Søren Michael Sindbæk
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 3584783 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Søren Michael Sindbæk |
| PRENOMES | Søren Michael |
| SOBRENOME | Sindbæk |
| ASSINATURA | SINDBÆK S M |
| AFILIAÇÕES | Aarhus University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1254-1256 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 46 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 185 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 45 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 2 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2007 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 8 |
Handing over the Torch
The Medieval Town Atlas
The article presents a current project that compiles all publicly available archaeological data on the seventy-four medieval towns in present-day Denmark. This project is the first to gather information on the history, topography, and archaeology of all Danish medieval towns, addressing the bias in research that has often disproportionately favoured larger towns over smaller ones. ‘The Medieval Town Atlas’ will serve as a foundation for future re…
Ouadi el-Jarf (2025)
Apres un lancement initial fortement perturbe au debut de l’annee 2020 – les operations de terrain, engagees le 7 mars, ont du etre suspendues le 23 mars en raison de la crise sanitaire – la dixieme campagne annuelle de la mission archeologique du ouadi el-Jarf a finalement pu avoir lieu cet automne, dans des conditions strictes et avec une equipe reduite au minimum, du 23 octobre au 25 novembre. La fouille s’est deroulee sur trois zones distinct…
Am I your type? Automated similarity search for 3D scanned archaeological artefacts
Ornamental metal artefacts are central to many archaeological classifications and typologies. Inconsistent classification systems and large numbers of finds, meanwhile, challenges identification. As 3D digitization of cultural heritage data becomes increasingly widespread, automated feature recognition offers potential to augment research. However, existing algorithms used for computer vision are ineffective for similarity search in 3D data. Here…
Situating High-Definition Archaeology in Urban Archaeological Practice
Placing Space, Shaping Cities, and Making History in the Ancient Classical World
"Placing Space, Shaping Cities, and Making History in the Ancient Classical World." Journal of Urban Archaeology, 9(), pp. 11–12
The emperor's new glass
Micro‐X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) screening of 244 glass sherds from Ribe, Denmark, identified 23 wood ash glasses. The closely dated finds pinpoint the arrival of the earliest wood ash glass produced in Western Europe in this important North Sea trading hub. This glass type was absent among glass from 700 to 790 CE but feature strongly from 790 to 810 CE. Electron microprobe analysis (EMPA) and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectro…
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…
‘Large, Dense, and … Heterogeneous’
Famously defined as large, dense, and heterogeneous settlements, urban sites have been compared by archaeologists as a basic parameter of social complexity globally. In such optics, the key dimensions for the evolution of early urban sites have been size and density. Recent studies and critique, however, suggest that there is great variation between the size and density of urban societies and their potential to facilitate a differentiation of ide…
Antlers far and wide
We used biomolecular methods to identify the faunal species present in hair combs and associated workshop debris discovered at the site Posthustorvet in the trading town of Ribe, Denmark, in contexts dated 720–900 CE. The finds included four unusual combs that have an uncommon but geographically characteristic ‘Scandinavian-type’ style, crafted from deer antler, and found in contexts 720–740 CE. They were identified as moose ( Alces alces ) and r…
Weak Ties and Strange Attractors
This paper offers three figures of thought for research on the origin of urban places and societies. As an alternative to linear, evolutionary models of urbanization, I propose to see the formation of urbanism as an evolving field guided by ‘strange attractors’, which tend to converge towards particular constellations of practices and institutions. In this view, the study of ‘odd’ urban sites and societies, anomalocivitates, which have reached un…
Non-destructive 3D prospection at the Viking Age fortress Borgring, Denmark
Non-invasive methods are increasingly important for understanding archaeological sites and their contexts. Larger earth-built constructions are nevertheless still difficult to study without extensive excavations. At the recently discovered Viking-Age ring fortress Borgring in Denmark a suite of non-destructive methods was applied with the aim of understanding how this highly eroded earthen fortress was constructed, and investigating how the const…
Pirates in the Age of Populism
Within the space of a few months, new major exhibitions on the Viking Age have opened at two of Scandinavia's main museums: at the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm, and at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen. Meanwhile, work is in progress in Oslo to bring together the famous ships formerly exhibited at the Viking Ship Museum with the general Viking Age collection of the Museum of Cultural History in a new dedicated 'Museum of the Vik…
This Belongs in a Museum
When invited to produce a comparative review of the two recent Vikingage themed exhibitions in Copenhagen and Stockholm, I initially hesitated, knowing that I could only approach the subject from the perspective of an archaeological researcher. Other perspectives, including those of museology, contemporary culture or heritage studies, are essential for the matter at hand, and I am well aware of my limitations in this regards. I undertook the chal…
