Johannes Balthasar Brøndsted (5 October 1890 - 16 November 1965) was a Danish

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

and prehistorian. He was a professor at the University of Copenhagen and director of the Danish National Museum.

Biography

Brøndsted was born at Grundfør in Jutland, Denmark. He was the son of Kristine Margrethe Bruun (1858-99) and Holger Brøndsted (1849-1916). His father was a parish priest. In 1909, he took his matriculation examination at Sorø Academy, after which he briefly studied law and art history at the University of Copenhagen and took his examination in classical philology in 1916. In 1920, he received his doctorate for his work on the relations between

Anglo-Saxon art Anglo-Saxon art covers art produced within the Anglo-Saxon period of English history, beginning with the Migration period style that the Anglo-Saxons brought with them from the continent in the 5th century, and ending in 1066 with the Norma ...

and

Norse Norse is a demonym for Norsemen, a medieval North Germanic ethnolinguistic group ancestral to modern Scandinavians, defined as speakers of Old Norse from about the 9th to the 13th centuries. Norse may also refer to: Culture and religion * Nor ...

art during the Viking era. Brøndsted begins his work at the museum in 1917 and becomes deputy inspector at the National Museum Department of Nordic Antiquity in 1918. In 1922 and 1922, he worked in the field with Ejnar Dyggve (1887-1961) and excavated early

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

monuments in

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

. His account of this excavation was published as ''Recherches à Salone'' (1928). He was a co-founder of the peer-reviewed academic journal '' Acta Archaeologica'' and editor-in-chief (1930-48). From 1941 through 1951, Brøndsted was a professor of Nordic archeology and European prehistory at the University of Copenhagen. He left this position to become the director of the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen, a position he held from 1951 through 1960. Johannes Brøndsted died at Copenhagen and was buried at Frederiksberg Ældre Kirkegård in Frederiksberg.

Selected works

* ''Recherches à Salone'' (1928) * ''Danmarks Oldtid'' (three vols.; 2e; 1957-1959), a prehistory of Denmark * ''The Vikings'' (1960) (English edition: trans. Kalle Skov; Penguin, Harmondsworth; 1965; )

Recognition and distinctions

* 1948 -

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special ...

(ord. med.} * 1948 - Cross of Honour of the Order of the Dannebrog * 1952 - Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy * 1953 - Gold medal of the Society of Antiquaries of London

References

1890 births 1965 deaths Danish archaeologists Prehistorians University of Copenhagen alumni Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy 20th-century archaeologists Recipients of the Cross of Honour of the Order of the Dannebrog {{denmark-archaeologist-stub