fieldwork related to the Inequal Cyprus project and have the willingness to act as an ambassador of the project;
• Conduct research activities, including sample collection, processing, and analyses with project partners in the Cyprus, the Netherlands, and a yet to be selected laboratory;
• Carry out isotope analyses of archaeological and ecological sample materials;
• Analyse and integrate various types of archaeological, bio-archaeological, isotopic, and spatial datasets;
• Publish and present the work in international peer-reviewed journals and to academic and professional audiences, both independently and with team members;
• Actively participate in discussions at the faculty, department, and research group level on research innovation;
• Follow PhD courses based on an individual training and supervision plan, including through the Graduate School;