Jan Paul Crielaard

Prof. Jan Paul Crielaard is Full Professor of Mediterranean Pre- and Protohistorical Archaeology at the Faculty of Humanities, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. His research focuses on the Greek world during the Bronze Age/Iron Age transition, Mediterranean interconnectivity, and identity formation in the Archaic period. He holds editorial roles at Brill’s History and Archaeology of Classical Antiquity series, advises the ARCHON research school and NWO’s Social Sciences and Humanities domain, and organizes academic workshops like 'How to Become a PhD'.

Teaching specialties include Aegean archaeology (3000–300 BC), Mediterranean prehistory, and methodologies of archaeological fieldwork. Research interests bridge archaeology with literary evidence, early Greek cult practices, and Homeric archaeology. Recent work explores Greek colonization in Italy, cultural hybridity, and inscription-based religious landscape studies.

Publications (48 total) address topics like Bronze Age social networks, Euboian sanctuaries, and material culture indicators of migration. Editorial activities include peer review for Brill and conference organization. Supervised 6 PhD students, focusing on Mediterranean connectivity and protohistoric archaeology.

Labs/teams include collaborations within the ARCHON research network and international field projects examining Mediterranean cultural interactions. Current interests emphasize interdisciplinary approaches to ancient identity formation and Bronze Age-Iron Age socio-political transitions.