Research

My research investigates the sociocultural and sociopolitical transformations that affected the Minoan Cretan communities for five centuries (1700-1190 BCE), focusing on a key component of their material culture: pottery. This period of Cretan history was marked by three successive major phenomena. First, the apogee of palatial Minoan civilisation, characterised by the growing political and ideological influence of Knossos within systems of social organisation. Second, an episode of intense internal conflicts, followed by substantial transformations in economic and administrative practices as well as funerary customs, largely stimulated by increased interactions with groups from the Greek mainland. Third, a profound reorganisation of Cretan society following the disappearance of the final palace at Knossos, involving both the rise of regionalism and the intensification of long-distance connections with other Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean societies.

Through the analysis of ceramic production, consumption, and exchange associated with different social groups, my research contributes to a more precise definition of the development of Minoan pottery traditions. It further aims to contextualise key changes introduced by their patrons, producers, and consumers, with the ultimate objective of identifying the underlying dynamics linking material culture to broader social transformations.

With regard to fieldwork, I am responsible for the study and publication of Late Bronze Age ceramic assemblages from the sites of Palaikastro in eastern Crete, as well as Malia and Sissi in north-central Crete. At Sissi, I also serve as director of the material studies.

I have also developed the Aegis research group at UCLouvain, originally founded by Prof. Jan Driessen. Since 2015, eight doctoral researchers and eight postdoctoral fellows have initiated projects that complement my expertise and research interests. These fellowships have been supported by funding from the Belgian Fund for Scientific Research (F.R.S.-FNRS: ASP, CR, and FRESH), the UCLouvain Special Research Fund (FSR), the Institut français d’archéologie orientale (MESRI, 2019-2022), and Marie Curie/UCLouvain co-funded programmes. Through the supervision of these doctoral dissertations and postdoctoral projects, the Aegis group has established new interdisciplinary collaborations with specialists in related fields, including Middle Bronze Age pottery studies (Dr Ilaria Caloi/University of Venice), ceramic petrography and elemental analysis (Dr Eleni Nodarou/INSTAP-Study Center for East Crete, Prof. Ioannis Iliopoulos/Minerals and Rocks Research Laboratory, University of Patras), anthropology and archaeothanatology (Dr Aurore Schmitt/CNRS-Université Paul Valéry/Montpellier), geology and geoarchaeology (Antoine Triantaphyllou and Jean-Philippe Perrillat/ LGL-TPE Lyon/Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1), archaeological survey and computational archaeology (Ralf Van Dam and Pieter Lieben/VUBrussels).

Education

• 2008 : PhD thesis in Prehistory Archaeology, UCLouvain. Eteocretans in the Bronze Age in the Sitia Peninsula? A Regional and Archaeological Comparative Study of  Crete during the Late Minoan II‐IIIB Period. (supervisor: Dr. Prof. Jan Driessen).

• 2003 : Master of Arts, Art and Civilizations – UCLouvain 

• 2002 : Master of Arts, Archaeology and History of Art – UCLouvain 

• 1999 : Bachelor of Arts, Archaeology and History of Art – UCLouvain

Field projects

• British School at Athens (2003‐present): Excavations at Palaikastro, Crete. Study & publication of Building 7. Collab. Dr Quentin Letesson (UCLouvain); Prof. Carl Knappett (University of Toronto). 

• Ecole  Belge  d’Athènes  (2007‐present):  Excavations  at  Sissi,  Crete.  Co‐direction of the project since 2015; coordination and management of material studies; study & publication of the Neopalatial, Final Palatial and Postpalatial ceramic assemblages. Collab. Prof. em. Jan Driessen (UCLouvain).   

• Ecole Française d’Athènes (2005‐present): Excavations at Malia, Quartier Pi, Crete. Study, coordination & publication of the Neopalatial ceramic assemblages. Collab. Dr Maia Pomadère (Université Panthéon Sorbonne). 

• Ecole Française d’Athènes (2023-present) : Excavations at Malia, Quartier Thêta, Crete. Co‐direction of the project; coordination and management of material studies; study & publication of the ceramic assemblages. Collab. Dr Maia Pomadère (Université Panthéon Sorbonne).

Choice of publications/conferences (5 max.)

• Langohr C., M. Pomadère, M.E. Alberti 2022 (2024). The Neopalatial architectural and ceramic sequence at Malia. New insights from Area Pi, Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 146.1, 71-195.

• Langohr C. 2020. Growth and turmoil in the thirteenth century in Crete, in G.D. Middelton, Collapse and Transformation: The Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age in the Aegean, Oxford: Oxbow Books, 87-96.

• Langohr C. 2019. Living apart together. A ceramic analysis of Eastern Crete during the advanced Late Bronze Age, Journal of Greek Archaeology 4, 31-66.

• Langohr C. (ed.) 2017. How Long is a Century? Late Minoan IIIB Pottery. Relative Chronology and Regional Differences, Acts of an International Workshop held at UCLouvain on the 24-25th October 2013 (Aegis 12), Louvain-la-Neuve.

• Driessen J.& Langohr C. 2007. Rallying around a Minoan Past. The Legitimation of Power at Knossos during the Late Bronze Age, in M.L. Galaty and W.A. Parkinson (eds), Rethinking Mycenaean palaces: New Interpretations of an Old Idea, 2e edition, Los Angeles, 178-189.

See all publications  here.