Prof. Dr. Yannick Devos

Yannick Devos is a geoarchaeologist specialized in the study of urban soils and sediments. 

He successfully defended his PhD entitled “Dark Earth in Brussels (Belgium), A geoarchaeological study” at the VUB on 20 February 2019. 

Over the last 20 years his research focused on urban geoarchaeology, the study of urban soils and sediments. 

Research topics include the Holocene evolution of the Senne valley in Brussels, the understanding of complex stratigraphies, the study of urban Dark Earth, (pre-) urban agricultural and horticultural practices, the evolution of urban spatial organization with an emphasis on ‘open space’ and ancient pollution.

Other research themes he worked on include phytolith analysis on soil and sediment thin sections, ancient agricultural practices and issues of site taphonomy and preservation.

Currently he is also scientific coordinator of the palaeo- and archaeoenvironmental research team in the Brussels Capital Region. This team is composed of specialists in geoarchaeology, archaeobotany, archaeozoology and physical anthropology. 

Five key publications

Devos, Y., Hodson, M.J. & Vrydaghs, L., 2020. Auto-Fluorescent Phytoliths: A New Method for Detecting Heating and Fire. Environmental Archaeology, 26, 4, 388-405. https://doi.org/10.1080/14614103.2020.1777056

Devos, Y., Nicosia, C. & Wouters, B., 2019. Urban geoarchaeology in Belgium: experiences and innovations. Geoarchaeology, 35, 27-41.  https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.21755 

Devos, Y., Van Neer, W., Marinova, E. & Degraeve, A., (Eds.), 2017. Environmental Archaeology of European Cities. Quaternary international, 460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2017.06.012 

Nicosia, C., Devos, Y., & Macphail, R., 2017. European Dark Earth. In: Nicosia C. & Stoops, G. (Eds.), Archaeological Soil and Sediment Micromorphology (1 ed., pp. 331-343). Oxford: Wiley Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118941065.ch32

Vrydaghs, L., Ball, T., & Devos, Y., 2016. Beyond redundancy and multiplicity. Integrating phytolith analysis and micromorphology to the study of Brussels Dark Earth. Journal of archaeological science, 68, 79-88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2015.09.004

Keywords: 

Urban geoarchaeology, soil and sediment micromorphology, ancient agriculture, phytoliths, landscape evolution, spatial organisation 

Photos:

Photo 1: Examining the fluvial and alluvial deposits in the Senne valley (Brussels, Belgium) (photo Julie Timmermans)

Photo 2: Sampling for soil micromorphology in the historical centre of Aalst (Belgium) (photo Jan Moens)