Thora Petursdottir

Professor - Archaeology
Image of Thora Petursdottir
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Phone +47 22841948
Mobile phone +47-92077735
Room 1.44
Username
Visiting address Blindernveien 11 0371 Oslo
Postal address Postboks 1008 Blindern 0316 Oslo

Research interest

As an archaeologist and researcher I work predominantly with themes within contemporary archaeology, cultural heritage studies and archaeological theory and method. These three fields overlap in my current work with archaeology and heritage of the Anthropocene where I study the afterlife of things as unruly heritage, the relation between culture and nature, and archaeology's challenges and potentials in this regard.

My orientation has always been towards the north and Arctic and my research has been carried out mostly in Iceland, Northern Norway and Russia.

In my work I put great emphasis on communication and I am interested in how different forms of dissemination further archaeology's knowledge production and the characteristics of material culture.

Teaching

ARK 4040 Fordypning i arkeologisk teori og metode

ARK 2110 Arkeologisk kulturminneforvaltning

ARK 4210 Kulturarvsarkeologi: om fortid i samtid

ARK4250 Prosjektbeskrivelse i arkeologi

Background

I have my education from the University of Iceland (BA) and UiT The Arctic University of Norway (MA, PhD). As a PhD candidate I also studied at Stanford University (2012). From 2007 to 2010 I worked as project manager at Institute of Archaeology/Fornleifastofnun Íslands (http://fornleif.is/), in Iceland, where I was responsible for archaeological registration projects, excavations and consultation. I held a lectureship at the University of Iceland in 2008 and 2009. After completing my PhD in 2013 I held postdoc and later researcher positions at UiT The Arctic University of Norway (2013-2019), and a research fellowship at CAS Centre for Advanced Studies in Oslo during 2016-2017. I have been Associate Professor at UiO from August 2019.

I currently serve as Editor-in-Chief for the journal NAR Norwegian Archaeological Review

Other commissions

2023- Board member of RANNÍS Icelandic Research fund, Icelandic Research Council

2022- Chief member of the Science and Technology Policy Council of the Icelandic Government

2019- Editor-in-Chief, NAR Norwegian Archaeological Review

2019-2021 Reserve member of the Science and Technology Policy Council of the Icelandic Government

2016-2019 Assistant Editor, Post Medieval Archaeology

2016-2020 Board member of standing committee, CHAT, Contemporary and Historical Archaeology in Theory, International network of archaeologists working with the recent past.

2015- Vice president for the Icelandic Archaeological Association (Hið íslenzka fornleifafélag)

2015-2016 Representative for temporary employees on the institute board, IAS, UiT The Arctic University of Norway

2014-2019 Editorial Secretary NAR Norwegian Archaeological Review

2010-2013 Vice president for the Archaeology committee, Ministry of Education and Culture, Iceland

2009-2011 President of the executive committee, Akureyri Academy

Prices

2019: Universitetsforlagets lærebokpris

Tags: Archaeology, Archaeological theory, Contemporary archaeology, Cultural heritage, Environmental Humanities

