Gift enables Oxford to establish its first academic post focused on the Viking Age
Oxford is to shine a new light on one of Europe’s most dynamic periods of history following the creation of a unique post in the School of Archaeology.
The Gad Rausing Associate Professorship of Viking Age Archaeology is the University’s first academic post to focus exclusively on the Viking Age. It has been made possible by a gift from Kirsten Rausing and named in memory of her father Dr Gad Rausing, an eminent scholar in the field of Scandinavian archaeology.
The post will help to advance research into this important period of history while also ensuring that graduate students receive the training they need to become the Viking Age archaeologists of the future.
Gad Rausing: a lifelong passion for archaeology
Alongside a wealth of experience in industry, Gad Rausing had a lifelong passion for archaeology and studied the subject for his doctorate degree at the University of Lund. He was an expert on pre-historic Scandinavia and supported research and frequent excavations in Sweden, where he was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities.
Helena Hamerow, Professor of Early Medieval Archaeology in the School of Archaeology, said: ‘This new post will ensure that Gad Rausing’s legacy of distinguished scholarship in this field endures and that future generations of Oxford students will be able to study the subject he did so much to advance. It will enable Viking Age archaeology to remain at the forefront of the research done in the School of Archaeology, bringing together fieldwork and science-based methods to generate new insights into this pivotal period of European history.’
Kirsten Rausing says: ‘My entire family is delighted that my late father is honoured by this recognition by Oxford University of his lifetime’s archaeological research.’
Transforming our understanding of the Viking Age
The inaugural post-holder of the Gad Rausing Associate Professorship of Viking Age Archaeology will be Dr Jane Kershaw, a Viking specialist whose research has transformed understanding of core aspects of Viking settlement and society. Dr Kershaw’s analysis of Scandinavian jewellery and hack-silver has revealed new evidence of large-scale Viking settlement and exchange in England.
Dr Kershaw says: ‘It is a deep honour to be the first Gad Rausing Associate Professor in Viking Age Archaeology at Oxford. The position will enable me, and many more future Viking specialists, to advance new fields of research within Viking archaeology and to teach and, hopefully, inspire future generations of scholars. It is wonderful to know that the field has a home in Oxford. I am profoundly grateful to Kirsten Rausing for her support of the subject.’
