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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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Roesdahl, E. & Feng, W., (Trans.) (2022). 维京人 (The Vikings). Social Sciences Academic Press (China).
Ma, Y., Dong, R. R., Fuller, B. T. & Wei, S. Y. (2021). 基于氨基酸的古代食谱重建. Guang Pu Xue Yu Guang Pu Fen Xi/Spectroscopy and Spectral Analysis, 41(2), 395-399. https://doi.org/10.3964/j.issn.1000-0593(2021)02-0395-05
Stolba, V., Khrapunov, I. N., Smekalova, T. N., Andresen, J.-B. R., Riede, F. & Handberg, S. (2012). Разведки на Тарханкутском полуострове. In Археологiчнi дослiдження в Украïнi 2011 (pp. 143-144). Volyns'ki starozhytnosti.
Vybornov, A. A., Yudin, A. I., Kulkova, M. A., Goslar, T., Possnert, G. & Philippsen, B. (2016). Радиоуглеродные данные для хронологии неолита Нижнего Поволжья. In РАДИОУГЛЕРОДНАЯ ХРОНОЛОГИЯ ЭПОХИ НЕОЛИТА ВОСТОЧНОЙ ЕВРОПЫ VII–III ТЫСЯЧЕЛЕТИЯ ДО Н. Э. (pp. 62-73).
Stolba, V., Khrapunov, I. N., Andresen, J.-B. R. & Handberg, S. (2012). Поселение Кельшейх 1 на дальней хоре Херсонеса. In Археологiчнi дослiдження в Украïнi 2011 (pp. 118-119). Volyns'ki starozhytnosti.
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.
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.

Publications

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Stolba, V., Khrapunov, I. N., Smekalova, T. N., Andresen, J.-B. R., Riede, F. & Handberg, S. (2012). Разведки на Тарханкутском полуострове. In Археологiчнi дослiдження в Украïнi 2011 (pp. 143-144). Volyns'ki starozhytnosti.
Vybornov, A. A., Yudin, A. I., Kulkova, M. A., Goslar, T., Possnert, G. & Philippsen, B. (2016). Радиоуглеродные данные для хронологии неолита Нижнего Поволжья. In РАДИОУГЛЕРОДНАЯ ХРОНОЛОГИЯ ЭПОХИ НЕОЛИТА ВОСТОЧНОЙ ЕВРОПЫ VII–III ТЫСЯЧЕЛЕТИЯ ДО Н. Э. (pp. 62-73).
Stolba, V., Khrapunov, I. N., Andresen, J.-B. R. & Handberg, S. (2012). Поселение Кельшейх 1 на дальней хоре Херсонеса. In Археологiчнi дослiдження в Украïнi 2011 (pp. 118-119). Volyns'ki starozhytnosti.
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.
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.
Kveiborg, J. & Ritchie, K. (2013). Zooarkæologisk gennemgang af knoglemateriale fra Trelleborg, Fyrkat og Aggersborg. In Kongens borge : Rapport over undersøgelserne under Projektet Kongens Borge 2007 – 2010 (pp. 206-213). Jysk Arkæologisk Selskab.
Näsman, U. & Roesdahl, E. (1993). Yngre germansk jernalder og vikingetid. In S. Hvass & B. Storgaard (Eds.), Da klinger i muld...: 25 års arkæologi i Danmark (pp. 181-186). Det Kgl. Nordiske Oldskriftsselskab / Jysk Arkæologisk Selskab.
Vellev, J. (2013). Worsaae & Kornerup: en antikvarisk rejse sommeren 1859. In M. Høj (Ed.), Jacob Kornrup - maler, arkæolog og konservator (pp. 105-116). Roskilde Museum.
Nørgaard, H. W. (2011). Workshops in Mecklenburg. Metalla, Sonderheft 4, 248-249.
Roesdahl, E. (1998). Wikinger. I. Archäologie. In Lexikon des Mittelalters (Vol. IX, pp. 98-102).
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.
Riede, F. (2010). Why isn’t archaeology (more) Darwinian? A historical perspective. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 8(2), 183-204.
