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Department of

Archaeology and Heritage Studies

  • #18 on QS World University Rankings

About the department

At the department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies we are concerned with people and the environment and culture and society from the earliest times, examining the connection between the past and the present – and exploring how real and imagined pasts can inform the future. With a focus on studies of material culture and heritage practice, the department pays strong attention to dissemination and engagement with a wide range of publics and policy makers. Drawing on fieldwork and excavation, laboratory, archival and ethnographic investigation, the department’s interdisciplinarity is at the core of its research and teaching activities, investigating and challenging our understanding of past, present and future societies seen in a long-term perspective.

Research environment

The department has an international profile and strong research networks. A dynamic research environment provides the framework for large research projects, international conferences and a variety of visiting researchers. The environment is versatile and cross-disciplinary, and the academic staff’s research competences span a broad range of topics; from war and power, mobility and globalisation, family and individual, religion and rituals, landscape, settlement and architecture, colonial and decolonial relations, geopolitics and community development, paleo-demography and evolution, trade and networks, technology and knowledge exchange. We hereby apply quantitative analysis methods, field methodology and digital representation. As a research environment we cooperate with international partners across the globe, as well as the Danish heritage and museum sector, not least Moesgård Museum.

Affiliated degree programmes

The archaeology programme at Aarhus University offers a bachelor’s and a master’s degree programme in archaeology, together with an MA Programme in Sustainable Heritage Management (taught in English). We hereby cooperate with the Department of History and Classical Studies as well as the Institut for Geoscience, both at AU. In addition, a variety of elective subjects and events are offered, including Viking age Scandinavia at the Aarhus University Summer University.


Academic staff

Phd students

Archaeological IT

 Archaeological IT website

Latest publications

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Maier, A., Sauer, F., Orrin, J., Nguyen, T. M. H., Schmolz, S., Mygdam, F., Juul, C. & Riede, F. (2025). Mesolithische Funde aus der Hollenkammer bei Lütersheim. hessen Archäologie, 2024, 56-59.
Aagaard, J. R., Hjulmand Larsen, C., Bødstrup Christoffersen, J. E., Munch Thomsen, J., Birk, K., Kaas, M. H., Fur, R., Termansen, S. S. & Dobat, A. S. (2025). Metal Detecting in University Education: Empowering future archaeologists through training. Internet Archaeology, 68(1). https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.68.1
Kristensen, H. K. (2025). Middelalderens stenhuse i Viborg. Jysk Arkæologisk Selskab.
Johannsen, N. N., Sørensen, L. V., Bendtsen, M. L. & Romanowska, I. (2025). Migration, niche construction and demography: A modelling approach to the establishment of farming communities in southern Scandinavia. Poster session presented at ENE25, 2nd Conference on the Emergence of the Neolithic in Europe, Zadar, Croatia.
Donovan, K., Jackson, R., O'Connell, S., Karunarathna, D., Retnowati, A., Anantasari, E., Cha, Y., Niemand, D., Harvey, D. & Dugmore, A. (2025). Mobilising cultural heritage for locally owned adaptation. npj Climate Action, 2025(4), 1-4. Article 104. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44168-025-00309-3
Tornberg, A. & Vandkilde, H. (2025). Modelling age at death reveals Nordic Corded Ware paleodemography. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 17, Article 38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-024-02159-2
Shev, G. T., De Cupere, B., Brozou, A., Fuller, B. T., Mannino, M. A., Peters, J., Van Neer, W., Bouillon, S. & Ottoni, C. (2025). Non-exchangeable hydrogen (δ2H) stable isotope ratios in fauna provide enhanced dietary, isotopic niche and home range reconstruction at Aqaba Castle, Jordan. PLoS One, 20(8 ), Article e0328991. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0328991

