Pieterjan Deckers
Biographic Data
| ID | 95354 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Pieterjan Deckers |
| GIVEN NAMES | Pieterjan |
| FAMILY NAME | Deckers |
| SIGNATURE | DECKERS P |
| AFFILIATIONS | Aarhus University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7033-516X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 51 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Heritage practice communities
sponsorship: This paper was written as part of the Scientific Research Network 'Heritage Practice Communities in a Digitized World (2024-2028), funded by FWO - Research Foundation Flanders [W002624N], and Global Wales reference [GW-231119-414]. (Global Wales|GW-231119-414, FWO - Research Foundation Flanders|W002624N
Metal detecting and archaeology in the Nordic region. Introduction
The papers presented in this issue describe current successes, opportunities, and remaining challenges in engaging with metal detecting and its outputs — both social and scientific — within the Nordic region and beyond
All the single ladies? Detector finds, dispersed data and suboptimal sources in the study of Viking Age metalwork
In a growing number of countries, the activities of hobby detector users are lauded as a vital source of information about the past. The present paper argues that this statement is not unequivocal. An all too idealist view of the impact of detector finds and of the recording schemes that capture and publish this data, obscures the laborious process that constitutes the heuristic stages of finds research. As a case study of select types of (pre-)V…
A multi-proxy geochemical and micromorphological study of the use of space and stratigraphy of a Viking-age house in Ribe, Denmark
High-definition approaches are currently revolutionizing our understanding of the archaeology of urban archives. Multi-proxy studies at a high spatial resolution offer especially an opportunity to capture their high data potential. Here we present a study of complex floor layers from an occupation phase dating to c. AD 790-830 uncovered in the Viking-age emporium Ribe, Denmark (c. AD 700-900). In order to better understand stratigraphy and the us…
Hobby Metal-detecting as Citizen Science. Background, Challenges and Opportunities of Collaborative Archeological Finds Recording Schemes
This paper discusses five digital archeological finds recording schemes from England and Wales, Denmark, Finland, Flanders (Belgium), and the Netherlands; countries and areas where members of the public can search for archeological material, usually by metal-detecting. These schemes are a part of the European Public Finds Recording Network. The authors argue that citizen science approaches to recording discoveries made by the public present impor…
The Human Remains from Early Medieval Domburg (Netherlands) and Other Coastal Communities in International Perspective
THIS PAPER ADDRESSES THE QUESTION, who were the people who were buried at the early medievalNorth Sea emporia? Conclusions about the mercantile character of the North Sea emporia are often based on portablematerial culture. In recognition of the fact that it is difficult to draw conclusions about the identities of people basedon finds assemblages, two pilot projects have been completed that involved bioarchaeological analyses of cemetery pop-ulat…
The Long History of Early Medieval Urbanism on the Island of Walcheren (Netherlands)
The small island of Walcheren in the estuary of the river Scheldt is home to a number of important early medieval settlements. Building on the results of new fieldwork, this paper discusses their urban character and challenges the conventional narrative of disjointed stages rooted in settlement typology. It proposes a contextualized biographical approach in order to reconstruct a more encompassing view of urban continuities and discontinuities. I…
Metal-Detecting Rallies
Hobby metal detectorists search for archaeological finds as individuals and within groups, the latter being the focus of this article. Such groups come together as “clubs” and “meetings,” but also as part of large, often commercially run events typically known as “rallies.” All these activities are attractive to detectorists because they provide them with access to land to search, along with the promise of making interesting (even valuable) disco…
And now they have taken over
Since almost immediately after the fighting ended, the First World War (WWI) sites of conflict in Western Flanders, Belgium, have attracted attention from visitors and collectors. Heritage management questions came to the fore especially in the run-up to WWI’s centenary years (2014–2018), and professional archaeologists representing the authorities in Flanders had already begun to take a greater interest in the war’s archaeological remains. The a…
Assembling the Full Cast
VIKING-AGE ICONOGRAPHY is mostly studied through stone sculpture and carvings and through metal dress accessories, which are often poorly contextualised finds. Here we present a new approach by studying an assemblage of casting moulds for figurative dress accessories from an early 9th-century workshop context in Ribe (Jutland, Denmark). We provide digital reconstructions of the fragmented moulds, including ‘Valkyrie’ pendants showing female figur…
