The course will focus on practices of archaeological research in West Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean. Through a series of lectures and assignments we will discuss the 8 steps of research (1: formulating research questions; 2: designing a research project; 3: obtaining funding and permits and building a team; 4: designing and executing fieldwork; 5: laboratory work; 6: data analysis and interpretations; 7: publication; and 8: curation of assemblages and datasets).

The central projects to engage with these research steps are those undertaken by the lecturers in various countries of West Asia (Azerbaijan; Cyprus; Oman); but there will also be guest lectures by Leiden colleagues working in other parts of West Asia. The course will balance substantial readings against practical assignments in which you will work as a team on issues common to archaeological research in West Asia. Examples of practical research issues addressed in this course include the use of remote sensing data in archaeological (desk-based) research; which has become increasingly important in recent years; and work with project archives or archeological assemblages.

This course examines the archaeology of the Arabian Peninsula from the Neolithic through the Iron Age (ca. 7000-800 BCE). Through a series of case studies, we will engaged with well-published archaeological records from eastern and southern Arabia as well as recent discoveries emerging from ongoing research in northern and central Arabia. Particular emphasis will be placed on how Arabian trajectories complicate culture-historical models derived from more urbanized and textually documented regions of West Asia.

In western scholarship, Arabia has traditionally been perceived as a peripheral region to the ‘Ancient Near East’ and has only recently become a major focus of archaeological research. This course therefore also critically evaluates the history of research in the region, considering how disciplinary traditions, geopolitical contexts, and heritage agendas have shaped archaeological priorities, interpretations, and developing heritage narratives about the past.