Annelou van Gijn is professor of Archaeological Material Culture and Artefact Studies at Leiden University and studied anthropology and archaeology at Washington State University Pullman (US) and the University of Groningen. She obtained her PhD at Leiden University. Her teaching and research focus on prehistoric technology, ancient crafts, experimentation and the reconstruction of the cultural biography of objects, topics on which she published widely.
She is a specialist in microwear and residue analysis, focusing on the interconnectivities of different materials and toolkits. She is leading an extensive experimental house building project at Horsterwold and the Vlaardingen-Broekpolder. Van Gijn has established and is directing the Leiden Laboratory for Artefacts Studies.
