Workshop ‘Fishing’ past aquatic resources: waterways of research

Date: 28 & 29 May 2026

Location: University of Leiden (UL) Faculty of Archaeology, Laboratory for Archaeozoological Studies
(Van Steenis Gebouw, Einsteinweg 2, 2333 CC Leiden)

Credits: 1-2 EC

The relationship of the Low Countries with aquatic resources dates back millennia. Fishing and shellfishing have been key in the subsistence and economy of its different cultures, but likewise has shaped the landscape, dictated social and religious status, or intervened in politics. Such variety of subjects are currently addressed from different approaches to complement ichtyoarchaeological research, such as experimental archaeology, biomolecular analyses or historical ecology. This can pose a challenge in covering different disciplines and a call to cooperation between specialists is emerging to answer the multi-level research questions in the Netherlands.

This workshop aims at encouraging dialogue and interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers working on past aquatic resources from different fields. We also want this event to be a networking event for academic, commercial archaeology and PhD and ReMa students with different backgrounds, from archaeology and history, to biology and environment sciences. We aim to discuss cultural and ecological evidence to pursue a baseline on pre-industrial aquatic resources that may be applicable to an array of archaeological, historical and ecological questions.

Programme:

THURSDAY 28th May 2026

10-10:30 am Registration

10:30 am Welcome and opening

Morning session Chair:  Laura Llorente-Rodríguez

10:40  Inge van der Jagt & Martijn van Haasteren -T.b.a.

11:00  Tijmen Moesker – Dried Fish in Focus: Archaeological and Historical Perspectives on Fishery and Preservation in Scheveningen and the Low Countries (1650–1800)

11:20  Monica Dütting -Fish and fishing in the Netherlands in the Roman times

11:20  Break + fish show (lab tour)

12:00  PhD-RMA Poster sessions Chair: Willemien de Kock

12:30 Lunch

Afternoon session Chair:  James Symonds

13:30 Willemien de Kock – T.b.a.

13:50 Rob Lenders – A multidisciplinary approach to inform sturgeon conservation

14:20 Coffee break

14:40  Wim Wouters – A review of the archaeo-ichthyological research in the Low Countries

15:00  Workshop: Fish challenge. Chairs: Wim Wouters-Arturo Morales

16:00 Final discussion / Closing remarks and drinks

 

FRIDAY 29th May 2026

Morning session Chair: Arturo Morales-Muñiz

10: 00 Qui Xiaojun –  Diversified Animal Resource Utilization at the Jingtoushan Site in Yuyao, Zhejiang, Lower Yangtze River, China. (Online from Shandong University, China)

10:20 André Colonese  Sulphur isotopes offer unprecedented insights into the diet and social organisation of pre-European fisheries in Brazil. (Online from Universitàt Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain)

10: 40  Krista McGrath – T.b.a.

11:00 Coffee break

Morning session II Chair Canan Çakirlar

11:30 Arturo Morales-Muñiz  Local or imported? A Bronce Age case study from an Eastern Mediterranean archaeological fish assemblage

11:50 Susan Monge – T.b.a.

12:30 Lunch and Farewell drinks

Credits: ARCHON members can earn 1 EC for attending both days and handing in a standard report. Students can also receive an additional credit if they present a poster at the workshop. Please send the report and/or poster (as well as confirmation from the event organisers that you are invited to present said poster) to the ARCHON coordinator within a month of the workshop to receive your credit.

Contact: Please reach out to Lara La Iacona or Laura Llorente Rodriguez for questions regarding this event.

Registration: Through this link.