Ing-Marie Back Danielsson

Ing-Marie.Back_Danielsson@arkeologi.uu.se

PhD and Reader in Archaeology

RESEARCH

Since the fall of 2014 I work as a researcher in archaeology at the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History at Uppsala University. I am also proud to be an Associate Professor of Archaeology at the same department since 2016.

In 2007, I defended my archaeological dissertation “Masking Moments. The Transitions of Bodies and Beings in Late Iron Age Scandinavia”, and I have since been the research leader of a number of archaeological projects. They include investigations of why parts of animals and humans were reused outside burial rituals during the Late Iron Age in Mälardalen, Sweden, how people's personas were created in various Late Iron Age contexts, as well as why material culture in reduced (miniaturization) and enlarged formats (gigantism) were used at places of worship during the Late Iron Age in Scandinavia. My research interests also include the archaeology of contemporary death, the use of theory and method in general in archaeology, and the history of archaeology. I have also explored different identity expressions such as gender, class, and sex, in Late Iron Age Scandinavia and equally discussed rune stones and collective memory. Although this presentation of research topics may seem diverse, main focus is on the human body, its materiality and its ever-changing relations with animals, material culture, places, and not least itself, throughout time.

My latest research project was financed by Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions and the Swedish

Research Council. Part of the project was conducted at the Department of Archaeology at Southampton University in the UK (2015-2017), where I was a Visiting Research Fellow. The project was devoted to analyses of gold foil figures from the Late Iron Age in Scandinavia. Gold foil figures are miniscule humanoid figures made from gold sheets, from the Vendel period (c. AD 550-800), known only from Scandinavia, and commonly encountered in halls at so-called central places. The project had as its specific aims to study the figures´ agential dimensions, their ontological status, and the myriad rhizomatic relations that were generated through processes of making, manipulation and visual encounter. The final results are being published in a monograph in 2019, in which it is demonstrated, for instance, that the act of making the figures, that is their process of production, was key to their being and becoming in/of the world. I also highlight the relations between the golden, miniature bodies and human bodies, their possibly symbiotic becoming as a unit, where experiences, experiments and, importantly, play, might have stimulated new or further engagements with the other body. Equally, when treated analytically as imagery with drives and desires, the gold foil figures can be described as entities that wanted to enter into social relationships with a variety of beings, things and places. The study has also shown that the apparatuses chosen to analyse and document the gold foil figures throughout time result in different onto- ethico-epistemological concerns.

The research of the gold foil figures can be linked to my earlier research where analyses of bodily imagery during the Early Iron Age/Migration period in Scandinavia tentatively revealed that the first imagery/art of human bodies appeared as integral part of objects, for instance depictions on metal horns, medallions, coins, and bracteates. However, during the Late Iron Age (c. AD 550–1050), bodies are loosened from such objects in the sense that they become freestanding items, gold foil figures, pendants and figurines, as it were. It has been argued that there is a scarcity of bodily imagery in art in the earliest phase of the Scandinavian Iron Age, and also that there is a general lack of imagery of women in the Early Iron Age (c. 500 BC–AD 400). My upcoming research project aims to fill a gap in our understanding of when, how and why the imagery of human bodies was taken up in the visual culture in Scandinavia, where one influential sphere was Roman. The influx of Roman coinage such as denars, but also medallions, commonly showing an emperor’s head on one side, should have had substantial impact on Scandinavian people’s way of relating to themselves and their own bodies. The project will investigate how these images might have generated new ways of self-making and connecting to oneself.

TEACHING AND PEDAGOGICAL EDUCATION

During recent years I have led, organized, and taught several archaeological courses, foremost at Stockholm University. I have also supervised a number of undergraduate and master theses. At Uppsala, I am co-supervising one PhD student, Annika Nordström, with the dissertation topic: The Worlds Within: New Aspects of Social Dimensions of the Urban Landscape.

My pedagogical education consists of having taken all pedagogical courses available for teaching staff at Stockholm University (2008-2011). They include University Pedagogy 1 (3 ECTS), University Pedagogy 2 (4,5 ECTS) a Postgraduate Supervision course (4,5 ECTS) and lastly University Pedagogy 3 (7,5 ECTS).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2019                   

‘Guldgubbar’ as bodily imagery in Late Iron Age Scandinavia. Process, Practice, Play. Monograph.

2019                   

Images in the Making – The case of Late Iron Age Scandinavian gold foil figures. In: Andréasson Sjögren, A. et al. Festschrift to secret recipient. (In press).

2019                   

The last meal. On the importance of food preparation in connection to Scandinavian Late Iron Age cremation burials. In: Landborg, A., Raffield, B., and Thérus, J. (eds). Elements of Death. Uppsala: Uppsala University.