Publications

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Roesdahl, E. & Verhaeghe, F. (2011). Material culture - artefacts and daily life. In M. Carver & J. Klapste (Eds.), The Archaeology of Medieval Europe: Twelfth to Sixteenth centuries (1 ed., Vol. 2, pp. 189-227). Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
Løvschal, M. (2011). Mellem høj og hjulspor: Landskabsarkæologiske perspektiver på vejene i Viborg-området i yngre bronzealder. In S. Boddum, M. Mikkelsen & N. Terkildsen (Eds.), Depotfund i yngre bronzealders lokale kulturlandskab (Vol. 1, pp. 81-96). Viborg Stiftsmuseum.
Kristensen, H. K. (2011). Niels T. Sterum: Løgum - kloster, slot og by. "pionerer i ødemarken". Kuml: Årbog for Jysk Arkæologisk Selskab, 2011, 372-374.
Larsen, M. (2011). Påskesønnernes gård. Skalk, (5), 11-15.
Johannsen, N. N. (2011). Past and present strategies for draught exploitation of cattle. In U. Albarella & A. Trentacoste (Eds.), Ethnozooarchaeology: The Present and Past of Human-Animal Relationships (pp. 13-19). Oxbow Books.
Atzbach, R. (2011). Rezension: AufRuhr 1225. Ritter, Burgen und Intrigen. Acta Praehistorica et Archaeologica, 43, 387-390.
Roesdahl, E. (2011). Scandinavia in the Melting-pot, 950-1000. In S. Sigmundsson, A. Holt, G. Sigurdsson, G. Ólafsson & O. Vésteinsson (Eds.), Viking Settlements & Viking Society: Papers from the Proceedings of the Sixteenth Viking Congress, Reykjavík and Reykholt, 16-23 August 2009 (pp. 347-374). Hid Íslenzka Fornleifafélag & University of Iceland Press.
Haue, N. (2011). Social stratifikation og den “sociale arv” i ældre jernalder - med udgangspunkt i bopladsstudier fra Nordjylland. In N. A. Møller, S. Qvistgaard Skytte & S. Frydenlund Jensen (Eds.), Nyt fra Vestfronten : Nord- og Vestjyske bebyggelser fra ældre jernalder Danmarks Universitetsforlag.
Croix, S. (2011). Status, Gender and Space on High Status Settlement Sites from the Viking Age. Archäologie in Schleswig, Sonderband „Det 61. Internationale Sachsensymposion 2010“, Haderslev, Danmark.
Riede, F. (2011). Steps Towards Operationalising an Evolutionary Archaeological Definition of Culture. In B. W. Roberts & M. Vander Linden (Eds.), Investigating Archaeological Cultures. Material Culture, Variability, and Transmission (pp. 245-270). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6970-5_13
Nørgaard, H. W. (2011). The Bronze Age Smith as Individual. Poster session presented at Interpreting Identities Conference, Belfast, United Kingdom.
Riede, F. (2011). The Causes of Population Growth. In M. Aldenderfer (Ed.), World History Encyclopedia (pp. 158-159). ABC-Clio.
Løvschal, M. (2011). The Temporal Dynamics of Landscape Boundaries in Northern Europe the First Millennium BC. Poster session presented at Human Development in Landscapes, Kiel, Germany.
Sørensen, T. F. (2011). Tingenes tale. Jordens Folk, 46(3), 30-35.