Publications

  • Petursdottir, Thora & Sørensen, Tim Flohr (2023). Archaeological encounters: Ethics and aesthetics under the mark of the Anthropocene. Archaeological Dialogues. ISSN 1380-2038. 30(1), p. 50–67. doi: 10.1017/S1380203823000028. Full text in Research Archive
  • Petursdottir, Thora & Sorensen, Tim Flohr (2023). Archaeological encounters: Ethics and aesthetics under the mark of the Anthropocene. Archaeological Dialogues. ISSN 1380-2038. 30(1), p. 50–67. doi: 10.1017/S1380203823000028.
  • Bangstad, Torgeir Rinke & Petursdottir, Thora (2021). An Ecological Approach to Heritage. In Bangstad, Torgeir Rinke & Petursdottir, Thora (Ed.), Heritage Ecologies. Routledge. ISSN 9781138294608. p. 1–26.
  • Olsen, Bjørnar Julius & Petursdottir, Thora (2021). Writing Things After Discourse. In Olsen, Bjørnar Julius; Burström, Mats; DeSilvey, Caitlin & Petursdottir, Thora (Ed.), After Discourse: Things, Affects, Ethics . Routledge. ISSN 978-0-367-19048-4. p. 23–41.
  • Olsen, Bjørnar Julius; Burström, Mats; DeSilvey, Caitlin & Petursdottir, Thora (2021). After Discourse: An Introduction. In Olsen, Bjørnar Julius; Burström, Mats; DeSilvey, Caitlin & Petursdottir, Thora (Ed.), After Discourse: Things, Affects, Ethics . Routledge. ISSN 978-0-367-19048-4. p. 1–17.
  • Petursdottir, Thora (2020). In Passing: Beiläufigkeit at the Verge of Anthropocene. Cambridge Archaeological Journal. ISSN 0959-7743. 30(1), p. 164–168. doi: 10.1017/S0959774319000544.
  • Petursdottir, Thora & Olsen, Bjørnar Julius (2020). Modern Ruins: Remembrance, Resistance, and Ruin Value. In Smith, Claire M (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology/Springer Verlag. ISSN 978-3-030-30016-6. p. 7304–7315. doi: https:/link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_1055.
  • Petursdottir, Thora (2020). Anticipated futures? Knowing the heritage of drift matter. International Journal of Heritage Studies (IJHS). ISSN 1352-7258. 26(1), p. 87–103. doi: 10.1080/13527258.2019.1620835. Full text in Research Archive
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2018). Gengið á reka: fornleifafræði mannaldar. Árbók hins Íslenzka fornleifafélags. ISSN 0256-8462. p. 7–36.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2018). Drift . In Pilaar Birch, Suzanne (Eds.), Multispecies Archaeology. Routledge. ISSN 9781138898981. p. 85–101.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2018). Lyrics for a duskier enlightenment. in response to Alexandra Ion. Archaeological Dialogues. ISSN 1380-2038. 25(2), p. 205–213. doi: 10.1017/S138020381800020X.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2017). Climate Change: Archaeology and Anthropocene. Archaeological Dialogues. ISSN 1380-2038. 24(2), p. 175–205. doi: 10.1017/S1380203817000216.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra & Olsen, Bjørnar Julius (2017). Theory Adrift: The Matter of Archaeological Theorizing. Journal of Social Archaeology. ISSN 1469-6053. 18(1), p. 97–117. doi: 10.1177/1469605317737426. Full text in Research Archive
  • Olsen, Bjørnar Julius & Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2017). Sværholt: Poetics of Memory. In Kaila, J & Knuutila, J (Ed.), Inside and Beside the Camp. The Academy of Fine Arts. ISSN 978-952-7131-36-7. p. 88–95.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2016). For love of ruins. In Mikkel, Bille & Tim Flohr, Sørensen (Ed.), Elements of Architecture: Assembling archaeology, atmosphere and the performance of building spaces. Routledge. ISSN 978-1138775411. p. 365–386.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2016). Cold Wars and Summer-Night Dances: An Archaeology of the Iron Curtain: Material and Metaphor, by Anna McWilliams and Minnen från vår samtid: Arkeologi, materialitet och samtidshistoria (Memories of our Time: Archaeology, Materiality and Contemporary History) by Maria Persson. Journal of Contemporary Archaeology. ISSN 2051-3429. Full text in Research Archive