Thrane, H. (2001). Why did the rainbow end at Drouwen - if it did? In W. H. Metz, B. L. V. Beek & H. Steegstra (Eds.), PATINA: Essays presented to Jay Jordan Butler on the Occasion of his 80th birthday (pp. 551-560).
Roesdahl, E. (2003). What may we expect? On the problem of Vikings and archaeology in Normandy. In A.-M. Flambard (Ed.), La progression des Vikings, des raids à la colonisation (pp. 207-214).
Jessen, M. D. (2002). What is the Purpose of Thinking? In Scuola Primavera - Parmenides Centre of the Study of Thinking Institut für Medizinische Psychologie, Ludwig Maximillians Universität München, Germany.. http://www.imp-muenchen.de/uploads/media/MadsJessen_02.doc
Thrane, H. (2009). Weg und Grab: Ein Beispiel von Gudme auf Ostfünen. In S. Brather (Ed.), Historia Archaeologica: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde Ergänzungsband (Vol. 70, pp. 177-202). De Gruyter.
Roesdahl, E. & Pedersen, A. (2014). Weapons. In E. Roesdahl, S. M. Sindbæk, A. Pedersen & D. M. Wilson (Eds.), Aggersborg: The Viking-Age settlement and fortress (pp. 302-305). Jysk Arkæologisk Selskab.
Løvschal, M. (2013). Ways of Wandering: In the Late Bronze Age Barrow Landscape of the Himmerland-area, Denmark. In D. Fontijn, A. Louwen, S. van der Vaart & K. Wentink (Eds.), Barrows and beyond: Current research on the structuration and perception of the Prehistoric Landscape through Monuments (pp. 225-250). Sidestone Press. http://www.sidestone.com/bookshop/beyond-barrows
Frei, K. M., Coutu, A. N., Smiarowski, K., Harrison, R., Madsen, K. K., Arneborg, J., Frei, R., Gudmundsson, G., Sindbæk, S. M., Woollett, J., Hartman, S., Hicks, M. & McGovern, T. H. (2015). Was it for walrus? Viking Age settlement and medieval walrus ivory trade in Iceland and Greenland. World Archaeology, 47(3), 439-466.
Vandkilde, H. (2006). Warriors and Warrior Institutions in Copper Age Europe. In T. Otto, H. Thrane & H. Vandkilde (Eds.), Warfare and Society. Archaeological and Social Anthropological Perspectives (pp. 393-422). Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
Holst, M. K. (2014). Warrior aristocracy and village community: Two fundamental forms of social organisationin the Late Iron Age and Viking Age. In E. Stidsing, K. H. Nielsen & R. F. (Eds.), Wealth and Complexity: Economically specialised sites in Late Iron Age Denmark (pp. 179-197). Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
Vandkilde, H. (2006). Warfare, Weaponry and Material Culture - an Introduction. In T. Otto, H. Thrane & H. Vandkilde (Eds.), Warfare and Society. Archaeological and Social Anthropological Perspectives (pp. 483-490). Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
Vandkilde, H. (2013). Warfare in Northern European Bronze Age Societies: 20th century presentations and recent archaeological research inquiries. In S. Ralph (Ed.), The Archaeology of Violence : Interdisciplinary Approaches (pp. 37-62). State University of New York Press.
