Sweden

Alexander Andreeff

PhD Student, Department of Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Research Topic: Stones and People: Viking Age Picture Stones from the Island of Gotland.

This PhD-project deals with the Viking Age picture stones from the Island of Gotland, Sweden. The picture stones constitute a promising material for studies of the relationship between materiality, identity, iconography, and landscape. About 15 picture stones are still standing at their original site, emphasizing natural and political borders in the ancient landscape. They are erected at causeways, crossroads, fords and bridges that represented boundaries and transition points between farmsteads and districts. The picture stones have traditionally been interpreted as memorials made in honour of distinguished male members of the local society. A few of the sites have been excavated and remains of charcoal, animal bones, and ceramics found in cultural layers at the base of some stones indicate that sacrifices, ritual meals, and ritual depositions were performed. A recent excavation of a picture stone site at Fröjel Parish from the early 9th century done by the author has revealed a unique combination of finds. Scattered at the base, probably remains of a disturbed deposition, were found cremated human bones from probably two individuals and artefacts that can be interpreted as grave goods. These finds confirm that the picture stones not only were memorials but also parts in complex social practices linking human remains, landscape, and monuments.

  • e-mail: alexander.andreeff (a) archaeology.gu.se

Jan Axelson

PhD Student, Department of Scandinavian Languages, Uppsala University, Sweden

  • jan.axelson (a) nordiska.uu.se

Lise Bertelsen

Gästforskare/Marie Curie Research Fellow, Uppsala University, Sweden

  • lise.bertelsen (a) arkeologi.uu.se

Marco Bianchi

PhD, Department of Scandinavian Languages, Uppsala University, Sweden

  • marco.bianchi (a) nordiska.uu.se

Anna Blennow

PhD, researcher and lecturer in Latin, Department of Languages and Literatures, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Research interests: classical and medieval Latin epigraphy, epigraphic theory.
I wrote my PhD thesis about medieval Latin inscriptions from Rome c. 1050–1250, and during my position as postdoctoral research fellow (forskarassistent) I have worked with an edition of the oldest Latin inscriptions in Sweden, from about 1050–1250. The edition is accepted for publication in the series of the National History Museum during 2016. In 2010–2012, I led an international research network for Latin epigraphy, INSCRIPTA. I have also developed a course on advanced level in Latin epigraphy, which is given every second year in Rome in collaboration with the Swedish Institute in Rome.

  • anna.blennow (a) sprak.gu.se

Maja Bäckvall

PhD, Department of Scandinavian Languages, Uppsala University, Sweden

  • maja.backvall (a) nordiska.uu.se

Anne-Sofie Gräslund

Professor emeritus of Archaeology, Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University, Sweden

  • anne-sofie.graslund (a) arkeologi.uu.se

Michaela Helmbrecht

PhD, Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Lund University, Sweden

  • Michaela.Helmbrecht (a) ark.lu.se

Per Holmberg

Professor, Department of Swedish, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

  • per.holmberg (a) svenska.gu.se

Laila Kitzler Åhfeldt

PhD, Swedish National Heritage Board, Visby and Archaeological Research Laboratory, Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University, Sweden

Research interests: rune stones, picture stones, archaeology, handicraft, 3D-scanning, scientific archaeology, statistics, history of religion, Christianity.

I am currently working on a postdoctoral research project, The Dynamics of Rune Carving; Relation between Rune Carvers in a Regional and Chronological Perspective. The aim of this project is to study rune carvers relations to each other and their impact on society during the Viking Age and early Middle Ages. The results will be interpreted in relation to the increasing literacy and Christianization in a European perspective. My analysis method is to 3D scan rune stones with high resolution and analyse the cutting techniques by groove analysis. This method can be used to scrutinize details concerning relations between sites, regions, varying monument types, chronological phases, work effort, skill and degrees in quality. Indirectly, characteristics such as skill and movement patterns may indicate levels of authority and education. Regional work organization of rune carving may reflect spheres of interaction, such as administrative areas, social cohesion or common gathering points. A direct follow-up question on the spatial relations is whether the rune carver constellations change over time. Possible explanations may include a shift in power relations, new administrative units or emerging centres for literacy.

  • laila.kitzler.ahfeldt (a) raa.se
  • Website

Magnus Källström

Dr, Swedish National Heritage Board. Visby, Sweden

  • magnus.kallstrom (a) raa.se

Marcus Smith

Swedish National Heritage Board. Visby, Sweden

Currently working on normalising and modernising the metadata and structure of the Samnordisk runtextdatabas, restructuring it into a relational model with a view to then producing a web-based interface to the data as well as a queryable web API. <http://groups.google.com/group/runedb>

Sofia Pereswetoff-Morath

PhD, Department of Scandinavian languages, Stockholm University.

  • sofia.pereswetoff-morath (a) su.se

Jhonny Therus

Curator, Kalmar länsmuseum, Kalmar Sweden.

  • jhonny.therus (a) kalmarlansmuseum.se

Henrik Williams

Professor of Scandinavian languages, Department of Scandinavian Languages, Uppsala University, Sweden

  • henrik.williams (a) nordiska.uu.se