Revealing the invisible dead
Recent investigations of an apparently ‘empty,’ partly disturbed Viking chamber grave in Denmark (Fregerslev II, dated around the mid-10th century CE) provided an opportunity to develop a novel multi-scale and multi-method analysis of burial and post-burial processes. To overcome the limitations of poor preservation of artefacts and bones, and the lack of a clear macrostratigraphic sequence, we integrated multi-proxy analyses of organic and inorg…
Splinters to splendours
Borgring. Uncovering the strategy for a Viking Age ring fortress in Denmark
In 2014, Borgring, near Køge, Denmark, was identified as the fifth geometrical Viking Age ring fortress in Denmark, complementing an exclusive group of monuments including Trelleborg. Excavations and surveys in 2016–18 allow a detailed reconstruction of the site and its history. Borgring is a fortification with the same geometry, construction, and location as other Trelleborg-type fortresses, though exhibiting notable differences. Finds, includin…
Turfs and timbers
Viking Age ring fortresses were some of the largest construction projects in Danish prehistory. In this article we reconstruct the amount of turf and timber used in the construction of the Borgring ring fortress and estimate the resource area needed to supply the building materials. Using REVEALS pollen data modelling, we quantify the regional oak land cover and estimate the resource area. The results show that even though Borgring was built in a…
The lost landscape of Borgring
Geoarchaeological investigations at Borgring, a recently identified Danish Viking Age ring fortress, reconstructs the original landscape showing how the site was expanded and modified to accommodate a structure of pre-defined size and how this large-scale project demonstrates the willingness to invest significant resources in its precise positioning. The investigations also assess the possibility of navigating along the nearby stream from the coa…
Crossing the Maelstrom
This paper reviews the achievements and challenges of archaeological research on Viking Age northern Europe and explores potential avenues for future research. We identify the reemergence of comparative and cross-cultural perspectives along with a turn toward studying mobility and maritime expansion, fueled by the introduction of biomolecular and isotopic data. The study of identity has seen a shift from a focus on collective beliefs and ritual t…
The coldest case of all’
During excavations of the Viking-age ring fortress Borgring, Denmark, traces of a devastating fire was uncovered. The National Forensic Services of the Danish Police were invited to participate in a novel collaboration, applying contemporary forensic fire investigation to an archaeological site. This paper presents the results and sets a benchmark for future applications. The investigation leads to a revised reconstruction of the fortress and the…
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…
Network Evolutions and High-Definition Narratives — An Introduction
Network Evolutions and High-Definition Narratives — An Introduction." Journal of Urban Archaeology, 3(), pp. 11–12
On diverse arts
This study presents results from the analytical investigation of the polymetallic, non-ferrous metallurgical cycle at early Viking Age Ribe, Denmark, in the 8th and 9th centuries CE. We combine extensive surface analyses of crucibles and moulds (handheld XRF) with targeted micro-destructive examination (micro XRF, electron microprobe spectroscopy-EPMA) of crucibles, moulds, ingots, blanks, and finished objects from the different stages of the sec…
Sampling density and spatial analysis
Was it for walrus? Viking Age settlement and medieval walrus ivory trade in Iceland and Greenland
Walrus-tusk ivory and walrus-hide rope were highly desired goods in Viking Age north-west Europe. New finds of walrus bone and ivory in early Viking Age contexts in Iceland are concentrated in the south-west, and suggest extensive exploitation of nearby walrus for meat, hide and ivory during the first century of settlement. In Greenland, archaeofauna suggest a very different specialized long-distance hunting of the much larger walrus populations …
Urban Networks and Arctic Outlands
This paper presents the results of the use of a minimally destructive biomolecular technique to explore the resource networks behind one of the first specialized urban crafts in early mediaeval northern Europe: the manufacture of composite combs of deer antler. The research incorporates the largest application of species identification by peptide mass fingerprinting (ZooMS) to a mediaeval artefact assemblage: specifically to collections of antler…
Networks and nodal points
Did towns return to early medieval Europe through political leadership or economic expansion? This paper turns the spotlight on a particular group of actors, the long-distance traders, and finds that they stimulated proto-towns of a special kind among the Vikings. While social and economic changes, and aristocratic advantage, were widespread, it was the largely self-directed actions of these intrepid merchants which created what the author calls …
The Small World of the Vikings
This study explores the potential of complex network theory as a new approach to the organisation and dynamics of communication in early history. It shows how network theory pins down shortcomings of existing archaeological conceptions of trade and exchange. Moreover, it supplies a series of new, relevant questions to this subject, and new models to guide their solution. Analysing two examples, the article charts the affiliations of persons and s…
Single Context, Metacontext, and High Definition Archaeology
Splinters to splendours
Crossing the Maelstrom