Thrane, H. (2006). Warfare and the State: An Introduction. In T. Otto, H. Thrane & H. Vandkilde (Eds.), Warfare and Society: Archaeological and Social Anthropological Perspectives (pp. 211-216). Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
Otto, T., Thrane, H. & Vandkilde, H. (2006). Warfare and Society. Archaeological and Social Anthropological Perspectives. In T. Otto, H. Thrane & H. Vandkilde (Eds.), Warfare and Society. Archaeological and Social Anthropological Perspectives (pp. 9-19). Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
Vandkilde, H. (2006). Warfare and pre-State Societies: An Introduction. In T. Otto, H. Thrane & H. Vandkilde (Eds.), Warfare and Society. Archaeological and Social Anthropological Perspectives (pp. 105-111). Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
Vandkilde, H. (2006). Warfare and Gender according to Homer: An Archaeology of an Aristocratic Warrior Culture. In T. Otto, H. Thrane & H. Vandkilde (Eds.), Warfare and Society. Archaeological and Social Anthropological Perspectives (pp. 515-528). Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
Roesdahl, E. (2005). Walrus ivory - demand, supply, workshops, and Greenland. In A. Mortensen & S. Arge (Eds.), Viking and Norse in the North Atlantic. Select Papers from the Proceedings of the Fourteenth Viking Congress Tórshavn 19-30 July 2001 (pp. 182-191)
Roesdahl, E. (2004). Walrus ivory and other northern luxuries: their importance for Norse voyages and settlements in Greenland and America. In S. Lewis-Simpson (Ed.), Vinland Revisited: The Norse World at the Turn of the First Millenium (pp. 145-152).
Roesdahl, E. (2007). Walrus ivory. In J. Bately & A. Englert (Eds.), Ohthere's Voyages: A late 9th-century account of voyages along the coasts of Norway and Denmark and its cultural context (pp. 92-93). Vikingeskibsmuseet.
Johannsen, N. N., Löffler, D. & McGraw, J. J. (2014). Waffengeschichte. In G. Jüttemann (Ed.), Entwicklungen der Menschheit: Humanwissenschaften in der Perspektive der Integration (pp. 157-165). Pabst Science Publishers.
Riede, F. (2015). Volcanic eruptions and human vulnerability in traditional societies past and present – towards a palaeosocial volcanology. In Past Vulnerability: Volcanic eruptions and human vulnerability in traditional societies past and present (pp. 9-22). Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
Riede, F. (2014). Volcanic activity. In C. Smith (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology (Vol. 11, pp. 7657-7666). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_2043
Roesdahl, E. (1978). Vognen og vikingerne. Skalk, 4, 9-14.
Atzbach, R. (2013). Vivian Etting: The Royal Castles of Denmark during the 14th Century. Forschungen zu Burgen und Schlösser, 15, 251-253.

Recent Publications (2016 onwards)

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Vybornov, A. A., Yudin, A. I., Kulkova, M. A., Goslar, T., Possnert, G. & Philippsen, B. (2016). Радиоуглеродные данные для хронологии неолита Нижнего Поволжья. In РАДИОУГЛЕРОДНАЯ ХРОНОЛОГИЯ ЭПОХИ НЕОЛИТА ВОСТОЧНОЙ ЕВРОПЫ VII–III ТЫСЯЧЕЛЕТИЯ ДО Н. Э. (pp. 62-73).
Bosch, M. D., Mannino, M., Prendergast, A. L., Wesselingh, F. P., O'Connell, T. C. & Hublin, J.-J. (2018). Year-round shellfish exploitation in the Levant and implications for Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer subsistence. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 21, 1198-1214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.08.014
McAtackney, L. (2018). Where are all the women? Public memory, gender and memorialisation in contemporary Belfast. In E. Crooke & T. Maguire (Eds.), Heritage after Conflict: Northern Ireland (pp. 154-172). Routledge.
Brozou, A., Fuller, B. T., Lynnerup, N., Boldsen, J. L., Jørkov, M. L. S., Dangvard Pedersen, D., Olsen, J. & Mannino, M. (2019). What can diet reveal? An isotopic investigation of leprosy sufferers from Medieval Denmark. Abstract from EAA 25th Annual meeting of the European Archaeology Association, Bern, Switzerland.
Kucera, J., Rasmussen, K. L., Kamenik, J., Kubesova, M., Skytte, L., Povysil, C., Karpenko, V., Havranek, V., Veleminsky, P., Lynnerup, N., Bruzek, J., Smolik, J. & Vellev, J. (2017). Was He Murdered or Was He Not? Part II: Multi-Elemental Analyses of Hair and Bone Samples from Tycho Brahe and Histopathology of His Bones. Archaeometry, 59(5), 918-933. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12284
Shepherd, N. & Ernsten, C. (2020). Wandelen in het antropoceen. In C. Ernsten, M. Minkema & D.-J. Visser (Eds.), Voorland Groningen: Wandelingen door het antropoceen (pp. 196-205). NAi Publishers.
