Michael Kerschner
Senior researcher
- Name
- Dr. M. Kerschner
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 2727
- m.kerschner@arch.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0003-1487-4633
Dr. Michael Kerschner is Byvanck Fellow in Classical Archaeology and Art. Parallel to this position, as well as research associate at the Austrian Archaeological Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna and responsible for the research focus “Cult and Sanctuary” there. His main field of expertise is the archaeology of Greek and Western Anatolian cultures in the Early Iron Age, the Archaic and the Classical period.
Office days
Thursday 10:30 - 12:00 and by arrangement
Research
I am interested in Greek culture as part of a larger Mediterranean and Near Eastern network. My research explores sanctuaries and the archaeology of cult, the development of settlements, as well as culture and identity of Ionia and Lydia in the eastern Aegean – western Anatolian interface. The Early Iron Age, the Archaic and the Classical periods are my main areas of expertise in terms of chronology.
Together with five colleagues from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Germany I am cofounder of “Hieron: Network for the Study of Greek Sanctuaries”.
This network is a platform for informal exchange between researchers and students interested in transdisciplinary studies of Greek sanctuaries and cult from the Early Iron Age until Late Antiquity
I have carried out field projects in Turkey (Ephesos, Miletos, Teos in Ionia) and Greece (Lousoi in Arcadia) and studied the archaeological evidence from the Artemision of Ephesos, the sanctuary of Meter at Ephesos, the sanctuary of Artemis Kithone at Miletos and that of Artemis Hemera at Lousoi. Interdisciplinarity is a key aspect of all my projects. It is especially prominent in my archaeometric studies on the ceramic production of the eastern Aegean, Euboea and the northern Peloponnese in collaboration with the archaeometrists Hans Mommsen (Bonn) and Pamela Fragnoli (Vienna).
Teaching activities
Before coming to Leiden University, I was teaching at the universities of Münster (D), Vienna and Salzburg (A) since 1999. My courses cover different aspects of Greek archaeology (cult and sanctuaries, ethnic identity, houses and domestic life, sculpture, pottery, architecture, Early Greece, Greek settlements overseas, overviews on Greek culture).
I have been supervising BA, MA and PhD theses on different topics of Greek archaeology. I was external examiner of PhD theses at the universities of Aarhus, Bordeaux, Leuven, Oslo, Oxford and Pavia.
Curriculum vitae
I studied Classical Archaeology, Art History and Ancient History at the universities of Salzburg (MA 1990) and Bochum (PhD 1995). In 2009 I passed my habilitation at Salzburg University.
Professional activites:
since 2020 Byvanck Fellow in Classical Archaeology and Art at the Faculty of Archaeology of Leiden University (half-time), parallel to the position at the Austrian Archaeological Institute.
since 2017 Head of the research group “Cult and Sanctuary” at the Austrian Archeological Institute (OeAI) / Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW)
2013–2017 Head of the research focus “Pre-Hellenistic Ionia” at the Austrian
Archaeological Institute
since 2008 Head of the project „Pre-Hellenistic Ephesos“, including the sanctuary of Artemis of Ephesos (at the site of Ephesos)
since 2008 Regular guest lecturer (“Privatdozent”) at the University of Salzburg
2008–2009 Deputy director of the Ephesos excavation
since 2006 Head of the project „The sanctuary of Artemis Kithone in Miletos“ of Miletos excavation, since 2007 in cooperation with the Austrian Archaeological Institute.
2003-2019 In charge of the book requisitions of the library of the Austrian Archaeological Institute
since 2002 Head of the project „Artemision: stratigraphy and pottery“ of Ephesos excavation
since 2002 Research associate of the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Vienna.
2000–2002 Editor of the scientific journal „Boreas. Münstersche Beiträge zur Archäologie“.
2000-2002 Assistant professor (C 1) at the Archaeological Seminar and Museum of the University of Münster (Germany).
1999–2008 Guest lecturer at the Institute of Classical Archaeology of the University of Vienna
since 1996 Long term creation of a data base of archaeometric pottery analyses concerning the ceramic production centres in the East Aegean and their exports within the Mediterranean and Black Sea together with H. Mommsen (University of Bonn) in cooperation with various international scholars
1995-2000 Research assistant of FWF projects (Nr. P 11032-SPR; P 11033-SPR) on the Geometric and Archaic pottery finds from Ephesos at the Austrian Archaeological Institute
Senior researcher
- Faculteit Archeologie
- World Archaeology
- Classical and Mediterranean Archaeology
- Kerschner M. (2023), Der frühe Kult der Artemis von Lousoi und seine Ausstrahlungskraft. In: Eder B., Baier C. & Gauß W. (Eds.), Ein anderes Griechenland: 125 Jahre Forschungen des Österreichischen Archäologischen Instituts in Athen. Athens: Καπόν. 88-97.
- Kerschner M. (2022), The Artemision of Ephesus: Ephesos Artemisionu. In: Ersoy Y. & Koparal E. (Eds.), İonialılar: Ege Kıyılarının Bilge Sakinleri = Ionians: the sages of the Aegean Shore. Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Kültür Sanat Yayıncılık Ticaret ve Sanayı A. Ş.. 378-399.
- Kerschner M. & Mommsen H. (2022), Teos, a major production centre of Geometric and Archaic pottery in North Ionia. In: Tsetskhladze G.R. (Ed.), Ionians in the West and East. Proceedings of an international conference Empuries / L’Escala, Spain 26–29 October 2015. Colloquia Antiqua no. 27. Leuven/Paris/Bristol, CT: Peeters. 169-213.
- Gürtekin-Demir R.G., Mommsen H. & Kerschner M. (2022), Regional Lydian pottery at Daskyleion: testing stylistic classification by chemical analysis, Anatolian Studies 72: 1-20.
- Kerschner M. & Konuk K. (2020), Electrum Coins and Their Archaeological Context. The Case of the Artemision of Ephesus. In: Alfen P. van & Wartenberg U. (Eds.), White Gold. Studies in Early Electrum Coinage . New York; Jerusalem: The American Numismatic Socitey; The Israel Museum. 83–190 .
- Kerschner M. & (Eds.) (2020), Der Kult der Meter/Kybele in Westanatolien und in der Ägäis. Akten des internationalen Symposions an der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften am 24. November 2017. Sonderschriften des Österreichischen Archäologischen Instituts no. 60. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences.
- Kerschner M. (2020), Einleitung des Herausgebers. Kerschner M. (Ed.), Der Kult der Meter/Kybele in Westanatolien und in der Ägäis. Akten des internationalen Symposions an der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften am 24. November 2017. no. 60. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences. 7-12.
- Kerschner M. (2020), The Archaic temples in the Artemision of Ephesos and the archaeology of the ‘Central Basis’. In: Alfen P. van & Wartenberg U. (Eds.), White Gold. Studies in Early Electrum Coinage. New York; Jerusalem: The American Numismatic Socitey; The Israel Museum. 191–262.
- Achaeologist, Senior researcher