  • Olsen, Bjørnar Julius & Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2016). Unruly Heritage: Tracing Legacies in the Anthropocene. Arkæologisk Forum. ISSN 1399-5545. 35, p. 38–45.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2015). Die Sorge für Verfallendes: Theoretisierung von materiellem Kulturerbe. In Stockhammer, Philipp W. & Hahn, Hans Peter (Ed.), Lost in Things - Fragen an die Welt des Materiellen. Waxmann Verlag. ISSN 978-3-8309-3175-1. p. 105–127.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2014). Things out-of-hand: the aesthetics of abandonment. In Olsen, Bjørnar Julius & Pétursdóttir, Þóra (Ed.), Ruin Memories: Materialities, Aesthetics and the Archaeology of the Recent Past. Routledge. ISSN 9780415523622. p. 335–364.
  • Grabowski, Radoslaw; Olsen, Bjørnar Julius; Pétursdóttir, Þóra & Witmore, Christopher (2014). Teillager 6 Sværholt: The archaeology of a World War II prisoner of war camp in Finnmark, arctic Norway. Fennoscandia Archaeologica. ISSN 0781-7126. XXXI, p. 3–24.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra & Olsen, Bjørnar Julius (2014). Modern Ruins: Remembrance, Resistance, and Ruin Value. In Smith, Claire M (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer. ISSN 978-1-4419-0466-9. p. 4983–4994. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-51726-1_1055-2.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra & Olsen, Bjørnar Julius (2014). An archaeology of ruins. In Olsen, Bjørnar Julius & Pétursdóttir, Þóra (Ed.), Ruin Memories: Materialities, Aesthetics and the Archaeology of the Recent Past. Routledge. ISSN 9780415523622. p. 3–29.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2013). Concrete matters: Ruins of modernity and the things called heritage. Journal of Social Archaeology. ISSN 1469-6053. 13(1), p. 31–53. doi: 10.1177/1469605312456342.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2012). Fé og frændur í eina gröf: Hugleiðingar um kuml og greftrun í íslensku samhengi. Ólafía. Rit fornleifafræðingafélags Íslands. ISSN 1670-6498. p. 139–162.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2012). Small Things Forgotten Now Included, or What Else Do Things Deserve? International Journal of Historical Archaeology. ISSN 1092-7697. 16(3), p. 577–603. doi: 10.1007/s10761-012-0191-0.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2011). Nýminjar: (Forn)leifar og (forn)leifafræði. In Lárusdóttir, Birna (Eds.), Mannvist: Sýnisbók íslenskra fornleifa. Opna. ISSN 978-9935-10-045-0. p. 424–433.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2011). Kuml. In Lárusdóttir, Birna (Eds.), Mannvist: Sýnisbók íslenskra fornleifa. Opna. ISSN 978-9935-10-045-0. p. 54–71.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2011). Orð í belg um íslenska kumlhestinn og uppruna hans. Árbók hins Íslenzka fornleifafélags. ISSN 0256-8462. p. 185–208.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra & Hermannsdóttir, Ásta (2011). Fornleifaskráning á Öxi. Múlaþing. ISSN 1022-5021. 37, p. 126–135.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2011). Grafist fyrir um mannvirkin í Arnarbæli við Selfljót: Af niðurstöðum rannsókna haustið 2010. Múlaþing. ISSN 1022-5021. 37, p. 34–43.

