Curator Prehistory collections

Prof. dr. Luc Amkreutz
Phone number: +31 (0)71 5163 167
E-mail: send a message
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ORCID ID: 0000-0003-4664-5552

Study and career

Luc Amkreutz (Heerlen, 1978) studied Prehistory at Leiden University. He graduated in 2004 on a study about the earliest farmers in the Netherlands and was involved in several research projects at home and abroad. His PhD research (2013) concerned the neolithisation process in the Lower Rhine basin: Persistent Traditions. A long-term perspective on communities in the process of Neolithisation in the Lower Rhine Area (6000-2500 cal BC). In 2008 he succeeded Leo Verhart as Curator of the Prehistory Collection at the National Museum of Antiquities. Luc Amkreutz is intensively involved in diverse research into prehistory in Northwest Europe and its public communication. Together with a working group, he organises the annual Stone Age Day. As of April 1st 2022 Amkreutz on behalf of the National Museum of Antiquities has been appointed as professor of Public Archaeology (by special appointment) at the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University.

Research

Since his studies, Amkreutz has focused on the Stone Age and in particular the Mesolithic and Neolithic in the Netherlands and Northwest Europe. The research into the Linearbandkeramik Culture and the cultures after it, as well as the neolithisation process, form a common thread. The prehistoric archaeology of the North Sea, the lost Doggerland, also has his special interest. The connection between mankind and material culture and landscape and climate change is central to this. He is also interested in the history of prehistory and the Ancient Europe collection. Research often takes place in cooperation with Leiden University and other partners and includes material studies, fieldwork and public communication. Important focal points are citizen science, the optimization of cooperation with amateur archaeologists, the translation and valuation of scientific archaeological information and the role of archaeological heritage in society.

Ask me a question about

  • Prehistory of the Netherlands
  • Doggerland and the prehistoric archaeology of the North Sea
  • Stone and Bronze Age material culture
  • Theory and ethnography of prehistoric hunter-gatherer and farming societies
  • The valuation and role of archaeological heritage in society

Important research projects

  • Resurfacing Doggerland (2021-2025) NWO ‘Archeologie-Telt’. North Sea prehistoric archaeology research project
  • Elsloo-Koolweg reconsidered (2019-2020) RCE ‘pre-Malta’. Research project on the oldest burial field (Linearbandkeramik Culture) of the Netherlands
  • The Ommerschans hoard (2017-2023). Analysis and interpretation Ommerschans hoard find
  • Collecting Ancient Europe (2016-2020). NWO-‘Museumbeurs’. Reception Research Ancient Europe Collection
  • Networked landscapes (2016-2018). Participation in burial mound research Leiden University
  • Terug naar de Bandkeramiek (2010-2014). NWO-‘Odyssee’. ‘Vergeten’ onderzoek van de bandkeramiek.
  • From Hardinxveld to Noordhoorn (2004-2008). NWO-‘Oogst van Malta’. Neolithisatieproces
Luc Amkreutz

Luc Amkreutz

Important publications

Luc Amkreutz Hoogleraarschap

Luc Amkreutz

Important exhibitions

Important lectures and conferences

  • 2021, Doggerland. Een verdwenen prehistorische wereld in de Noordzee. Spraakwater, Tongeren (digital).
  • 2021, Megalithic Malta. Leiden, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, ambassadors evening.
  • 2021, Guided tour through the exhibition Doggerland. Lost world under the North sea, Leiden, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden.
  • 2021, Guided tour through the exhibition Temples of Malta, Leiden, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden.
  • 2021, Doggerland. Verdwenen wereld in de Noordzee. Podcast Radio Horzelnest, Studium Generale, Leiden.
  • 2020, Doggerland dynamics. Exploring the characteristics of human-environment interaction and adaptability in the Mesolithic of the North Sea area 9000-5000 cal BC. MESO-conference, Toulouse (digital).
  • 2020, Even better than the real things? The role and appreciation of prehistoric and early historic replicas in the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden. Historic replicas in north-west Europe: current research, future prospects. Stirling University Workshop, Stirling.
  • 2019, Drowned Worlds. Sunken Hunting Grounds of the Mesolithic…and their repercussions. Steinzeitliche Grenzerfahrungen. Neolithische und mesolithische Parallelgesellschaften in der Nordeuropäischen Tiefebene, Hannover.
  • 2019, Doggerland emerging. A survey of the archaeological potential of a vast prehistoric landscape, From the North Sea Lowlands to the Celtic Shelf Edge: Reconstructing interconnected environments for the past 500 kyrs, Quaternary Research Organisation/TNO International Conference, TNO, Utrecht.
  • 2019, The Dutch masters? Art, decoration and ornaments in the Late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic of the Netherlands and Doggerland 13 000 – 5 000 BC (with Marcel Niekus) International & Interdisciplinary Conference “Mesolithic Art – Abstraction, Decoration, Messages”, Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte/Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt, Halle, Germany.
  • 2019, International Workshop: Workshop Ommerschans. Connecting hoards and giant swords in Bronze Age Europe: The Ommerschans sword and hoard, RMO, Leiden.
  • 2019, Spectaculaire vondsten uit de Noordzee (with Marcel Niekus) en Van grondsporen…naar mesolithische keukens, Reuvensdagen, Apeldoorn.
  • 2017, Every end has a start: the transformations of Neolithic societies and the emergence of new ethnic identities. Session co-organiser (with prof. Fontijn, drs. I. van Wijk and drs. Daniela Hoffman). EAA Meeting, Maastricht.
  • 2013, Something out of the ordinary? Interpreting the diversity in the uniformity of the Early Neolithic Linearbandkeramik in Central and Western Europe. Session co-organiser (with drs. I. van Wijk and dr. F. Haack). EAA Meeting, Pilzen.

In the media

Ancillary activities

  • Chairperson Stichting archeologie/Steentijddag
  • Researcher Faculty of Archaeology