Dries Tys

Dries Tys (1972) studied history and archaeology at the university of Ghent. He obtained his PhD at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. This Phd was an interdisciplinary project in landscape archaeology and history of the Belgian coastal plain. In his approach, he tries to understand the motives behind landscapes and how landscapes act as interactive signs and forms of material culture. He directs several projects on landscape history and archaeology in the medieval period, a.o. on coastal identity in the early medieval period (cooperation with Chris Loveluck), on forest history in the Kempen region and on the origin of Early-Medieval Towns in the southern North Sea-region. His current research is aimed at a better understanding of the development of medieval coastal settlement in relation to social formations and strategies of social reproduction. In 2005 he was appointed as lecturer in Medieval Archaeology and Historical Archaeology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, where he is the current Head of Department of Arts and Archaeology. He is co-editor of the Journal Medieval and Modern Matters (Brepols), and current member of the International  Scientific Board of the Medieval Europe Research Conference and the Flemish Royal Commission of Monuments, Landscapes and Archaeology.