2019                   

‘Guldgubbar’: Scandinavian Late Iron Age gold foil figures through the lense of intra-action. I: Back Danielsson, I.-M. & A. M. Jones (eds). Images in the Making. Art, Process, Archaeology. Manchester: Manchester University Press. (In press)

2018                   

Alterity and Affect in Archaeological Art. In: Dragos Gheorghiu & Theo Barth (eds). Art-chaeology. Oxford: Archaeopress. (In press).

2017                   

Review of Ruth van Dyke: Practising Materiality. European Journal of Archaeology London: Routledge. vol. 20(1), 168-171.

2017                   

Estrid - moder, mäktig och maskulin?: Berättelser om en rekonstruktion av en senvikingatida kvinna. I: Anna Bohlin och Lena Gemzöe (red.) Fiktion och verklighet,  Göteborg - Stockholm: Makadam Förlag. pp. 195-210.

2016                   

More Theory for Mortuary Research of the Viking World.  European Journal of Archaeology, London: Routledge. vol. 19, 519-531.

2016                   

The Social Qualia of Kuml: An Exploration of the Iconicity of Rune-stones with Kuml Inscriptions from the Scandinavian Late Viking Age. Current Swedish Archaeology vol. 23, 157-178.

2015                   

Walking down memory lane. The mnemonic agency of Late Iron Age Scandinavian Rune Stones. I: Gondek, M., Kirton, J. & Williams, H. (eds). Early Medieval Stone Monuments. Materiality, Biography, Landscape, pp. 62-86. Boydell & Brewer.

2015                   

Commentary on debate/discussion ”The ontological turn in archaeology. No future for a comparative science?” i tidskriften In Situ, 115-117.

2014                   

Handlingar på gränsen. En hypotes kring hetero- och homoerotiska uttryck på heliga Helgö och närliggande Hundhamra under yngre järnålder. In: Alexandersson, H., Andreeff, A. & Bünz, A. (eds). Med hjärta och hjärna: En vänbok till professor Elisabeth Arwill-Nordbladh. pp. 259-275. Göteborg: Göteborgs universitet.

2014                   

Gender, feminism and queer within archaeology. USA perspective. In: Smith, C. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, pp. 2988--2997. Springer Link. [With Benjamin Alberti].

2013                   

Materials of Affect. Gold foil miniatures in the Scandinavian Late Iron Age. In: Alberti, B., Jones, A. och Pollard, J. (eds.). Archaeology After Interpretation. Returning Materials to Archaeological Theory, pp. 325--344. Walnut Creek, CA.: Left Coast Press.

2012                   

The Rape of the Lock. Or a Comparison between Miniature Images of the Eighth and Eighteenth Centuries. In: Back Danielsson, I.-M., Fahlander, F. och Sjöstrand, Y. (eds.). Encountering Imagery. Materialitites, Perceptions, Relations, pp. 29-49. Stockholm: Stockholm University.

2012                   

Imagery beyond representation. In: Back Danielsson, I.-M., Fahlander, F. och Sjöstrand, Y. (eds.). Encountering Imagery. Materialitites, Perceptions, Relations, pp. 1-12. Stockholm Studies in Archaeology. Stockholm: Stockholm University.

2012                  

Questioning Gender. In: Back Danielsson, I.-M. och Thedéen, S. (eds.) To Tender Gender – the Pasts and Futures of Gender Research, pp. 9-16. Stockholm: Stockholm University.

2012                  

Much Ado About Nothing. Gender Research within Archaeology. I: Back Danielsson, I.-M. och Thedéen, S. (red.) To Tender Gender – the Pasts and Futures of Gender Research, s. 17-32. Stockholm: Stockholm University.

2012                   

Review of Maja Hagerman ”Försvunnen värld: om den största arkeologiska utgrävningen någonsin i Sverige.” Fornvännen, pp. 356-357.

2011                   

Presenting the Past. On Archaeologists and Their Contribution to Current Burial Practices. Mortality 16: 2, pp. 98--112.

2010                   

Liten lurifax i Lejre. In: Arkaeologisk Forum: 22, s. 30-33.

2010                   

Sense and Sensibility: Masking Practices in Late Iron Age Boat-Graves. In: Fahlander, F. and Kjellström, A. (eds.) Making Sense of Things. Archaeologies of Sensory Perception, pp. 121–140. Stockholm: Stockholm University.

2010                   

Go Figure! Creating Intertwined Worlds in Late Iron Age Scandinavia. I: Gheorgiou, Dragos och Ann Cyphers (eds.). Anthropomorphic and Zoomorphic Miniature Figures in Eurasia, Africa and Meso-America Morphology, materiality, technology, function and context, pp. 79–90. Archaeopress: Oxford.

