RESEARCHER PROFILES

Marike van Aerde is our project leader. She is Assistant Professor World Archaeology and coordinator of the Honours Academy archaeology track at Leiden University. Her research focuses on the archaeology of ancient trade routes between East Africa and the Indian Subcontinent (ca. 300 BCE-800 CE). Her project Routes of Exchange, Roots of Connectivity examines multiregional sites and datasets across the Indian Ocean region by means of interdisciplinary and scientific methods, such as ceramics studies, chemical analysis (XRF), satellite, LiDAR, and database analyses. These analyses provide a basis for a wider synthesis on questions of global connectivity in the ancient world. Recent publications include studies on Indian Ocean trade networks, ancient Egyptian, Aksumite and Indian port sites, and the documentation and preservation of rock art from the Karakorum Himalaya mountains.

Samatar Botan is preparing for his PhD research at Leiden University, and continues to be part of the research project Routes of Exchange, Roots of Connectivity. He previously completed his Bachelor's and Master's degrees at the Faculty of Archaeology in Leiden, as well as a secondary Research Master's at the Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat, Oman.

He is the ceramics specialist of the team, with multiple years of fieldwork experience. For his doctoral research, Sam will aim to create a more detailed and nuanced understanding of the Afro-Eurasian maritime trade routes in the first half of the first millennium CE, by focusing on a statistical and interpretative analyses of Aksumite ceramics. The empire of Aksum was an ancient kingdom which existed in the Horn of Africa from 80 BCE till 800 CE. Its territory stretched from modern day Ethiopia, to Eritrea to the northern parts of Somaliland.

Rishika Dhumal has been enrolled as PhD candidate at Leiden University since 2019, as part of the research project  Routes of Exchange, Roots of Connectivity supervised by Dr. Marike van Aerde. Previously, she completed her Bachelor's degree in Archaeology from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in  India, as well as her Master's degree from the Archaeology Faculty of Leiden University in the Netherlands. Her fieldwork experience includes recent excavations at Nani Rayan in Gujarat, India, as well as an internship in Silk Roads ceramics analysis as part of the LID project (Leiden Inventory Depot) at Leiden University.  She has also attended various international conferences, at Alexandria, Egypt and Oxford University in the UK.

Rishika's PhD research will archaeologically analyze the role of the Indian subcontinent in the Afro-Eurasian trade networks.

Abdul Ghani Khan completed his Master's degree in archaeology with a Gold Medal from Hazara University in Pakistan in 2014. He moreover completed his MPhil degree in 2018 at the same institution. He has extensive experience in the field, through many national and international archaeological excavations and survey projects. He holds an expertise in 3D modelling and Photogrammetry techniques as well. Ghani's main research interest is in documenting and studying rock carvings of the Karakorum Mountains, in particular  Buddhist carvings. Recently, he also co-authored a new publication on Karakorum petroglyphs from Oxford University together with Dr. Marike Van Aerde and Alexander Mohns.

In  2020, Ghani was awarded the Prince Claus Heritage Emergency Grant. He will be the fieldwork and outreach coordinator of this project, focused on the rescue and preservation of ancient rock art in the Karakorum mountain range of the Pakistani Himalayas. The project will run until November 2021. 

Alexander Mohns is the team’s fieldwork coordinator. He can usually be found in the field on excavations. Alex has a keen interest in Applied Archaeology and excavations.

His international experience so far includes fieldwork conducted in the Dominican Republic, Jordan, Pakistan and the Netherlands. Some of Alex’s academic accomplishments involve a comprehensive analysis of figurative Buddhist rock art from the Karakorum mountain range in Pakistan for his BA thesis. He has since then also co-authored a book chapter on these petroglyphs at Oxford University together with Dr. Marike van Aerde and Abdul Ghani Khan. 

Alex is currently completing his Master's degree in Applied Archaeology at Leiden University, and he continues to collaborate with Ghani Khan and Dr. Van Aerde as part of the team's Karakorum Heritage Rescue project that will run from 2020-2021. 

Daniele Zampierin has recently finished his MA within the European Erasmus Mundus join Master program “ARCHMAT” (ARCHeological MATerial Science). Thanks to this program, he followed courses related to the conservation and the archaeometric approach to archaeological material at the University of Evora, at the “Sapeinza” University of Rome and at the “Aristotle” University of Thessaloniki. Prior to his MA, he completed his BA in Archaeology at the University of Leiden. His international experience not only includes academic environments, but also fieldworks conducted in the Dominican Republic and Netherlands and various conferences such as at the Oxford University (UK), Pisa University (IT) and Lisbon. Within Daniele’s academic accomplishments there is also the publication of an article within the Journal of Ancient West and East in collaboration with Dr. Marike van Aerde in 2020.