Anne Stine Ingstad (11 February 1918 – 6 November 1997) was a
Norwegian archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
who, along with her husband explorer
Helge Ingstad, discovered the remains of a
Norse settlement at
L'Anse aux Meadows
L'Anse aux Meadows () is an archaeological site, first excavated in the 1960s, of a Norse colonization of North America, Norse settlement dating to approximately 1,000 years ago. The site is located on the northernmost tip of the island of Newf ...
in the
Canadian province
Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...
of
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...
in 1960.
Biography
Anne Stine Moe was born and raised in
Lillehammer
Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...
, in
Oppland
Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The ...
county,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
. Her parents were attorney Eilif Moe (1889–1954) and Louise Augusta Bauck Lindeman (1886–1966). Ingstad was the sister of Norwegian art historian and pianist,
Ole Henrik Moe (1920–2013). She married Helge Ingstad in 1941, after which she became his scientific collaborator.
She studied archaeology at the
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...
in the 1950s. She took a master's degree in Nordic archeology in 1960. From 1960 to 1961, she was curator at the Norwegian Forestry Museum at
Elverum.
Between 1961 and 1968, Helge Ingstad and Anne Stine Ingstad conducted research resulting in the discoverery of settlement traces at L'Anse aux Meadows on the island of Newfoundland. They led an excavation of the settlement with an international team of archaeologists from Sweden, Iceland, Canada, U.S. and Norway. The excavation revealed the remains of an early 11th century Norse settlement. These remains included sod houses, a forge, cooking pits and boathouses. The settlement is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a National Historic Site of Canada.
Helge Ingstad and Anne Stine Monument.jpg, Monument to Helge Ingstad and Anne Stine
2022-08-27 05 View of L'Anse aux Meadows, NFL CAN.jpg , L'Anse aux Meadows Historical Site
2022-08-27 04 Silhouette sculpture of Norsemen above L'Anse aux Meadows, NFL CAN.jpg , ''Norse silhouette sculpture''
2022-08-28 06 Meeting of Two Worlds – Boykov – Brixel - L'Anse aux Meadows, NFL CAN.jpg , ''Meeting of Two Worlds'' sculpture
After she had become a state research fellow in 1977, Anne Stine Ingstad took up a new field of research, the processing of the textile finds from the
Kaupang and
Oseberg excavation sites. Following her research, together with archaeologists
Bjørn Myhre and , she wrote the book ''Osebergdronningens grav'' (1992).
Honors
*In 1969, Anne Stine Ingstad was awarded an
Honorary Doctorate
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...
by
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Memorial University of Newfoundland, or MUN (), is a Public university, public research university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook ...
.
*The Helge and Anne Stine Ingstad Building on the St. John's Campus of the
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Memorial University of Newfoundland, or MUN (), is a Public university, public research university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook ...
is named after her and her husband.
*In 1992, she was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate at the
University of Bergen
The University of Bergen () is a public university, public research university in Bergen, Norway. As of 2021, the university had over 4,000 employees and 19,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in 1946 consolidating several sci ...
.
*She was a commander of the
Order of St. Olav and was made a member of the
Norwegian Academy of Science from 1990.
*She appeared with her husband in the 1984
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...
documentary ''The Vinland Mystery''.
Personal life
Anne Stine Ingstad died in November 1997 at the age of 79, leaving behind her 98-year-old husband Helge and their daughter Benedicte Ingstad, professor of medical anthropology at the
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...
.
[Anne Stine Ingstad]
"The textiles in the Oseberg ship"
/ref>
Bibliography
*Ingstad, Helge; Ingstad, Anne Stine (2001).
The Viking Discovery of America: The Excavation of a Norse Settlement in L'Anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland
'. Checkmark Books. .
References
External links
L’Anse au Meadows National Historic Site of Canada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingstad, Anne Stine
1918 births
1997 deaths
People from Lillehammer
University of Oslo alumni
Norwegian women archaeologists
20th-century Norwegian archaeologists
20th-century Norwegian women writers
Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal
Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
20th-century Norwegian people
20th-century Norwegian scientists
20th-century Norwegian women scientists
Norwegian women curators