Frisians and Their North Sea Neighbours
Recasting a Viking warrior woman from Ribe
Towards a Cooperative Approach to Hobby Metal Detecting
Hobby metal detecting is a controversial subject. Legal and policy approaches differ widely across national and regional contexts, and the attitudes of archaeologists and heritage professionals towards detectorists are often polarized and based on ethical or emotive arguments. We, the European Public Finds Recording Network (EPFRN), have implemented collaborative approaches towards detectorist communities in our respective contexts (Denmark, Engl…
Archaeology's awkward allies
status: Published
Single Context, Metacontext, and High Definition Archaeology
Cultural Convergence in a Maritime Context
status: Published
The Complexities of Metal Detecting Policy and Practice
In his paper ‘Quantitative analysis of open-source data on metal detecting for cultural property’, Samuel Hardy suggested that permissive policy is ineffective in minimizing the damage done to cultural heritage by non-professional metal detecting. This response paper contests the basic assumptions upon which this analysis is based. While Hardy‘s comparative, quantitative approach is laudable, it is founded in a biased and simplistic outlook on th…
Frisians and their North Sea Neighbours
The looting of archaeological heritage (Part 1)
The looting of archaeological heritageLast year, in addition to AP Journal Volume 2, JAS Arqueología also published a book in Spain about the looting of archaeological heritage: Indianas jones sin futuro (Indianas jones without future), by Ignacio Rodríguez Temiño.We then realised there was an urgent need to debate this issue more thoroughly at an international scale, to show how different things can be and try to find better strategies for the p…
Circular, D-Shaped and Other Fortifications in 9th-and 10th-Century Flanders and Zeeland as Markers of the Territorialisation of Power(s)
Between Two Places
Since the Valletta Convention (1992), the debate concerning non-professional archaeological metal-detecting in Europe has been conducted largely at the level of individual legislations. Papers in this Topical Issue take stock of current knowledge of and attitudes towards metal-detecting across Europe; its nature and impact as well as the policies and approaches that arise from it within professional archaeology and heritage management. With this …
Medea
Since 2016, hobby metal-detecting is legal in Flanders (Belgium), although it was unofficially tolerated for many years before. However, research on metal-detected artefacts in Flanders is hindered by a low reporting rate. The MEDEA project aims to address this by encouraging detectorists to record their finds on an online platform. Finds experts are invited to enrich records with further information and thus instigate a rewarding feedback cycle.…
A toponymic perspective on the early medieval settlement of the southern North Sea shores of mainland Europe
Towards a Cooperative Approach to Hobby Metal Detecting
Hobby metal detecting is a controversial subject. Legal and policy approaches differ widely across national and regional contexts, and the attitudes of archaeologists and heritage professionals towards detectorists are often polarized and based on ethical or emotive arguments. We, the European Public Finds Recording Network (EPFRN), have implemented collaborative approaches towards detectorist communities in our respective contexts (Denmark, Engl…
Single Context, Metacontext, and High Definition Archaeology
The Complexities of Metal Detecting Policy and Practice
In his paper ‘Quantitative analysis of open-source data on metal detecting for cultural property’, Samuel Hardy suggested that permissive policy is ineffective in minimizing the damage done to cultural heritage by non-professional metal detecting. This response paper contests the basic assumptions upon which this analysis is based. While Hardy‘s comparative, quantitative approach is laudable, it is founded in a biased and simplistic outlook on th…
A multi-proxy geochemical and micromorphological study of the use of space and stratigraphy of a Viking-age house in Ribe, Denmark
High-definition approaches are currently revolutionizing our understanding of the archaeology of urban archives. Multi-proxy studies at a high spatial resolution offer especially an opportunity to capture their high data potential. Here we present a study of complex floor layers from an occupation phase dating to c. AD 790-830 uncovered in the Viking-age emporium Ribe, Denmark (c. AD 700-900). In order to better understand stratigraphy and the us…
Medea
Since 2016, hobby metal-detecting is legal in Flanders (Belgium), although it was unofficially tolerated for many years before. However, research on metal-detected artefacts in Flanders is hindered by a low reporting rate. The MEDEA project aims to address this by encouraging detectorists to record their finds on an online platform. Finds experts are invited to enrich records with further information and thus instigate a rewarding feedback cycle.…
And now they have taken over
