Appointment strengthens research collaboration between the Kiel Institute of Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology and the Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology (ZBSA)

Gottorf archaeologist, Dr Berit Valentin Eriksen, has been appointed Honorary Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology at Kiel University (CAU) (Photo: S. Philipsen)

The Gottorf archaeologist, Dr Berit Valentin Eriksen, has been appointed Honorary Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology at Kiel University (CAU) on the recommendation of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. In addition to her merits in archaeological research, teaching and the development of young research talents, her international reputation in the field of prehistoric hunter-gatherer archaeology, as well as in the field of cognitive archaeology at the interface between stone and metal technologies in early metal-using societies, was decisive for the appointment.

Born in Denmark, Eriksen has been a Scientific Director of the Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology (ZBSA; link) at the Schleswig-Holstein State Museums Foundation Schloss Gottorf since 2009. As an affiliated institution of Kiel University, the foundation and thus also the ZBSA is one of its most important cooperation partners, and the ZBSA (link), in particular, cooperates very closely with the Institute of Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology in research and teaching. The participation of the ZBSA was also a decisive factor for the approval of the Cluster of Excellence ROOTS and the CRC 1266, two scientific collaborative research projects funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Berit Eriksen is an active member of the Cluster of Excellence ‘ROOTS – Social, Environmental, and Cultural Connectivity in Past Societies’ and a founding member of the ROOTS Subcluster 3 ‘Knowledge ROOTS: Innovation, Cognition, and Technology’ (link). Furthermore, she is a member of the Johanna Mestorf Academy where she has served as an academic host to a number of high-profiled academic guests from around the world. Moreover, she is a Principle Investigator in CRC 1266 ‘Scales of Transformation – Human-Environmental Interaction in Prehistoric and Archaic Societies’ (link).

“The appointment as Honorary Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology confirms the close networking between our institutions (ZBSA and CAU), and strengthens the development of further joint research projects within prehistoric archaeology. It is a great honour and motivation for me at the same time,” remarks Eriksen happily.