Dr. Aage Rousell, (27 October 1901, Copenhagen – 9 June 1972, Frederiksberg) was a Danish architect, archaeologist and historian."Aage Roussel"
''Dansk Biografisk Leksikon''. Retrieved 23 April 2012. He was best known for his archaeological work in

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

in the 1920s and 1930s, especially for his work on Norse settlements in medieval Greenland.

Biography

Roussell was the son of Rudolf Christian Roussell (1859-1933) and wife Sidse Hansine Nielsen (1868-1941). Roussell became a student at Sankt Andreas Kollegium in

Ordrup Ordrup is a district of Gentofte Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located circa north of the city centre. History Ordrup was originally a small village which only consisted of eight farms and a forge. The area ...

in 1919 and took a degree in philosophy from the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

in 1920. He was admitted to the

Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi - Billedkunst Skolerne) has provided education in the arts for more than 250 years, playing its part in the development of the art of Denmark. History The Royal Dani ...

from which he graduated in 1922. Roussell participated in archaeological

expeditions in 1926, 1930, 1932, 1934, 1935 and 1937 and an expedition to

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

in 1939. In 1926 Roussell together with cultural historian Poul Nørlund (1888–1951) unearthed 13 skeletons at

Igaliku Igaliku is a settlement in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. The town was founded as Igaliko in 1783 by the trader and colonial administrator Anders Olsen and Greenlandic wife Tuperna. In 2020, Igaliku had 21 inhabitants. The ...

in southern Greenland. In 1932 he returned to Greenland with

Eigil Knuth Count Eigil Knuth (8 August 1903 – 12 March 1996) was a Danish explorer, archaeologist, sculptor and writer. He is referred to as the Nestor ("elder statesman") of Danish polar explorers. His archaeological investigations were made in Pea ...

(1903–1996) on an archaeological dig to excavate

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...

sites on West Greenland's coast. Roussel, Knuth and Nørlund returned during the summer of 1934, excavating the old Norse ruins again at Igaliku. He returned again in the summer of 1937 with a Polish expedition to the Nuuk, Godthaab district. Roussel became museum inspector at the National Museum of Denmark in 1937 and was from 1949 to 1971 chief inspector and leader of the medieval collection. He authored works including ''Farms and Churches in the Mediaeval Norse Settlement of Greenland'' (1941) He was later a contributor to the ''Arctic Encyclopedia''. During the German occupation of Denmark, Roussel participated actively in the Danish resistance movement, resistance movement. As a result, in 1957 he was appointed head of the newly established Denmark's Liberation Museum 1940-1945 (''Frihedsmuseet''), a position he held until 1971.

References

Danish archaeologists 20th-century Danish historians Historians of Greenland Historians of Denmark 1901 births 1972 deaths People from Copenhagen University of Copenhagen alumni Danish resistance members Architects from Copenhagen 20th-century Danish architects 20th-century archaeologists {{Denmark-historian-stub