Since almost immediately after the fighting ended, the First World War (WWI) sites of conflict in Western Flanders, Belgium, have attracted attention from visitors and collectors. Heritage management questions came to the fore especially in the run-up to WWI’s centenary years (2014–2018), and professional archaeologists representing the authorities in Flanders had already begun to take a greater interest in the war’s archaeological remains. The a…
All the single ladies? Detector finds, dispersed data and suboptimal sources in the study of Viking Age metalwork
In a growing number of countries, the activities of hobby detector users are lauded as a vital source of information about the past. The present paper argues that this statement is not unequivocal. An all too idealist view of the impact of detector finds and of the recording schemes that capture and publish this data, obscures the laborious process that constitutes the heuristic stages of finds research. As a case study of select types of (pre-)V…
The Human Remains from Early Medieval Domburg (Netherlands) and Other Coastal Communities in International Perspective
THIS PAPER ADDRESSES THE QUESTION, who were the people who were buried at the early medievalNorth Sea emporia? Conclusions about the mercantile character of the North Sea emporia are often based on portablematerial culture. In recognition of the fact that it is difficult to draw conclusions about the identities of people basedon finds assemblages, two pilot projects have been completed that involved bioarchaeological analyses of cemetery pop-ulat…
Assembling the Full Cast
VIKING-AGE ICONOGRAPHY is mostly studied through stone sculpture and carvings and through metal dress accessories, which are often poorly contextualised finds. Here we present a new approach by studying an assemblage of casting moulds for figurative dress accessories from an early 9th-century workshop context in Ribe (Jutland, Denmark). We provide digital reconstructions of the fragmented moulds, including ‘Valkyrie’ pendants showing female figur…
Archaeology's awkward allies
status: Published
Between Two Places
Since the Valletta Convention (1992), the debate concerning non-professional archaeological metal-detecting in Europe has been conducted largely at the level of individual legislations. Papers in this Topical Issue take stock of current knowledge of and attitudes towards metal-detecting across Europe; its nature and impact as well as the policies and approaches that arise from it within professional archaeology and heritage management. With this …
Circular, D-Shaped and Other Fortifications in 9th-and 10th-Century Flanders and Zeeland as Markers of the Territorialisation of Power(s)
Between Two Places
Since the Valletta Convention (1992), the debate concerning non-professional archaeological metal-detecting in Europe has been conducted largely at the level of individual legislations. Papers in this Topical Issue take stock of current knowledge of and attitudes towards metal-detecting across Europe; its nature and impact as well as the policies and approaches that arise from it within professional archaeology and heritage management. With this …
Medea
Since 2016, hobby metal-detecting is legal in Flanders (Belgium), although it was unofficially tolerated for many years before. However, research on metal-detected artefacts in Flanders is hindered by a low reporting rate. The MEDEA project aims to address this by encouraging detectorists to record their finds on an online platform. Finds experts are invited to enrich records with further information and thus instigate a rewarding feedback cycle.…
Frisians and their North Sea Neighbours
The looting of archaeological heritage (Part 1)
The looting of archaeological heritageLast year, in addition to AP Journal Volume 2, JAS Arqueología also published a book in Spain about the looting of archaeological heritage: Indianas jones sin futuro (Indianas jones without future), by Ignacio Rodríguez Temiño.We then realised there was an urgent need to debate this issue more thoroughly at an international scale, to show how different things can be and try to find better strategies for the p…
Cultural Convergence in a Maritime Context
status: Published
The Complexities of Metal Detecting Policy and Practice
In his paper ‘Quantitative analysis of open-source data on metal detecting for cultural property’, Samuel Hardy suggested that permissive policy is ineffective in minimizing the damage done to cultural heritage by non-professional metal detecting. This response paper contests the basic assumptions upon which this analysis is based. While Hardy‘s comparative, quantitative approach is laudable, it is founded in a biased and simplistic outlook on th…
Single Context, Metacontext, and High Definition Archaeology
Frisians and Their North Sea Neighbours
Recasting a Viking warrior woman from Ribe
Towards a Cooperative Approach to Hobby Metal Detecting
Hobby metal detecting is a controversial subject. Legal and policy approaches differ widely across national and regional contexts, and the attitudes of archaeologists and heritage professionals towards detectorists are often polarized and based on ethical or emotive arguments. We, the European Public Finds Recording Network (EPFRN), have implemented collaborative approaches towards detectorist communities in our respective contexts (Denmark, Engl…
Archaeology's awkward allies
status: Published
Assembling the Full Cast
