Susanne Kerner

Susanne Kerner is an Associate Professor in Near Eastern Archaeology at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies (TORS) within the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Copenhagen. She has held this position since 2004 and previously served as department head from 2005-2010. Her academic career spans decades of fieldwork in Jordan and theoretical contributions to Near Eastern archaeology, with particular expertise in Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age societies.

Kerner earned her Magister Artium in Near Eastern Archaeology (major), Ethnology/Anthropology, and Assyriology from Freie Universität Berlin in 1987, followed by her Dr. Phil. on craft specialization and social organization in the Southern Levant in 1998. Her early career included positions as Academic Assistant (1988-1990) and Director (1990-1995) at the German Protestant Institute for Archaeology in Amman, Jordan.

Her primary research explores the role of food in identity building, ritual landscapes in Murayghat, Jordan, and social organization with craft specialization from the 6th to 3rd millennium BCE. She has pioneered interdisciplinary approaches connecting pottery studies with social theory, particularly regarding commensality and ritual practices. Her theoretical work in gender studies has significantly influenced Near Eastern archaeological interpretation, while her fieldwork has documented numerous important sites across Jordan including Umm Qais, Abu Snesleh, and Aqaba.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a sustained focus on ritual landscapes at Murayghat, with detailed studies of dolmens, standing stones, and cup marks spanning the Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age transition. Her work consistently connects material culture analysis—particularly pottery—with social organization, demonstrating how food practices and commensality reflect broader societal structures. This research trajectory shows increasing sophistication in linking theoretical frameworks with empirical evidence from the field.

Professor Kerner has secured substantial external funding for her research, including 190,000 DKK for the Ritual Landscape in Murayghat project (2014), 200,000-300,000 DKK for the Desert and the Sown in Northern Jordan survey (2008-2009), and significant support from German funding bodies including the German Research Foundation. She has supervised numerous MA theses on specialized topics including Iron-Age pottery from Jordan, Middle-Bronze-Age pottery from Syria, Hittite landscape archaeology, and Neolithic groundstone tools.

She directs the ongoing Ritual Landscapes in Murayghat project, which has evolved into a major international research initiative involving field schools, excavation seasons, and collaborative analysis. Kerner has also been instrumental in organizing academic networks focused on theoretical questions in archaeology and anthropology, particularly regarding economic and social development, conflicts, hierarchy, and ritual practices in ancient societies.