Nielsen, N. H. & Kristiansen, S. M. (2011). Traditionel fosfatanalyse sammenlignet med total geokemi til påvisning af gødskning af jernaldermarker. Poster session presented at Metoder og nye resultater i arkæologien, Statens Naturvidenskabelig Museum, København, Denmark.
Løvschal, M. (2011). Why the long-term perspective? An archaeological approach to human conceptualization. Poster session presented at IASCR Expanding the Space of Cognitive Science, Boston, United States.
Nørgaard, H. W. (2011). Workshops in Mecklenburg. Metalla, Sonderheft 4, 248-249.
Dobat, A. S., Trans, A. E. & Maak Ravn, K. H. (2011). Zwischen Haithabu, Danewerk und Schleswig - Die Wikingersiedlung Füsing. Archäologische Nachrichten aus Schleswig-Holstein, 17, 88-91.
Stolba, V., Smekalova, T. N., Khrapunov, I. N., Andresen, J.-B. R. & Muld, S. A. (2011). Исследования в Западном Крыму. In Archeologični doslidžennja v Ukraini 2010 (pp. 316-317). Instytut archeolohiji NANU, Kyjiv-Poltava.
Bille, M., Hastrup, F. & Sørensen, T. F. (Eds.) (2010). An Anthropology of Absence: Materializations of Transcendence and Loss. Springer Publishing Company.
Graham-Campbell, J. & Ryan, M. (Eds.) (2010). Anglo-Saxon/Irish Relations Before the Vikings. Oxford University Press.
Sørensen, T. F. (2010). A Saturated Void: Anticipating and preparing presence in contemporary Danish cemetery culture. In M. Bille, F. Hastrup & T. F. Sørensen (Eds.), An Anthropology of Absence: Materializations of Transcendence and Loss (pp. 115-130). Springer Publishing Company.
Breuning-Madsen, H., Holst, M. K. & Henriksen, P. S. (2010). Brønden på toppen af Nordhøjen i Jelling. Denmark. Nationalmuseet. Nationalmuseets Arbejdsmark, 2010, 192-203.
Atzbach, R. (2010). Burgenherrschaft ohne Mythos, in: Rainer Atzbach et. al. (eds.), In R. Atzbach, S. Lüken & H. Ottomeyer (Eds.), Burg und Herrschaft Deutsches Historisches Museum.
Thrane, H. (2010). Contacts between Central and northern Europe. In H. Meller & F. Bertemes (Eds.), Der Griff nach den Sternen: wie Europas Eliten zu Macht und Reichtum kamen: internationales Symposium in Halle (Saale) 16.-21. Februar 2005 (Vol. 2, pp. 579-590). Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt. Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte.
Roesdahl, E. (2010). Danevirke. In R. E. Bjork (Ed.), The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages (Vol. 2, pp. 483-483). Oxford University Press.
Vellev, J. (2010). Danskere i Prag. Skalk, 4, 16-17.
Rasmussen, B. (2010). Drikkehorn og beholdere af organisk materiale. In - (Vol. 5, pp. 415-423). Jysk Arkæologisk Selskab.
Vandkilde, H. (2010). En offerfund med tidlige metalsager fra Skeldal. In Skatte fra den danske muld (pp. 54-59). Nationalmuseet.
Roesdahl, E. (2010). From Scandinavia to Spain: a Viking-Age reliquary in León and its meaning. In J. Sheehan & D. Ó Corráin (Eds.), The Viking Age: Ireland and the West: Papers from the Proceedings of the Fifteenth Viking Congress, Cork, 18-27 August 2005 (pp. 353-360). Four Courts Press.

