Jos Bazelmans is a Professor by Special Appointment in Delta-archaeology at the Faculty of Archaeology.

More information about Jos Bazelmans

Current research

Dendrochronological research on subfossil wood from late Pleistocene and Holocene peat and fluvial deposits from the Netherlands (e.g. Weesp area and Oudega). The data are used for palaeo-ecological, palaeo-geographical, hydrological and climatological reconstructions.

Teaching activities

Dutch archaeology from a delta-perspective. This includes Cultural heritage management (Archeologische monumentenzorg)

Curriculum vitae

After completing secondary school in Veldhoven, Bazelmans studied Social Anthropology in Leiden (kandidaats) and Amsterdam (doctoraal), graduating cum laude in both. His master’s research focused on 20th century funeral rituals in Drenthe. In parallel, he gained extensive experience in archaeological fieldwork in the Netherlands. From 1990 to 1995, he worked at the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), which led to his dissertation on gift exchange in Old English Beowulf (cum laude) (By Weapons Made Worthy (1999), Amsterdam University Press). Between 1995 and 2000, he held teaching and postdoctoral positions at the universities of Leiden, Amsterdam, and Groningen. He led, among other projects, the Frisia project on the development of tribal communities in the Dutch coastal region and developed a new method for terp research, which, among other things, led to the discovery of the oldest dike construction in the Netherlands.

In 2000, he joined the Rijksdienst voor het Oudheidkundig Bodemonderzoek (ROB), later the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE), where he held various management positions. From 2015 to 2024, he headed the RCE’s Archaeology Department and led several knowledge programs for archaeological heritage management. He initiated the successful Atlas of the Netherlands in the Holocene (2011, English edition 2020). His current research focuses on subfossil forest remains, with publications in Quaternary Science Review, among others. He also served as Professor of Heritage Conservation at VU Amsterdam and was a board member of the Wadden Academy.

Office days

On demand.