Greta Arwidsson (5 July 1906 – 31 January 1998) was a Swedish

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, ...

. Alongside other work, she is known for her study of the

Valsgärde Valsgärde or Vallsgärde is a farm on the Fyris river, about three kilometres north of Gamla Uppsala, the ancient centre of the Swedish kings and of the pagan faith in Sweden. The present farm dates from the 16th century. The farm's notability ...

graves, published from the 1940s until the 1970s.

Early life and education

Greta Arwidsson was born on 5 July 1906, in

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Her father's line traced to a soldier who died in the

Battle of Napue The Battle of Napue, or the Battle of Isokyrö (Storkyro), was fought on 19 February 1714 ( O.S.) / 2 March 1714 ( N.S.) at the villages of Napue and Laurola, located in the Isokyrö parish of the Swedish Empire (modern-day Finland). The battl ...

in 1714; her great-grandfather,

Adolf Ivar Arwidsson Adolf Ivar Arwidsson (7 August 1791 – 21 June 1858) was a Finnish political journalist, writer and historian. His writing was critical of Finland's status at the time as a Grand Duchy under the Russian Tsars. Its sharpness cost him his job ...

, was a historian and intellectual, her grandfather,

Thorsten Adolf Arwidsson Thorsten (Thorstein, Torstein, Torsten) is a Scandinavian given name. The Old Norse name was ''Þórsteinn''. It is a compound of the theonym ''Þór'' (''Thor'') and ''steinn'' "stone", which became ''Thor'' and ''sten'' in Old Danish and Old Swe ...

( sv), a

cartographer Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

and naval officer, and her father,

Ivar Arwidsson Ivar (Old Norse ''Ívarr'') is a Scandinavian masculine given name. Another variant of the name is Iver, which is more common in Norway. The Old Norse name has several possible etymologies. In North Germanic phonology, several of the elements c ...

( sv), a

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

. Both parents worked at the

Nordic Museum The Nordic Museum () is a museum located on Djurgården, an island in central Stockholm, Sweden, dedicated to the cultural history and ethnography of Sweden from the early modern period (in Swedish history, it is said to begin in 1520) to the ...

. Her mother, Anna Arwidsson (née Jacobsson), recorded oral folk tradition, and during her travels around the country collected many items for the museum's collections. Arwidsson's parents took her to public lectures as a child, including talks by

Oscar Montelius Gustaf Oscar Augustin Montelius, known as Oscar Montelius (9September 18434November 1921) was a Swedish archaeologist who refined the concept of seriation, a relative chronological dating method. Biography Oscar Montelius refined the conce ...

and

Gabriel Gustafson Gabriel Adolf Gustafson (8August 185316April 1915) was a Swedish-Norwegian archaeologist. He was responsible for the excavation and conservation of the Oseberg Ship (''Osebergfunnet'') . Biography Gabriel Gustafson was born in Visby, in Gotl ...

about the

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

Oseberg finds. Matriculating at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

, she obtained a

Master of Philosophy A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at leas ...

in 1930 with studies in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, geography and history, and designs of going on to teach. While studying under

Sune Lindqvist Sune Lindqvist (20 March 1887 – 23 March 1976) was a Swedish archaeologist and scholar. He worked at the Swedish History Museum, where he was responsible for the finds from the boat graves at Valsgärde, and later at Uppsala University, where h ...

she began working on the

excavations, however, and began investigating and publishing the boat graves found therein. She obtained her

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1942, the same year that she published her first Valsgärde monograph, ''Valsgärde 6'', with the dissertation ''Vendelstile: Email und Glas in 7.-8. Jahrhundert''.

Career

While still in school, from 1936 until 1941 Arwidsson periodically served as an

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

at the

Statens Historiska Museum The Swedish History Museum () is a museum located in Stockholm, Sweden, that covers Swedish archaeology and cultural history from the Mesolithic period to present day. Founded in 1866, it operates as a government agency and is tasked with preservi ...

, first in the

Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

and

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

department, and then in the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

department. From 1942 until 1946, she was a lecturer in Scandinavian and Comparative Archaeology at Uppsala University, working at the Jämtland Museum during the summers of 1943 and 1944. Arwidsson became Sweden's first female professor of Scandinavian and Comparative Archaeology in 1956, when she took the post at

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

. From 1958 until 1961 she also served as dean of the Faculty of Humanities and as a member of the college board. She taught in that role until 1973, when she became a

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

. In retirement Arwidsson published some of her earlier works. In 1977 she published ''Valsgärde 7'', having previously published ''Valsgärde 8'' in 1954, and from 1984 to 1989 edited a collection of articles on

Birka Birka (''Birca'' in medieval sources), on the island of Björkö, Ekerö, Björkö (lit. "Birch Island") in present-day Sweden, was an important Viking Age trading center which handled goods from Scandinavia as well as many parts of Continent ...

, including 36 that she penned herself.

Personal life

Arwidsson died on 31 January 1998, and is buried in

Uppsala old cemetery Uppsala Old Cemetery () is a cemetery in Uppsala, Sweden. In July 2024, about 20 grave sites at Uppsala Old Cemetery were vandalized (overturned gravestones, broken grave lanterns and destroyed flower arrangements). Notable burials * Greta A ...

. She neither married nor had children.

Publications

* * * * * * * *

References

Bibliography