McAtackney, L. & McGuire, R. (Eds.) (2020). Walling In and Walling Out: Why Are We Building New Barriers to Divide Us? University of New Mexico Press.
Sindbæk, S. M. (2019). Von Händlern und Räubern. Archaeologie in Deutschland, (2), 40-43.
Riede, F. (2020). Volcanic Activity. In Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_2043
Vandkilde, H. (2018). Violent Beauty in the Bronze Age. In S. Hansen & R. Krause (Eds.), Bronze Age Hillforts between the Taunus and Carpathian Mountains: Proceedings of the First International LOEWE Conference, 7-9 December 2016 in Frankfurt (pp. 83-101). Dr. Rudolf Habelt.
Cicilloni, R., Cabras, M. & Matta, V. (2016). Villaggio nuragico di Brunku'e S'Omu- Villa Verde (OR). I risultati della IV campagna di scavi (2016). Quaderni della Soprintendenza archeologica di Cagliari, 559-560.
Roesdahl, E. (2019). Vikingetid: eventyr-hverdag-myter. Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
Pedersen, A. & Sindbæk, S. M. (Eds.) (2020). Viking encounters: Proceedings of the Eighteenth Viking Congress. Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
Swenson, D., Fuller, B. T., Kveiborg, J., Ritchie, K., Kristjánsdóttir, S., Olsen, J., Linaa, J., Larsen, L. K. & Mannino, M. (2019). Viking Age diet in Aarhus: An isotopic investigation of human and faunal remains. Abstract from EAA 25th Annual meeting of the European Archaeology Association, Bern, Switzerland.
Vellev, J. (2017). Viborg Domkirke. In L. A. Larsen (Ed.), Domkirkekvarteret i Viborg: Viborgstudier 1 (pp. 85-145). Viborg Museum.
Raja, R. & Sindbæk, S. M. (2018). Urban network evolutions: Exploring dynamics and flows through evidence from urban contexts. In R. Raja & S. M. Sindbæk (Eds.), Urban Network Evolutions: Towards a high-definition archaeology (pp. 13-18). Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
Sindbæk, S. M. (2017). Urbanism and exchange in the North Atlantic/Baltic, 600-1000CE. In T. Hodos (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Archaeology and Globalization (pp. 553-565). Article 6.5 Routledge.
Schroeder, H., Margaryan, A., Szmyt, M., Theulot, B., Włodarczak, P., Rasmussen, S., Gopalakrishnan, S., Szczepanek, A., Konopka, T., Jensen, T. Z. T., Witkowska, B., Wilk, S., Przybyła, M. M., Pospieszny, Ł., Sjögren, K.-G., Belka, Z., Olsen, J., Kristiansen, K., Willerslev, E. ... Allentoft, M. E. (2019). Unraveling ancestry, kinship and violence in a Late Neolithic mass grave. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 166(22), 10705–10710. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1820210116
Roesdahl, E. (2018). Uheldssvangre nordlys. Skalk, 2018(4), 30-32.
Riede, F. & Walsh, M. (2019). Udviklingen af kultur. In T. K. Nielsen, C. Andersen, A. R. Kratschmer & M. Clasen (Eds.), Menneske, kultur, evolution: et biokulturelt perspektiv (pp. 33-45). Aarhus Universitetsforlag. https://unipress.dk/media/15724/menneske-kultur-evolution.pdf
Vellev, J. (2017). Tycho Brahes målevogn på Hven. Ale: Historisk Tidskrift for Skåne, Halland och Blekinge, 3, 27-34.
Vellev, J. (2016). Tycho Brahes liv, død og efterliv. Ale: Historisk Tidskrift for Skåne, Halland och Blekinge, 2016(2), 2-17.
Kristensen, H. K. (2017). Tvilum Kloster. Jysk Arkæologisk Selskab. Jysk Arkæologisk Selskabs Skrifter No. 96

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