2009                  

Preface. I: Back Danielsson, I.-M., Gustin, I., Larsson, A., Myrberg, N. och Thedéen, S. (eds.) On the threshold: burial archaeology in the twenty-first century. [Döda personers sällskap: gravmaterialens identiteter och kulturella uttryck], pp. 8–12. Stockholm: Stockholm University.

2009                   

A rare analogy. Contemporary Cremation Practices. On the threshold: burial archaeology in the twenty-first century [Döda personers sällskap: gravmaterialens identiteter och kulturella uttryck], pp. 57–80. In: Back Danielsson, I.-M., Gustin, I., Larsson, A., Myrberg, N. och Thedéen, S. (eds.). Stockholm: Stockholm University.

2008                  

Identity, Community, the Body and the Person in Later Prehistory. I: Jones, A. (ed.) Prehistoric Europe, theory and practice, p. 312–329. Blackwell Studies in Global Archaeology. Blackwell: Malden, MA.

2007                   

Masking Moments: The Transitions of Bodies and Beings in Late Iron Age Scandinavia. Stockholm Studies in Archaeology 40. Diss.

2006                  

Review of “Prehistoric Pictures”. Fornvännen 2006, s. 45–47.

2003                  

Ingenious Ignition: “Flame, I’m gonna live forever” and other movie rhythms shaking Late Iron Age bodies on the road. In: Bergstøl, J. (ed.) Scandinavian archaeological practice – in theory. Proceedings from the 6th Nordic TAG, Oslo 2001, s. 40–57. Oslo.

2002                   

(Un)Masking Gender – Gold Foil (Dis)Embodiments in Late Iron Age Scandinavia. I: Hamilakis, Y., Plucenniks, M. och Tarlow, S. (eds.) Thinking Through the Body, s. 171—191. London: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.

2002                   

Review of “The Excavations at Wijnaldum. Fornvännen 2002.

2001                  

Hemdrup-staven – ett nytt tolkningsförslag. Fornvännen, s. 73–77.

2000                  

Om Pettersson, samiska trummor och Hitlers bunker. Bland annat. I: Fahlander, F., Kristiansen, K. & Nordbladh, J. (eds.). Texter om arkeologisk kulturmiljövård, s. 1–16. Göteborg.

2000                   

Härjad hög i Hallunda. Arkeologisk undersökning av anläggning 34 från yngre järnålder på gravfält RAÄ 75, Hallunda, Botkyrka sn, Södermanland. [A Ravaged Mound in Hallunda. An Archaeological Excavation of Monument 34 from the Late Iron Age on Burial Ground RAÄ 75, Hallunda, Botkyrka parish, Södermanland.] Stockholm: Stockholm University.

1999                  

Engendering Performance in the Late Iron Age. Current Swedish Archaeology. Vol. 7, s. 7–20.

1999                  

Bodies of Difference: Shamanships and Genders in Iron Age Scandinavia. In: Åkerlund, A. (ed.). Pågående avhandlingsarbeten vid Arkeologiska institutionen, Stockholms universitet, 10.

1998                   

Sanning och konsekvens. Synvinklat om vi och dom. Nu och då. I: Lundström, I. och Foldøy, O. (eds.) Nordisk Museifestival 1998 i Stavanger, s. 42–47. Stavanger.

1998                   

Norsborg och Skrävsta i Botkyrka. Makt i monument och materiell kultur. [Norsborg and Skrävsta. Power through Monuments and Material Culture]. In: Fredengren, C. & Tarsala, I. (eds). Aktuell arkeologi VI, 31–40.

EDITED BOOKS

2019                   

Back Danielsson, I.-M. and A. M. Jones (eds). Images in the Making. Art, Process, Archaeology. Manchester: Manchester University Press. (In press).

2012a                

Back Danielsson, I.-M., Fahlander, F. och Sjöstrand, Y. (eds.). Encountering Imagery. Materialitites, Perceptions, Relations. Stockholm Studies in Archaeology. Stockholm: Stockholm University.

2012b                

Back Danielsson, I.-M. och Thedéen, S. (eds.) To Tender Gender – the Pasts and Futures of Gender Research. Stockholm: Stockholm University.

2009                   

Back Danielsson, I.-M., Gustin, I., Larsson, A., Myrberg, N. och Thedéen, S. (eds.) On the threshold: burial archaeology in the twenty-first century. [Döda personers sällskap: gravmaterialens identiteter och kulturella uttryck]. Stockholm: Stockholm University.