Dr. Sebastian Hageneuer

Academic Interests

Commons Groups

HC

Recent Commons Activity

Commons Sites

HC

About

I am a West Asian Archaeologist based in Germany and focused on the methodology of reconstruction of ancient architecture among other things. I received my degree at the Free University of Berlin, Germany and my PhD as well with a thesis called “From Layard to Lara Croft. Eurocentric mindset in the visual media of West Asian Archaeology” (translated from German). During my time as a student, I started a company called Artefacts, that focused on creating visual reconstructions of ancient architecture and worked for various projects.

I am currently a research assistant at the University of Cologne and work in the newly created master programme of Archaeoinformatics (Computational Archaeology) as a specialist in 3D Documentation and Modelling. I was also a Fellow for Innovations in Digital Teaching and explore new ways of communicating archaeological knowledge with modern technologies in an associated project.

Education

University of Cologne, Germany
- 2017 | Fellowship for Innovations in in digital university-level teaching

Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
- 2013 to 2022 | Promotion (Institute of Near Eastern Archaeology)
- 2002 to 2010 | Magister Artium (Institute of Near Eastern Archaeology)

Mastodon Feed

✨ New blog post! I was interviewed by @berliner_antike_kolleg about my opinion on archaeoinformatics. But rather than reposting, I reflect on what I couldn't say in 10 questions: 🤖 My honest ambivalence about AI in archaeology 🎓 Why archaeoinformatics isn't a service discipline 🎮 The excavation video game that should exist but doesn't 👉 https://itsmoreofacomment.com/2026/01/16/ten-questions-and-a-few-more-thoughts/ #DigitalArchaeology #Archaeoinformatics #OpenScience (2026-01-16 ↗)

New article out! 🎉 "Archaeology and interdisciplinarity after the digital turn" just published in Rethinking History. I explore how archaeology has always been interdisciplinary – and how RTI, machine learning & archaeogaming push this even further. Spoiler: My students' game "The Schliemann Experience" made it in! 🎮 #Archaeology #DigitalArchaeology #Archaeogaming #DH 🔗 https://itsmoreofacomment.com/2026/01/02/archaeology-and-interdisciplinarity-after-the-digital-turn/ (2026-01-02 ↗)

#500CharAbstracts: Michaela Stark’s chapter explores the integration of serious games and 3D interaction technologies into museums and university teaching. Such tools enhance engagement, learning, and outreach, but also raise questions about sustainability and long-term usability. 🔗 https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.1572.c23239 This chapter forms part of a larger volume on Digital Methods of Learning and Teaching in Archaeology, published in 2025: https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.1572 #Archaeology #Museums #SeriousGames (2025-11-27 ↗)

#500CharAbstracts: Asuman Lätzer-Lasar discusses the ethical implications of animated and immersive visualizations in archaeological teaching. Reconstructions and moving images can mislead learners when presented uncritically. The chapter stresses the responsibility of educators to raise awareness. 🔗 https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.1572.c23238 This chapter forms part of a larger volume on Digital Methods of Learning and Teaching in Archaeology, published in 2025: https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.1572 #Archaeology #Ethics (2025-11-25 ↗)

📚 Two new publications out this week: 1️⃣ Material Traces of Marketplaces — an ethnoarchaeological case study from Morocco, incl. my SfM work. 2️⃣ Archaeogaming in the Classroom — on teaching archaeology through game creation, based on my seminar at Cologne. Different worlds, same commitment to creative, critical, digital archaeology. Read the full blog post 👉 https://itsmoreofacomment.com/2025/11/21/two-new-publications-two-different-worlds/ #OpenAccess #Ethnoarchaeology #Archaeogaming #DigitalHeritage (2025-11-24 ↗)

Blog Posts

Report on a successful workshop at the ICAANE (West Asia in the Center: decolonizing orientalist narratives of the past and present, 2023-06-26)
Cancelling the conference and moving on (West Asia in the Center: decolonizing orientalist narratives of the past and present, 2022-03-21)
This is: West Asia in the Center (West Asia in the Center: decolonizing orientalist narratives of the past and present, 2021-07-20)
The proceedings of the symposium are now available in print and open access! (Communicating the Past in the Digital Age, 2020-02-07)
Full open access publication is on the way! (Communicating the Past in the Digital Age, 2019-02-08)
Second day of the conference (Communicating the Past in the Digital Age, 2018-10-15)
First day of the conference (Communicating the Past in the Digital Age, 2018-10-12)
Change in the programme (Communicating the Past in the Digital Age, 2018-10-02)

Publications

Monographs:

Hageneuer, S. 2022: Von Layard bis Lara Croft. Eurozentrische Denkweisen in den Bildmedien der Archäologie Westasiens. Dissertation, Freie Universität Berlin. DOI: 10.17169/refubium-36558.