This paper reviews the achievements and challenges of archaeological research on Viking Age northern Europe and explores potential avenues for future research. We identify the reemergence of comparative and cross-cultural perspectives along with a turn toward studying mobility and maritime expansion, fueled by the introduction of biomolecular and isotopic data. The study of identity has seen a shift from a focus on collective beliefs and ritual t…
Revealing the invisible dead
Recent investigations of an apparently ‘empty,’ partly disturbed Viking chamber grave in Denmark (Fregerslev II, dated around the mid-10th century CE) provided an opportunity to develop a novel multi-scale and multi-method analysis of burial and post-burial processes. To overcome the limitations of poor preservation of artefacts and bones, and the lack of a clear macrostratigraphic sequence, we integrated multi-proxy analyses of organic and inorg…
Theréseau opératoireof Urbanization
This paper proposes that the organization of crafts may be a key catalyst in the emergence of urban communities. This is argued through a reassessment of finds from a non-ferrous metal workshop from the eighth century excavated in Ribe, Denmark. We analyse 3D laser scans in order to classify previously unidentified mould fragments, which show that the workshop produced a range of metal parts for composite products like wooden chests, belts and ho…
On diverse arts
This study presents results from the analytical investigation of the polymetallic, non-ferrous metallurgical cycle at early Viking Age Ribe, Denmark, in the 8th and 9th centuries CE. We combine extensive surface analyses of crucibles and moulds (handheld XRF) with targeted micro-destructive examination (micro XRF, electron microprobe spectroscopy-EPMA) of crucibles, moulds, ingots, blanks, and finished objects from the different stages of the sec…
Sampling density and spatial analysis
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…
Visible near-infrared spectroscopy as an aid for archaeological interpretation
Antlers far and wide
We used biomolecular methods to identify the faunal species present in hair combs and associated workshop debris discovered at the site Posthustorvet in the trading town of Ribe, Denmark, in contexts dated 720–900 CE. The finds included four unusual combs that have an uncommon but geographically characteristic ‘Scandinavian-type’ style, crafted from deer antler, and found in contexts 720–740 CE. They were identified as moose ( Alces alces ) and r…
Pirates in the Age of Populism
Within the space of a few months, new major exhibitions on the Viking Age have opened at two of Scandinavia's main museums: at the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm, and at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen. Meanwhile, work is in progress in Oslo to bring together the famous ships formerly exhibited at the Viking Ship Museum with the general Viking Age collection of the Museum of Cultural History in a new dedicated 'Museum of the Vik…
The coldest case of all’
During excavations of the Viking-age ring fortress Borgring, Denmark, traces of a devastating fire was uncovered. The National Forensic Services of the Danish Police were invited to participate in a novel collaboration, applying contemporary forensic fire investigation to an archaeological site. This paper presents the results and sets a benchmark for future applications. The investigation leads to a revised reconstruction of the fortress and the…
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…
Meet the Vikings'-or meet halfway? The new Viking display at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen
How does a major European museum maintain its high profile as a cultural institution when faced with dwindling public funds? The decision of the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen to refurbish its Viking gallery under the direction of a celebrity designer has caused a stir far beyond Denmark. Appointed in 2017, the Museum's director, Rane Willerslev, has vowed to set this venerable institution on a more contemporary and commercially viable …
Making Place for a Viking Fortress. An archaeological and geophysical reassessment of Aggersborg, Denmark
This article revisits the archaeology of the Viking-age settlement and ring fortress at Aggersborg, Denmark, based on a large-scale geophysical survey using magnetic gradiometry and ground-penetrating radar, as well as legacy excavation data. Late 10th-century Aggersborg, the largest known fortress in Viking-age Scandinavia, commanded a key position at the narrow strait of the Limfjord, a principal sailing route between the Baltic and the North S…
The Small World of the Vikings
This study explores the potential of complex network theory as a new approach to the organisation and dynamics of communication in early history. It shows how network theory pins down shortcomings of existing archaeological conceptions of trade and exchange. Moreover, it supplies a series of new, relevant questions to this subject, and new models to guide their solution. Analysing two examples, the article charts the affiliations of persons and s…
Networks and nodal points
Did towns return to early medieval Europe through political leadership or economic expansion? This paper turns the spotlight on a particular group of actors, the long-distance traders, and finds that they stimulated proto-towns of a special kind among the Vikings. While social and economic changes, and aristocratic advantage, were widespread, it was the largely self-directed actions of these intrepid merchants which created what the author calls …
The Lands of Denemearce
Tæbring, Nw Denmark, Ad 600-1100
Settlement and Lordship in Viking and Early Medieval Scandinavia
Settlement and lordship in Viking and early medieval Scandinavia
