Maikel Kuijpers

Biography

Maikel Kuijpers is Assistant Professor in Archaeology at Leiden University. He teaches material histories, new materialism, prehistoric Europe, the relevance of archaeology, and science communication. His work is known for its interdisciplinary nature. He also teaches industrial design students and frequently gives guest lectures for architects, psychologists, and industrial ecologists.

Maikel holds a PhD from Cambridge University. He is the author of two academic books: An Archaeology of Skill (Routledge, 2018) and Bronze Age Metalworking in the Netherlands (Sidestone Press, 2008), the latter for which he received the W.A. van Es Award. He has published extensively both within and outside of academia. His latest academic work on the origins of money in Europe received worldwide media attention, from coverage in newspapers from the New York Times to the Daily Mail, to interviews on Dutch national radio and the BBC World Service. He continues to investigate our handling of materials and how people have developed skills and knowledge about materials throughout the centuries.

Maikel’s background as a student at the Royal Academy of Art (the Hague) gave him the expertise to take on the role of director and producer of documentaries and animations. He has worked on films for the National Museum of Antiquities (Leiden) and the animation for the Faculty of Archaeology at his university. His most recent documentary, The Future is Handmade,  is featured on The Craftsmanship Initiative and questions the relevance of skill in today’s economy.

He is passionate about the role of archaeology when facing today’s challenges. Arguing that archaeology is a way of thinking, he uses the past as a resource to understand fundamental processes that shape our societies. On this topic he writes for The Conversation and De Correspondent. He frequently gives public talks on how the past informs us, can help us, or confronts us with the absurdity of the present. The idea for this book originated from the overwhelming response to a series of articles he wrote on material histories. Everything is Material is his first trade book.