About Martin Rundkvist
Martin Rundkvist (born 4 April 1972) is a Swedish archaeologist, translator, and associate professor at the University of Łódź in Poland. His research focuses on the Bronze, Iron, and Middle Ages of Scandinavia, including significant excavations in the province of Östergötland. Rundkvist has studied and excavated various sites in Sweden, particularly in the country's south. In 2003 and 2004, he published a three-volume work which doubled as his PhD dissertation, cataloguing the finds from Barshalder, the largest prehistoric cemetery on the Swedish island of Gotland. A subsequent book identified nine possible regional power centres in Östergötland, and attempted to determine where the "Beowulfian mead halls" of the day once stood. Excavating years later at one of these sites, Aska, Rundkvist uncovered the foundations of a large mead hall, and 30 ornate gold figures that might have represented gods or royals. In other works, Rundkvist has excavated a Viking boat grave, and analysed both the placement of deposited artefacts in the landscape and the lifestyles of the Scandinavian élite during the Middle Ages. Rundkvist has worked in archaeology since 1992, including research and lecture posts at the universities of Exeter, Chester, Linnaeus, and Tallinn. He spent two decades as managing editor of Fornvännen, a journal on archaeology and medieval art, and authors the blog Aardvarchaeology, which the James Randi Educational Foundation termed "the most-read archaeology blog on the Internet". Rundkvist served as chair for the Swedish Skeptics' Association for four years, and edited its quarterly magazine Folkvett. In 2001, Rundkvist won several games on the Swedish version of the television show Jeopardy!. Rundkvist has announced several finds on the blog, such as a 16th-century sword found in Djurhamn, and a Viking crucifix estimated to be Denmark's oldest.
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