Maikel Kuijpers

Maikel Kuijpers is an Assistant Professor of the Archaeology of Early Europe at Leiden University. Alongside this he is a research coordinator for the Centre of Global Heritage and Development, a collaboration between Technical University Delft, Erasmus University Rotterdam, and Leiden University. He studied archeology in Leiden and attended the Royal Art Academy in The Hague. He obtained a PhD from the University of Cambridge (2014) with a dissertation on metalworking craftsmanship in the Bronze Age.

His current project explores the idea of “material mentalities," how materials influence and shape human minds and thinking. At the MPIWG he aimed to show how in the Bronze Age the qualities of bronze guided the formulation of a shape-based economy, followed by a system of weighing.

Maikel’s main interests are craftsmanship and skill. These specific human-material relationships are studied both in archeology as well as contemporary society. His book An Archaeology of Skill was recently published by Routledge (2018). He is the producer of a documentary Craft: The Future is Handmade, published online by The Craftsmanship Initiative. Another line of interest is the value of archeology for today, in terms of politics, grand narratives, branding, and most importantly, tackling societal challenges.