Edited volumes:

Buccellati, F./Hageneuer, S./van der Heyden, S./Levenson, F. (Eds.) 2019: Size matters – Understanding Monumentality across Ancient Civilizations, Transcript: Bielefeld. DOI: 10.5334/bch.

Hageneuer, S. (Ed.) 2020: Communicating the Past in the Digital Age: Proceedings of the International Conference on Digital Methods in Teaching and Learning in Archaeology (12th-13th October 2018), Ubiquity: London. DOI: 10.5334/bch.

Articles:

Hageneuer, S. 2008: Art. ‘Nusku’, in: J. Eggler/C. Uehlinger (Eds.), Iconography of Deities and Demons in the biblical world (IDD), Zürich. Pre-print: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7103713.

Hageneuer, S. 2012: Königliche Gärten als konstitutive Elemente altorientalischer Städte, in: Rödel-Braune, C./Waschke, C. (Eds.), Orte des Geschehens. Interaktionsräume als konstitutive Elemente der antiken Stadt. Geschichte Bd. 110, Berlin, 155-172.

Bator, S./van Ess, M./Hageneuer, S. 2013: Visualisierung der Architektur von Uruk, in: Crüsemann, N. et al. (Eds.), Uruk – 5000 Jahre Megacity (Exhibition Catalogue), Petersberg, 365-371.

Hageneuer, S. 2014: The visualisation of Uruk – First impressions of the first metropolis in the world, in: Börner, W./Uhrlitz, S. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 18th Conference on Cultural Heritage and New Technologies, Wien.

— 2015: Bilder vergangener Kulturen – Architektur-Rekonstruktionen in der Vorderasiatischen Archäologie des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts, Alter Orient Aktuell 13/2015, 4-9.

— 2016: Le Temple blanc d’Uruk sur sa haute terrasse, in: Quenet, P. (Ed.), Ana ziqquratim. Sur la piste de Babel (Exhibition Catalogue), Strasbourg, 112-113.

— 2016: The influence of early architectural reconstruction drawings in Near Eastern Archaeology, in: Stucky, R.A./Kaelin, O./Mathys, H.-P. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East (ICAANE), Wiesbaden, 359-370.

— 2016: Die virtuelle Rekonstruktion von Pi-Ramesse, in: Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe (Ed.), Ramses – Göttlicher Herrscher am Nil (Exhibition Catalogue), 268-272.

Brunke, H. et al. 2016: Thinking big. Research in Monumental Constructions in Antiquity, in: G. Graßhoff, M. Meyer (Eds.): Space and Knowledge. Topoi Research Group Articles. Berlin: Excellence Cluster Topoi (eTopoi. Journal for Ancient Studies, Special Volume 6), 2016, 250-305. DOI: 10.17169/FUDOCS_document_000000025992.

Franzmeier, H./Hageneuer, S. 2017: From the Nile Delta to Karlsruhe: or how to present mud bricks in an exhibition, in: CIPEG Journal 1, 15-26. DOI: 10.11588/cipeg.2017.1.40326.

Hageneuer, S./Levenson, F. 2018: Das Steinstiftgebäude in Uruk – ein gescheitertes Experiment?, in: Rheidt, K./Lorenz, W. (Eds.), Groß Bauen – Großbaustellen als kulturgeschichtliches Phänomen, Kulturelle und technische Werte historischer Bauten 1, Basel, 109-121. DOI: 10.1515/9783035609752-010.

Franzmeier, H./Hageneuer, S. 2019: “Pi-Ramesse. Die ägyptische Hauptstadt des späten Neuen Reiches”, in: ANTIKE WELT Jubilee Issue “Auferstehung der Antike. Archäologische Stätten digital rekonstruiert”, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft: Darmstadt, 30-31.

