Bleda Düring is a Professor at the Faculty of Archaeology.

More information about Bleda Düring

Office days

Monday to Friday

Research

The research of Bleda Düring focuses on the emergence of social complexity in the late prehistory of West Asia, landscape archaeology, and the archaeology of imperialism.

Bleda has (co-)directed landscape archaeology projects on the Black Sea in Türkiye, in the Sohar hinterlands in the north of Oman, and excavations at the late prehistoric sites of Burj Huraiz (Oman) and Chlorakas-Palloures in Cyprus. The latter project in ongoing and aims to better understand the emergence of complex societies, and the rise of craft specialization and trade networks on the island.

In November 2025 an ERC Advanced Project lead by Bleda started entitled Inequal Cyprus: Negotiating Social Inequalities in Late Prehistoric Cyprus. It studies the emergence and consolidation of social inequalities - one of the key transitions occurring in late prehistoric societies, and one that can only be studied through archaeological datasets – by investigating the rich archaeological datasets of late prehistoric Cyprus to be dated between about 4000 and 1600 BCE is.

Bleda’s earlier research focused on Neolithic Turkey and the archaeology of imperialism. He also directed an ERC Starting Grant project on the Archaeology of (Middle Assyrian) Imperialism researching in particular the key site of Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria. Another important line of research in Bleda’s work is that of landscape archaeology undertaken in the Cide region of Türkiye and the Sohar hinterlands of Oman, designed to better explain the boom and bust phases in the past occupation of marginal and difficult environments.

Teaching activities

Bleda has taught in recent years on diverse topics, including Arabian Archaeology, the Prehistory of Anatolia and Cyprus, the Neolithisation of West Asia, the Archaeology of Boom and Bust, research practices in the archaeology of West Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Archaeology of Imperialism. A key element in Bleda’s teaching is the fieldschool at Chlorakas-Palloures, where many Leiden students have come to gain fieldwork experience. 

Curriculum vitae

Bleda studied West Asian Archaeology at Leiden University, and went on to do a PhD at the same institution. Subsequently he did a postdoc at University College London. This was followed by another postdoc (Veni) at Leiden, after he which he was hired as a member of staff. Bleda became a professor in 2022.

Publications

Activities