This volume aims to define the changing nature of lordship in Viking and early medieval Scandinavia. Advances in settlement archaeology and cultural geography have revealed new aspects of social power in Viking Age and early medieval Scandinavia. New sources and approaches allow us to question the traditional view that Scandinavian aristocrats developed from Viking raiders into Christian landlords. Seventeen thematic chapters by leading scholars …
Making Place for a Viking Fortress. An archaeological and geophysical reassessment of Aggersborg, Denmark
This article revisits the archaeology of the Viking-age settlement and ring fortress at Aggersborg, Denmark, based on a large-scale geophysical survey using magnetic gradiometry and ground-penetrating radar, as well as legacy excavation data. Late 10th-century Aggersborg, the largest known fortress in Viking-age Scandinavia, commanded a key position at the narrow strait of the Limfjord, a principal sailing route between the Baltic and the North S…
Urban Networks and Arctic Outlands
This paper presents the results of the use of a minimally destructive biomolecular technique to explore the resource networks behind one of the first specialized urban crafts in early mediaeval northern Europe: the manufacture of composite combs of deer antler. The research incorporates the largest application of species identification by peptide mass fingerprinting (ZooMS) to a mediaeval artefact assemblage: specifically to collections of antler…
Was it for walrus? Viking Age settlement and medieval walrus ivory trade in Iceland and Greenland
Walrus-tusk ivory and walrus-hide rope were highly desired goods in Viking Age north-west Europe. New finds of walrus bone and ivory in early Viking Age contexts in Iceland are concentrated in the south-west, and suggest extensive exploitation of nearby walrus for meat, hide and ivory during the first century of settlement. In Greenland, archaeofauna suggest a very different specialized long-distance hunting of the much larger walrus populations …
Patrick F. Wallace . 2016. Viking Dublin
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Borgring
Dating earthwork fortifications
Single Context, Metacontext, and High Definition Archaeology
Theréseau opératoireof Urbanization
This paper proposes that the organization of crafts may be a key catalyst in the emergence of urban communities. This is argued through a reassessment of finds from a non-ferrous metal workshop from the eighth century excavated in Ribe, Denmark. We analyse 3D laser scans in order to classify previously unidentified mould fragments, which show that the workshop produced a range of metal parts for composite products like wooden chests, belts and ho…
Meet the Vikings'-or meet halfway? The new Viking display at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen
How does a major European museum maintain its high profile as a cultural institution when faced with dwindling public funds? The decision of the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen to refurbish its Viking gallery under the direction of a celebrity designer has caused a stir far beyond Denmark. Appointed in 2017, the Museum's director, Rane Willerslev, has vowed to set this venerable institution on a more contemporary and commercially viable …
Archaeological Networks and Social Interaction
Population genomics of the Viking world
Archaeological Networks and Social Interaction
Urban Networks and High-Definition Narratives
Becoming urban is widely recognized as one of the great turning points of human societies across history. Urbanism afforded economies of scale, cultural entanglements, and environmental exchanges, leading to social and material complexity, which are at the core of today’s civilization. This paper argues that a new approach to urban archaeology may establish a more coherent view of urbanism as a defining expression of complex societies. Emerging a…
Biographies of Place — An Introduction
Recasting a Viking warrior woman from Ribe
Visible near-infrared spectroscopy as an aid for archaeological interpretation
Borgring. Uncovering the strategy for a Viking Age ring fortress in Denmark
In 2014, Borgring, near Køge, Denmark, was identified as the fifth geometrical Viking Age ring fortress in Denmark, complementing an exclusive group of monuments including Trelleborg. Excavations and surveys in 2016–18 allow a detailed reconstruction of the site and its history. Borgring is a fortification with the same geometry, construction, and location as other Trelleborg-type fortresses, though exhibiting notable differences. Finds, includin…
Turfs and timbers
Viking Age ring fortresses were some of the largest construction projects in Danish prehistory. In this article we reconstruct the amount of turf and timber used in the construction of the Borgring ring fortress and estimate the resource area needed to supply the building materials. Using REVEALS pollen data modelling, we quantify the regional oak land cover and estimate the resource area. The results show that even though Borgring was built in a…
The lost landscape of Borgring
Geoarchaeological investigations at Borgring, a recently identified Danish Viking Age ring fortress, reconstructs the original landscape showing how the site was expanded and modified to accommodate a structure of pre-defined size and how this large-scale project demonstrates the willingness to invest significant resources in its precise positioning. The investigations also assess the possibility of navigating along the nearby stream from the coa…
Archaeology (34 obras) · Geography (33 obras) · History (32 obras) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (20 obras) · Historical and Archaeological Studies (20 obras) · Ancient history (16 obras) · Viking Age (15 obras) · Geology (13 obras) · History (12 obras) · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies (10 obras)