Hageneuer, S. 2019: “Uruk. Megacity vor 5000 Jahren”, in: ANTIKE WELT Jubilee Issue “Auferstehung der Antike. Archäologische Stätten digital rekonstruiert”, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft: Darmstadt, 10-11.

Hageneuer, S./Schmidt, S. 2019: Monumentality by numbers, in: F. Buccellati/S.Hageneuer/S. van der Heyden/F. Levenson (Eds.), Size matters – Understanding Monumentality across Ancient Civilizations, Transcript: Bielefeld, 292-308. DOI: 10.14361/9783839445389.

Hulek, F./Hageneuer, S. 2019: Auf den Spuren etruskischer Mythen: Eine Amphora im Archäologischen Institut, in: Marx, P.W./Neuhausen, H. (Eds.), Schätze der Universität zu Köln, Greven: Köln, 114-117.

Hageneuer, S. 2019: »Without Drawing the Study of Antiquities is Lame!« – Architektur-Rekonstruktion als wissenschaftliches Tool?, in: P. Kuroczyński/M. Pfarr-Harfst/S. Münster (Eds.), Der Modelle Tugend 2.0 – Digitale 3D-Rekonstruktion als virtueller Raum der architekturhistorischen Forschung, Heidelberg: arthistoricum.net, 203-212. DOI: 10.11588/arthistoricum.515.

Bator, S./van Ess, M./Hageneuer, S. 2019: The Visualization of Uruk’s Architecture, in: Crüsemann, N. et al. (Eds.), Uruk – First City of the Ancient World (Ausstellungskatalog), Los Angeles, 345-351.

Deschler-Erb, E/Geiermann, S./Hageneuer, S./Wilk, D.C. 2021: Das Römergrab Weiden auf dem Weg in die virtuelle Welt, in: KUBA 9/10, 203-210.

Hageneuer, S. 2021: Digitale Lehre in der Archäoinformatik, in: KUBA 9/10, 177-187.

Hageneuer, S. 2021: Archaeogaming: How Heaven’s Vault changes the “game”, in: Herausgeber*innenkollektiv (Eds.), Pearls, Politics and Pistachios. Essays in Anthropology and Memories on the Occasion of Susan Pollock’s 65th Birthday, Berlin, 631-642. DOI: 10.11588/propylaeum.837.c10771.

di Maida, G./Hageneuer, S. 2022: The DISAPALE project: a new digital repository of lithic and bone artefacts, in: Lithic Technology. DOI: 10.1080/01977261.2022.2048511.

in preparation/in print:

Visuelle Rekonstruktion antiker Architektur. Article in a volume of the workshop “Rekonstruktion und Archäologie” of the SFB 644 of the Humboldt-Universität Berlin.

Hageneuer, S.: Reconstructing ancient West Asia. Appropriation, Politics and early Reconstruction Drawings, in: ISAW Papers.

Grabowski, S./Hageneuer, S.: The Reconstruction of the Eninnu in Girsu, chapter in a volume.

Hageneuer, S.: Indiana Jones in videogames – A history of depicting archaeology as colonial practice, in: Richardson, L. (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Archaeology and the Media in the 21st century, probably 2023.

Projects

since 2008: Creation of the company Artefacts
- Focus on the visualisation of scientific data, especially the reconstruction of ancient architecture.

2008-2013: Uruk Visualisation of the Oriental Department of the German Archaeological Insitute
- Reconstruction and visualisation of selected architecture of the site of Uruk/Iraq.

since 2011: Mari Visualisation of the excavation project at the University of Paris
- Reconstruction and visualisation of selected architecture of the site of Mari/Syria. Re-Visualisation of the excavation results with the help of 3D modelling to review the excavation documentation and to create visualisations for teaching.

since 2013: TOPOI Research Project B-2-3 “Big buildings – big architecture? The cultural significance of size in the architecture of the ancient Near East” at the Freie Universität Berlin and the German Archaeological Instiute
- Reconstruction and visualisation of selected architecture of the site of Uruk/Iraq and Habuba Kabira/Iraq. Calculation of the utilised building materials on the basis of the 3D models.

since 2015: Qantir-Piramesse excavation project
- Digitalisation of the excavation results and reconstruction of selected architecture for presentation and research.

2017: Erfahrbarkeit des Altertums mit Hilfe sensorischer Archäologie
- Fellowship for innovations in digital teaching by the ministry of culture and science of Northrhine-Westphalia