VIKING-AGE ICONOGRAPHY is mostly studied through stone sculpture and carvings and through metal dress accessories, which are often poorly contextualised finds. Here we present a new approach by studying an assemblage of casting moulds for figurative dress accessories from an early 9th-century workshop context in Ribe (Jutland, Denmark). We provide digital reconstructions of the fragmented moulds, including ‘Valkyrie’ pendants showing female figur…
The Long History of Early Medieval Urbanism on the Island of Walcheren (Netherlands)
The small island of Walcheren in the estuary of the river Scheldt is home to a number of important early medieval settlements. Building on the results of new fieldwork, this paper discusses their urban character and challenges the conventional narrative of disjointed stages rooted in settlement typology. It proposes a contextualized biographical approach in order to reconstruct a more encompassing view of urban continuities and discontinuities. I…
Metal-Detecting Rallies
Hobby metal detectorists search for archaeological finds as individuals and within groups, the latter being the focus of this article. Such groups come together as “clubs” and “meetings,” but also as part of large, often commercially run events typically known as “rallies.” All these activities are attractive to detectorists because they provide them with access to land to search, along with the promise of making interesting (even valuable) disco…
And now they have taken over
Since almost immediately after the fighting ended, the First World War (WWI) sites of conflict in Western Flanders, Belgium, have attracted attention from visitors and collectors. Heritage management questions came to the fore especially in the run-up to WWI’s centenary years (2014–2018), and professional archaeologists representing the authorities in Flanders had already begun to take a greater interest in the war’s archaeological remains. The a…
Hobby Metal-detecting as Citizen Science. Background, Challenges and Opportunities of Collaborative Archeological Finds Recording Schemes
This paper discusses five digital archeological finds recording schemes from England and Wales, Denmark, Finland, Flanders (Belgium), and the Netherlands; countries and areas where members of the public can search for archeological material, usually by metal-detecting. These schemes are a part of the European Public Finds Recording Network. The authors argue that citizen science approaches to recording discoveries made by the public present impor…
The Human Remains from Early Medieval Domburg (Netherlands) and Other Coastal Communities in International Perspective
THIS PAPER ADDRESSES THE QUESTION, who were the people who were buried at the early medievalNorth Sea emporia? Conclusions about the mercantile character of the North Sea emporia are often based on portablematerial culture. In recognition of the fact that it is difficult to draw conclusions about the identities of people basedon finds assemblages, two pilot projects have been completed that involved bioarchaeological analyses of cemetery pop-ulat…
A toponymic perspective on the early medieval settlement of the southern North Sea shores of mainland Europe
A multi-proxy geochemical and micromorphological study of the use of space and stratigraphy of a Viking-age house in Ribe, Denmark
High-definition approaches are currently revolutionizing our understanding of the archaeology of urban archives. Multi-proxy studies at a high spatial resolution offer especially an opportunity to capture their high data potential. Here we present a study of complex floor layers from an occupation phase dating to c. AD 790-830 uncovered in the Viking-age emporium Ribe, Denmark (c. AD 700-900). In order to better understand stratigraphy and the us…
Metal detecting and archaeology in the Nordic region. Introduction
The papers presented in this issue describe current successes, opportunities, and remaining challenges in engaging with metal detecting and its outputs — both social and scientific — within the Nordic region and beyond
All the single ladies? Detector finds, dispersed data and suboptimal sources in the study of Viking Age metalwork
In a growing number of countries, the activities of hobby detector users are lauded as a vital source of information about the past. The present paper argues that this statement is not unequivocal. An all too idealist view of the impact of detector finds and of the recording schemes that capture and publish this data, obscures the laborious process that constitutes the heuristic stages of finds research. As a case study of select types of (pre-)V…
Heritage practice communities
sponsorship: This paper was written as part of the Scientific Research Network 'Heritage Practice Communities in a Digitized World (2024-2028), funded by FWO - Research Foundation Flanders [W002624N], and Global Wales reference [GW-231119-414]. (Global Wales|GW-231119-414, FWO - Research Foundation Flanders|W002624N
Archaeology (17 works) · History (16 works) · Geography (11 works) · Historical and Archaeological Studies (9 works) · History (9 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (8 works) · Archaeological Research and Protection (7 works) · Computer Science (7 works) · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation (7 works) · Sociology (7 works)