Viking Ship Museum Roskilde

For the next five weeks, I am located at the the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, Denmark as a visiting PhD researcher. Despite what its name suggests, this museum is not only the world-leading authority on Viking Age shipbuilding, but also Denmark’s premier research centre for ships and seafaring in Prehistoric and Medieval times. It is here that I took the next step in my PhD journey. As of today, Dr. Anton Englert, curator and head of PhD research at the museum is part of my supervisory team and I am now a PhD fellow at the museum. I am very thankful for their help and could not be more excited about this collaboration!

Already on this first day I experienced what a treasure trove the library of the museum is for my research. From a recent book that brings together Danish historical sources between 1000 and 1550 to hard-to-find works on ship construction and wonderfully illustrated works on Viking ships from the late Ole Crumlin-Pedersen‘s private collection. It seems this collection has an endless amount of information to offer.

In a couple of weeks, I will have the opportunity to present my current research to the staff at the museum. One could not ask for a better (or more critical crowd) to test new ideas on Viking Age shipbuilding from a conceptual point of view or to present preliminary research questions! This should be a highlight during my visit!

The extensive library, together with the expertise of Dr. Anton Englert, an expert in Medieval ship technology, specifically Danish large scale cargo carriers, and the other staff members at the museum make this the ideal research environment for a student of Medieval maritime archaeology like myself. On to an exciting five weeks of PhD research!

Update 15/02/2014: This visit is now partly financed by the Humanities PGR Research Fund from the University of Southampton for which I am of course very grateful.