Olivier Nieuwenhuyse (1966-2020) was an archaeologist and expert in the field of Western Asian prehistoric ceramics. At the time of his untimely death, he was a Humboldt Fellow at the Institut für Vorderasiatische Archäologie (Freie Universität Berlin). He was the author of numerous articles on Late Neolithic ceramics and (co-)editor of Climate and Cultural Change in Prehistoric Europe and the Near East (2016), Painting Pots, Painting People (2017) and Relentlessly Plain (2018). Olivier conducted fieldwork in Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and, most recently, Iraqi Kurdistan.
Reinhard Bernbeck is Professor of Western Asian archaeology at the Freie Universität Berlin and professor emeritus of Anthropology at Binghamton University. His interests include the prehistory of Iran, archaeological manifestations of social and material inequality, economic exploitation and ideological dimensions of archaeological practice.
Koen Berghuijs holds a B.A. in Archaeology and an M.A. in Archaeology of the Near East from Leiden University. A former student of the late Olivier Nieuwenhuyse, Koen has published on (Late) Neolithic ceramics and basketry remains from various sites in Syria and Iraq and on more recent petroglyphs from the Jordanian Black Desert. He has participated in several survey and excavation projects in the Netherlands, Jordan, and Oman.