Julie Lund

Julie Lund is a Professor of Archaeology at the University of Oslo's Institute of Archaeology, Conservation and History (IAKH) within the Faculty of Humanities. She specializes in the Late Iron Age, Viking Age, and Middle Ages of Scandinavia, employing historical archaeological methods that explore the interplay between material culture and Old Norse written sources. Her academic journey began with undergraduate studies at Lund University, continued with a Mag.art. at Copenhagen University, and culminated in a Ph.D. from the University of Oslo in 2009.

• Ph.D. in Archaeology, University of Oslo (2009)
• Mag.art. in Prehistoric Archaeology, Copenhagen University (2004)
• Undergraduate studies in Medieval Archaeology, Lund University (2001)

Lund's research focuses on fundamental ontological aspects of Scandinavian societies during the transition from Pagan to Christian eras, examining changes in mentalities, world-views, concepts of personhood, and ideas of corporality. She investigates how people related to the past through landscape analyses, grave studies (including grave yard locations and heirloom usage), burial customs (particularly wholeness versus fragmentation), artifact deposition practices, and runestone inscriptions from approximately 700-1150 AD. Her work consistently bridges archaeological evidence with historical sources, creating a rich interdisciplinary approach to understanding cognitive landscapes of the Viking Age.

Analysis of Lund's publication record reveals a sophisticated trajectory from concrete archaeological investigations toward increasingly theoretical frameworks. While her early work focused on specific material evidence like wetland depositions and weapon finds, her recent publications engage deeply with philosophical concepts of personhood, ontology, and the agency of objects. A consistent thread throughout her career is the examination of how material culture reflects and shapes cognitive frameworks, particularly during periods of religious and cultural transformation in Scandinavian history.

• Project leader on 'Using the Past in the Past. Viking Age Scandinavia as a Renaissance?' funded by the Research Council of Norway as Young Researcher Talent (2016-2020)

Lund actively supervises bachelor's and master's theses in archaeology, guiding the next generation of scholars through courses like ARK3090 (Bachelor Thesis in Archaeology) and ARK4090 (Master Thesis in Archaeology). Her research has been supported by significant grants, most notably the Young Researcher Talent award from the Research Council of Norway, demonstrating the importance of her work in advancing archaeological theory and methodology.

Professor Lund is affiliated with research groups focusing on Materialities – past and present, and the Center for Viking Age Studies (ViS), where she collaborates with interdisciplinary teams exploring the theoretical and practical dimensions of material culture across time periods.