Prof. Dr. Barbora Wouters

Dr Barbora Wouters is an Assistant Professor of Geoarchaeology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. As a Research Professor (BOF Tenure Track), she focuses on the geoarchaeological and micromorphological research of towns, and on interdisciplinary work concerning urbanity and urbanism.

Her research interests include the geoarchaeology of towns and dwelling in the (Early) Medieval Period in the Low Countries and Viking-age Scandinavia, the study of dark earths (terres noires), the development and application of archaeological method and theory, research methods, public outreach, and museology.  From 2021 onward, she will co-teach a course on archaeological science and supervise student research.

Barbora Wouters holds two Master’s degrees, respectively from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the University of Cambridge, and a dual doctorate from Aberdeen University and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel funded by a PhD Fellowship of the Research Foundation Flanders - FWO. She obtained a Junior Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Research Foundation – Flanders in 2017, which was put on hold for her 2-year employment as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at UrbNet, Aarhus University, where she spent two years associated with the Northern Emporium – Ribe Excavation Project working as a geoarchaeologist and micromorphologist. She serves on the editorial board of the Flemish archaeological magazine Ex situ, and was nominated for the EOS Pipette Award for most promising young researcher in Flanders in 2018.

Five key publications:

B. Wouters. “A Biographical Approach to Urban Communities from a Geoarchaeological Perspective. High-Definition Applications and Case Studies”, in R. Raja & S.M. Sindbæk (eds.), Biographies of Place, Oxford University press.

Y. Devos, C. Nicosia, & B. Wouters 2020. Urban geoarchaeology in Belgium: Experiences and innovations, Geoarchaeology 35: 27-41.

B. Wouters, Y. Devos, L. Vrydaghs, T. Ball, N. De Winter, P. Reygel 2019. An Integrated Micromorphological and Phytolith Study of Urban Soils and Sediments from the Gallo-Roman town Atuatuca Tungrorum, Belgium, Geoarchaeology 34: 448-466.

S. Croix, P. Deckers, C. Feveile, M. Knudsen, S. Skytte Qvistgaard, S. M. Sindbæk & B. Wouters 2019. Single Context, Metacontext, and High Definition Urban Archaeology: Integrating New Standards of Stratigraphic Excavation and Recording in Viking-age Ribe, Denmark, Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 26: 1591-1631

B. Wouters, C. Makarona, K. Nys & P. Claeys 2017. “Characterization of archaeological metal remains in micromorphological thin sections using μXRF elemental mapping”, Geoarchaeology 32: 311-318.

B. Wouters, Y. Devos, K. Milek, L. Vrydaghs, B. Bartholomieux, D. Tys, C. Moolhuizen & N. van Asch 2017. “Medieval markets: a soil micromorphological and archaeobotanical study of the urban stratigraphy of Lier (Belgium)” Quaternary International 460: 48-64.

B. Wouters, K. Milek, Y. Devos & D. Tys 2016, "Soil micromorphology in urban research: early medieval Antwerp (Belgium) and Viking Age Kaupang (Norway)", in L. Broderick, Idoia Grau-Sologestoa, B. Jervis (eds.), Urban Life in Medieval Europe: Environmental and Artefact Based Approaches. Turnhout: Brepols, 279-296.

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