08/05/2026
🗓 Save the Date: Lecture by Prof. Dr. Karsten Lambers on May 20, 2026, at 18:30 in Belval, Luxembourg
The organizing committee of Let’s Talk About History warmly invites you to a lecture by Prof. Dr. Karsten Lambers (University of Augsburg), titled “Citizen Science in Archaeological Prospection: Lessons Learned from the Heritage Quest Project in the Netherlands”, on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at MSA 3.350, Maison du Savoir, Belval Campus.
Finding and recording material traces of the past is a key task of archaeology. However, doing so on a large scale, such as over an entire landscape, often exceeds the available resources of archaeologists and heritage managers. Citizen science offers an opportunity to involve interested volunteers in archaeological prospection. The Heritage Quest project in the central Netherlands (2019-24) achieved this in two intertwined ways. Firstly, an online platform enabled thousands of interested volunteers to contribute to the systematic screening of LiDAR data by identifying three common classes of archaeological features (barrows, Celtic fields and cart tracks) via a user-friendly user interface. Secondly, guided field trips enabled mostly local volunteers, many of whom had contributed to the online survey, to verify the online observations in the field. While the project doubled the number of known archaeological sites in the study area, the volunteers also provided new insights into many local contexts, and their initiative led to a follow-up project focusing on traces of WWII. Citizen science thus proved crucial for the success of our project in both quantitative and qualitative terms. In 2026, Heritage Quest serves as model for a similar citizen science project in Luxembourg.
👤 About the Speaker:
Karsten Lambers is Professor of Digital Imaging in the Humanities at the University of Augsburg, Germany. Until 2025, he was Professor of Digital and Computational Archaeology at Leiden University, where he served as co-PI of the Heritage Quest project. His research focuses on the use of remote sensing technologies in archaeological prospection. He completed his PhD at the University of Zurich with a dissertation on the recording and analysis of the Nasca geoglyphs of Palpa, Peru. He is currently co-PI of the TERRA project in Switzerland, which studies the origin and historical development of terraced landscapes in the Lower Engadine.
🗓 Date: May 20, 2026
📍 Location: University of Luxembourg, Campus Belval, Maison du Savoir – MSA 3.350
🕡 Time: 18:30–20:00
Register for the event here: https://www.eventbrite.fr/e/citizen-science-in-archaeological-prospection-prof-dr-karsten-lambers-tickets-1989091601525
University of Luxembourg C2DH - Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History
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