Darlene Brooks Hedstrom

Dr. Darlene Brooks Hedstrom, the Myra and Robert Kraft and Jacob Hiatt Associate Professor of Christian Studies at Brandeis University, is a leading archaeologist and historian specializing in late antique and early Byzantine Christianity in the eastern Mediterranean (300-1000 CE). She holds joint appointments in the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and Classical Studies, combining textual analysis, material culture studies, and theoretical frameworks to examine monastic communities.

• Senior Archaeological Consultant for the Yale Monastic Archaeology Project-North in Wadi Natrun, Egypt
• Speaker for the Archaeological Institute of America
• Focuses on monastic settlements, household archaeology, and spatial analysis

Her groundbreaking 2017 monograph The Monastic Landscape of Late Antique Egypt: An Archaeological Reconstruction (Cambridge University Press) redefined Egyptian monastic archaeology through ecohistorical and theoretical lenses. Current work includes excavation monographs on Byzantine kitchens at the Monastery of John the Little and Coptic legal document analysis.

Recent Publications & Research Trends
Her 2024-2023 work explores theoretical frameworks in North American Byzantine archaeology, monastic food practices, and ascetic spatial concepts. Earlier studies (2017-2020) systematically documented Coptic monastic material culture through household archaeology approaches, analyzing settlements at White Monastery (Sohag) and John the Little (Wadi Natrun).

Scientific Recognition

• 2019: Biblical Archaeology Society's Best Popular Book in Archaeology award for her monograph
• 2007: Dumbarton Oaks fellow for "Feeding Asceticism in Byzantine Monasteries" project

Academic Contributions
Pioneered integrated approaches combining documentary evidence with material remains, challenging traditional perceptions of monastic isolation. Her work reveals complex urbanized monastic landscapes and the socioeconomic dynamics between monastic and nonmonastic communities.