Archaeology and Anthropology of Mesoamerica and the Andes

Specialisation of: Archaeology
Degree: Master of Arts in Archaeology
Mode of Study: Full-time
Duration: 1 year
Start date: September, February
Language of instruction: English
Location: Leiden
Croho/isat code: 60805
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Teaching is inspired by ongoing research projects on the interpretation of ancient visual art and early colonial sources in combination with the study of contemporary oral traditions and social reality.

Research/PhD

A few master’s students can become eligible for a research master’s programme in preparation for a possible PhD research position. Strict selection criteria apply here. Apart from carrying out their own research, PhD students are expected to follow the education programme of a research school such as the Research School for Archaeology (ARCHON) or CNWS. They also have modest teaching obligations, such as being in charge of a seminar based on their own research project.

If you have an interest in research, please see the research master’s in Archaeology webpage.

Integration of Education and Research

Researcher

Dr Alexander Geurds

“Leiden holds one of the largest research groups worldwide specialised in the prehispanic Americas.”

“I obtained my PhD at Leiden University, working with the research group on the archaeology and cultural history of indigenous America.
Initially I was attracted to a graduate degree in Archaeology at Leiden because of the many options graduate students were offered in developing a research focus. Alongside its methodological and technical quality of archaeological fieldwork, Leiden holds one of the largest research groups worldwide specialised in the prehispanic Americas, working on archaeological reconnaissance and excavation, ethnohistoric research of colonial period archival documents, and epigraphic study of prehispanic manuscripts.

Choosing my research focus on the indigenous Americas was partly based on my interests in archaeology, anthropology and history, and my desire to learn about the archaeological record in a region from the ground up. My region of focus, Mesomerica, turned out to offer all of this.

Leiden University offers students the opportunity to take up the challenge of developing a field project in archaeologically relatively unknown Mesoamerica, and to tap into an unprecedented potential in terms of research results.
Leiden graduates in this specialisation have spread out across the world, working in Mexico or the US, as I temporarily did at the University of Colorado.
I am currently working on my National Geographic-funded exploratory research into the archaeology of central Nicaragua.”

Interested in Research?

Consider the two-year Research Master’s in Archaeology