Jorrit Kelder (

Hoorn Hoorn () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. It is the largest town an ...

, 1980) is a Dutch

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and

ancient historian Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term "historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific to ...

. He is known especially for his work on Mycenaean political structures, and in particular his argument (first proposed in 2005 and elaborated on in a 2010 monograph) that the Mycenaean world was a single, unified state (rather than a patchwork of culturally similar, yet politically independent palace states, as had hitherto been proposed). Kelder’s professional career is in academic policy and administration, and he worked as a policy officer or adviser for various academic institutions, including the Netherlands Organisation to Scientific Research, the

university of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

, and the

university of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. For nearly 9 years, he worked as a Senior Grant Adviser for

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

, leaving his post in late 2023 to devote himself to research. He has held, and continues to hold, various (honorary) affiliated positions. He was a visiting professor in Greek Archaeology at

Ghent University Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium. Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...

in the 2019-2020 academic year, a guest researcher at

, and an associate member of the sub-faculty of Near and Middle Eastern Studies at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and a member of the common room of Wolfson College,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. Kelder is a member of the Board of Luwian Studies, a member of the supervisory board of the

Teylers Museum Teylers Museum () is an Art museum, art, Natural history museum, natural history, and science museum in Haarlem, Netherlands. Established in 1778, Teylers Museum was founded as a centre for contemporary art and science. The historic centre of the ...

. Previously, he served as a member of the advisory committee of the Dutch Art and Heritage council, the Mondriaan Fonds. He has been the recipient of various prestigious fellowships, including a fellowship from the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation and a Guest Scholarship at the J. Paul Getty Museum. Apart from his work on Mycenaean political structures, Kelder has published extensively on the Mycenaean world and its connections to contemporary civilisations, including

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and the

Hittite Empire The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

References

1980 births Academic staff of Ghent University 21st-century Dutch archaeologists 21st-century Dutch historians Mycenaean archaeologists Archaeologists of the Bronze Age Aegean People from Hoorn Living people University of Amsterdam alumni Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni {{Netherlands-historian-stub