Ingrid Ystgaard

Ingrid Ystgaard is an Associate Professor in the Department of Historical and Classical Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Her primary research focuses on Iron Age archaeology, conflict archaeology, and environmental archaeology, with a particular emphasis on Central Norway and the Ørland region. She led archaeological excavations at Ørland Main Air Base from 2015 to 2019, uncovering significant Iron Age and Viking Age settlements. Ystgaard holds a PhD from NTNU (2014), where her dissertation addressed warfare practices in Central Norway between AD 100–900.

Her work integrates environmental data with archaeological findings, examining human-environment interactions over millennia. Key projects include the analysis of settlement organization, hillforts, and subsistence strategies in prehistoric communities. She has authored/co-authored major publications such as En kort introduksjon til jernalderen i Norge (2024) and contributed to edited volumes like Complexity and Dynamics (2023). Ystgaard actively engages in public outreach, delivering lectures on archaeological discoveries and their cultural significance.

Her research spans interdisciplinary collaborations, combining pollen analysis, radiocarbon dating, and zooarchaeology. Notable findings include insights into societal collapse during the 6th-century climate crisis and the role of fortified settlements in conflict dynamics. Ystgaard also participates in policy discussions on cultural heritage management, emphasizing ethical excavation practices and open-access publishing in archaeology.