Recent Publications (2016 onwards)

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Nørgaard, H. W. (2016). Bronzealderens Mesterstøbere. Skalk, 2016(4), 18-22.
McAtackney, L. & Palmer, R. (2016). Colonial Institutions: Uses, Subversions and Material Afterlives. International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 20(3), 471-476. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-016-0353-6
Riede, F. & Klevnäs, A. (2016). Conference and Workshop Report: Anthropology, Weather and Climate Change. The European Archaeologist (TEA), 49(Summer), 24-27.
Talamo, S., Hajdinjak, M., Mannino, M., Fasani, L., Welker, F., Martini, F., Romagnoli, F., Zorzin, R., Meyer, M. & Hublin, J.-J. (2016). Direct radiocarbon dating and genetic analyses on the purported Neanderthal mandible from the Monti Lessini (Italy). Scientific Reports, 6, Article 29144. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep29144
Naum, M. E. (2016). Displacement and emplacement in New Sweden and colonial Middle Atlantic (1638–1750). In I. Gustin, M. Hansson, M. Roslund & J. Wienberg (Eds.), Mellan slott och slagg: Vänbok till Anders Ödman (pp. 177-182). Lunds Universitet.
Jessen, M. D., Andersson Strand, E. B. & Riede, F. (2016). Editorial. Arctic Anthropology, 4(1), 1-2.
Jessen, M. D., Andersson Strand, E. B. & Riede, F. (2016). Editorial. Danish Journal of Archaeology, 5(1-2), 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1080/21662282.2017.1282190
Vellev, J. & Moesgaard, J. C. (2016). En tabt pung fra 2. verdenskrig. Nordisk Numismatisk Unions Medlemsblad, 1, 22-24.
Høybye, M. (2016). For alt i verden. (1 ed.) Songcrafter Music.
Kristensen, H. K. (2016). Franciskanerklostret i Horsens. Jysk Arkæologisk Selskab. Jysk Arkæologisk Selskabs Skrifter Vol. 90
Beck, A. S., Christiansen, I. & Buck Pedersen, K. (2016). Gaver fra fortiden: Profilforskning i den nye udstilling på Køge Museum. Museum Sydøstdanmark Årbog, 2015, 34-45.
McAtackney, L. (2016). Gender, incarceration, and power relations during the Irish Civil War (1922-1923). In V. Sanford, K. Stefatos & C. M. Salvi (Eds.), Gender Violence in Peace and War: States of Complicity (pp. 47-63). Rutgers University Press.
di Maida, G., Pastoors, A., Zilhão, J., García-Diez, M., Hoffmann, D., Pike, A., Standish, C. D., Mannino, M. & Terberger, T. (2016). Grotta delle Incisioni dell'Addaura (Palermo, Prov. di Palermo), Grotta del Genovese, Levanzo (Favignana, Prov. di Trapani). Notiziario di Preistoria e Protostoria, 3(II), 77-79. http://www.iipp.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/NPP-2016-II.pdf
Vellev, J. (2016). Historien om Sydehytten på Læsø. In Læsø salt i 25 år: Om sydesalt og ildsjæle (pp. 16-21).
Roesdahl, E. (2016). H.P. Hanssens navneskilt fra fredskonferencen I Paris 1919? Soenderjysk Maanedsskrift, 2016 årg. 92(5), 190-192.
Jensen, P., Nielsen, J. K., Pedersen, A., Lerche, M., Teilmann-Jørgensen, M. & Plauborg, H. (2016). Jelling på Harald Blåtands tid: Mysteriet om Palisaden. Pictures, Video and sound recordings (digital)
Piezonka, H., Glykou, A., Meadows, J. & Philippsen, B. (2016). Krusten im Kochtopf – was die angebrannte Suppe erzählt. Archaeologie in Deutschland, 2016(4).
Kaul, F., Andresen, J.-B. R. & Thorsen, M. S. (2016). Lys over land. Skalk, 2016(5), 14-17.
Karen, R., Fredsgaard, K. & Riede, F. (2016). Mesolitiske bosættelser ved Gudenåsystemets søer og åer. Kuml: Årbog for Jysk Arkæologisk Selskab, 2016, 55-80. https://doi.org/10.7146/kuml.v65i65.24829
Dobat, A. S. (2016). Metal Detecting in Denmark: Advantages and Disadvantages of the Liberal Model. In J. Martens & M. Ravn (Eds.), Pløyejord som Kontekst: Nye perspektiver for forskning, forvaltning og formidling - artikelsamling (pp. 51-68). Portal forlag.
Johannsen, N. N., Nielsen, S. K. & Jensen, S. T. (2016). North-western Jutland at the dawn of the 3rd millennium: Navigating life and death in a new socioeconomic landscape? In M. Furholt, R. Grossmann & M. Szmyt (Eds.), Transitional Landscapes? The 3rd Millennium cal BC in Europe (pp. 35-53). Dr. Rudolf Habelt.
Kristiansen, M. S., Kjærgaard, A. & Hartvig, A. (2016). Objekttilpasningsparathed, tak! Forundersøgelser af landbebyggelse fra middelalder og nyere tid. Arkæologisk Forum, 2016(34), 11-16.
Roesdahl, E. (2016). Olaf Heymann Olsen 7. juni 1928 – 17. november 2015. Historisk Tidsskrift, 116(2), 452-472.
Vandkilde, H. (2016). Pithoi from the Bronze Age Settlement at Kastelli Khania. In E. Hallager & B. P. Hallager (Eds.), The Greek-Swedish Excavations at the Agia Aikaterini Square Kastelli, Khania 1970-87, 2001, 2005 and 2008: The Late Minoan IIIA:1 and II Settlements (Vol. V, pp. 341-373). eddy.se AB.
Thrane, H. (2016). "Prähistorische Bronzefunde" und die nordische Bronzezeit - Versuch einer Bilanz. In U. L. Dietz & A. Jochenhövel (Eds.), 50 Jahre 'Prähistorische Bronzefunde" Bilanz und Perspektiven (Vol. XX bd. 14, pp. 357-64).
Radohs, L. & Ansorge, J. (2016). Renaissancezeitliche Bein- und Geweiheinlagen aus Stralsund – archäologische Hinterlassenschaften eines Büchsenschäfters. Bodendenkmalpflege in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 62 (2014), 145-206.
McAtackney, L. (2016). Re-remembering the Troubles: Community memorials, memory and identity in post-conflict Northern Ireland. . In E. Epinoux & F. Healy (Eds.), Post-Celtic Tiger Ireland: Exploring New Cultural Spaces (pp. 42-64). Cambridge Scholars Press.

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