Dr.ir. M.j. Driessen

Biography

Mark Driessen (1963, Rotterdam) is a lecturer and researcher at the Faculty of Archaeology of Leiden University. Mark is a lecturer in Provincial Roman Archaeology, but also gives classes in Archaeological Heritage Management plus Theory and History of Archaeology. He originally studied tropical forestry and agriculture in Wageningen and worked for many years in South America and Africa. After returning to The Netherlands he started working as a field archaeologist and studied Archaeology of the Roman period at the University of Amsterdam. At this university he also completed his Ph.D. on the topography, settlement continuity and monumentality of Roman Nijmegen. His main research interests are the (military) logistics, infrastructure and trade in the Roman period. He works on the Roman harbour sites of Voorburg-Arentsburg and Velsen I (both in The Netherlands). As from 2011 Mark started a joint venture project with collegues of the Al Hussein Bin Talal University (Wadi Musa, Jordan) concerning the site of Udhruh. This interdisciplinary project – that started with a surface survey – focuses on the settlement continuity of this Roman legionary fortress, the Nabatean predecessor and the transformation into a Byzantine-Islamic town. This research will also aim at the (supra-)regional exchange and trade, logistics and infrastructure and water management of this site as well as the relations to the Nabatean capital Petra which is situated 15 kilometres in westward direction of Udhruh.

Research Interest

Archaeology