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Archaeologist involved in developing boardgame

Archaeologist Maikel Kuijpers participated in the development of the boardgame Epoch: Early Inventors. “This game is inspired by the major innovation that happened in prehistoric times. A topic that has my interest and that I teach here in Leiden."

Dr. Maikel Kuijpers

Exploration and discovery

In the game, you take on the role of a clan leader and explore the landscape, discover new tools and sacrifice to holy places. All this to gather as much status as possible. Epoch: Early Inventors is very thematic and tries to stay as close to reality as possible.

"Although Epoch is in the first place a nice game to play it adds a fascinating element to know that it is based on actual archaeological research," Maike Kuijpers notes. "I was involved in writing the text to accompany the game, and to make sure that we stayed as close to the what we know as possible. “

Dr. Maikel Kuijpers teaches the course "Discruptive innovations in European Prehistory", about the fundamental innovations taking place in Prehistoric Europe.

Check out the boardgame Epoch: Early Inventors.

Prehistoric Europe

Have you been exploring prehistory in the boardgame Epoch: Early Inventors? Then you might also be interested in the archaeological research that lies on the actual basis of the game! 

The Faculty of Archaeology at Leiden University hosts an internationally renowned research group on prehistoric Europe. Take a look at our research projects and our study programmes below.

The game in action.

Investigating European and Eurasian Prehistory

Our research deals with the deep history of Europe and Eurasia, from the inception of farming up until the beginning of the Roman Period. This was a period in which key developments took place that had a profound impact on European landscapes and society until the present day.

See our European Prehistory research page. 

Study Archaeology at one of the leading centers in Europe

The Leiden Faculty of Archaeology ranks in the top ten worldwide in academic reputation and research impact (March 2016 QS World University Ranking by subject). 

We offer one English taught Bachelor's programme in Archaeology, as well as several English language Master's specialisations.

We offer one English taught Bachelor's programme in Archaeology, as well as several English language Master's specialisations.

Explore our programmes

Follow our MOOCs

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are becoming a major part of academic education.  MOOCs are free and available online for anyone with access to the internet. At this point, we offer two MOOCs:

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