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  • Bjerck, Hein Bjartmann; Burström, Mats; Petursdottir, Thora & Svestad, Asgeir (2023). For Love of Archaeology. To Bjørnar J. Olsen from friends and colleagues. Tromsø Museum Skrifter. ISBN 978-82-7142-300-1. 249 p.
  • Bangstad, Torgeir Rinke & Petursdottir, Thora (2021). Heritage Ecologies. Routledge. ISBN 9781138294608. 426 p.
  • Olsen, Bjørnar Julius; Burström, Mats; DeSilvey, Caitlin & Petursdottir, Thora (2021). After Discourse: Things, Affects, Ethics . Routledge. ISBN 978-0-367-19048-4. 322 p.
  • Olsen, Bjørnar Julius & Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2014). Ruin Memories: Materialities, Aesthetics and the Archaeology of the Recent Past. Routledge. ISBN 9780415523622. 492 p.

View all works in Cristin

  • Bjerck, Hein Bjartmann; Burström, Mats; Petursdottir, Thora & Svestad, Asgeir (2023). For Love of Archaeology. In Bjerck, Hein Bjartmann; Burström, Mats; Petursdottir, Thora & Svestad, Asgeir (Ed.), For Love of Archaeology. To Bjørnar J. Olsen from friends and colleagues.. Tromsø Museum Skrifter. ISSN 978-82-7142-300-1. p. 1–22.
  • Axelsen, Irmelin; Austvoll, Knut Ivar; Nielsen, Svein Vatsvåg; Petursdottir, Thora & Østmo, Mari Arentz (2021). What's the use of theory, anyway? Arkæologisk Forum. ISSN 1399-5545. 45, p. 26–29.
  • Petursdottir, Thora; Riede, Felix & Fredriksen, Per Ditlef (2021). Welcome to the New Environmental Archaeologies seminar series.
  • Petursdottir, Thora (2020). Collaborative, Public, Participatory: Pros and Cons of an Open Archaeology. Norwegian Archaeological Review. ISSN 0029-3652. 53(1), p. 1–4. doi: 10.1080/00293652.2020.1782463.
  • Olsen, Bjørnar Julius & Petursdottir, Thora (2020). ARV.
  • Olsen, Bjørnar Julius & Petursdottir, Thora (2020). ARV.
  • Petursdottir, Thora & Olsen, Bjørnar Julius (2019). ARV/ERBE.
  • Petursdottir, Thora & Godin, Geneviève (2019). At the pace of things: archaeology in the Anthropocene.
  • Petursdottir, Thora (2019). Fra arkeologisk kulturarv til kulturarvsarkeologi.
  • Petursdottir, Thora (2019). Writing things.
  • Petursdottir, Thora (2019). Fragment to form.
  • Petursdottir, Thora & Olsen, Bjørnar Julius (2019). Tingenes verdi - museets arv. Ottar. ISSN 0030-6703. 65(2), p. 31–40.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2018). Things in passing.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra & Tim Flohr, Sørensen (2018). Indecent and Obscene? A view from a depraved ethics of the contemporary.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2018). On nearing and knowing drift matter.
  • Olsen, Bjørnar Julius; Nango, Joar & Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2018). ARV.
  • Olsen, Bjørnar Julius & Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2018). Søppel eller kulturarv?
  • Kramvig, Britt; Huse, Tone; Verran, Helen Ruth & Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2016). How and why do objects come to matter in the Arctic?
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2016). Book review of: ‘Industrial Heritage in Denmark: Landscapes, Environments and Historical Archaeology. Edited by Caspar Jørgensen and Morten Pedersen Aarhus: Kultur Styrelsen and Aarhus University Press. 285 pp. ISBN 978 87 7124 108 2. Nordicum-Mediterraneum. ISSN 1670-6242. 11.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2016). Arriving at the Past: Challenges in Archaeological Reasoning.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2016). Strange and Estranged: On bringing Things Close.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2016). Drift.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2016). After Discourse: Archaeology and Anthropocene.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra & Sørensen, Tim Flohr (2016). On the Trace: An Introduction.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra; Huse, Tone & Kramvig, Britt (2016). How and why do objects come to matter in the Arctic?
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2016). Radical Ontologies? Archaeology in the Age of the Anthropocene.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2016). Archaeology of Drift Matter: Driftwood and the Movement of Things Around People.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2016). Hagræðing menningararfs. [Newspaper]. Vísir.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2015). Sharing ground. Current Swedish Archaeology. ISSN 1102-7355. 23, p. 67–71.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2015). Heritage, Ruins and the Archaeology of the Recent Past.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2015). Wrack Zone Archaeology: The Heritage of Stranded Things.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2015). For Love of Ruins: Aesthetics of Ruination and Heritage Value.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2014). Hlutir, menning, minjar: Hugleiðing um arfleifð.
  • Petursdottir, Thora (2013). Ruin/ruination: the aesthetics of heritage.
  • Petursdottir, Thora (2013). Aesthetizication and ruin porn? A reply to the critique of ruin photography.
  • Petursdottir, Thora (2013). Approaching Modern Ruins: Photos, Memos and Ruin Memories.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2012). Concrete Matters: Modern ruins in Saga-land and the things called heritage.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2011). "Innviðir" - enn af dreggjum dagsins. Hugsandi.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2011). Dreggjar dagsins og fornleifafræði hins nýliðna. Hugsandi.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2011). Behind my back: Abandonment, object narratives and moments of intervention.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2011). Af öskuhaugum fullveldis.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2011). Topographic - Photographic: Dialogues with the recent past.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2011). A sense of snow: Ruin memories from the North Atlantic.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2011). Stóriðja á Ströndum.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra (2011). Endurfundir: Fornleifarannsóknir styrktar af Kristnihátíðarsjóði 2001-2005. Árbók hins Íslenzka fornleifafélags. ISSN 0256-8462. p. 227–232.
  • Petursdottir, Thora (2020). Hernámið frá sjónarhóli fornleifafræðinnar: fornleifarannsókn á minjum úr síðari heimsstyrjöld á Skálum á Langanesi. Fornleifastofnun Íslands.
  • Farstadvoll, Stein; Olsen, Bjørnar Julius & Petursdottir, Thora (2019). A speculative archaeology of excess: Exploring the afterlife of a derelict landscape garden. UiT Norges arktiske universitet.
  • Petursdottir, Thora (2013). Concrete matters: towards an archaeology of things. UiT Norges arktiske universitet. ISSN 978-82-8244-107-0.
  • Pétursdóttir, Þóra & Sigurgeirsson, Magnús (2011). Frumrannsókn menningarminja í Arnarbæli við Selfljót. Fornleifastofnun Íslands.

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Published Aug. 6, 2019 9:10 AM - Last modified Oct. 18, 2023 2:28 PM