M.b. Langbroek Ma

Biography

Mette obtained a (R)MA (cum laude) in early medieval archaeology from Leiden University in 2016. Her thesis concerned an in-depth study of the use and exchange of amber in the Merovingian period in northwestern Europe. During her studies she also researched the exchange of Mediterranean-produced beads (millefiori beads, reticella beads, amethyst beads and meerschaum (sepiolith) beads) in the 6th and 7th centuries AD. Her research interests cover both the economic and social aspects of early medieval exchange and the significance of bead-studies to uncover socio-economic developments and (global) trade networks in the Merovingian period. Mette also owns a small company called De Oudheidsfabriek that aims to inspire the Dutch public with archeology.

Research Interest

Mette is currently a research assistant in the ERC project Rural Riches. The bottom-up development of Post-Roman Northwestern Europe (450-640). This project will analyse the importance of the rural population as consumers with access to global trade networks to the post-Roman economic development in northwestern Europe. Until September 2018 Mette and her colleague Femke Lippok will be assembling data of Merovingian sites in the Benelux, western Germany and northern France in order to create a map and database of northwestern Europe in the 5th, 6th and 7th centuries AD. This database will enable the analysis of the societal format at the macro-level of the research area as a whole and at the micro level of local communities.