Rikke Søgaard

Tak! 🙌🏻

I did it 🥺🥺
Just got my master thesis graded, and I now hold a masters degree in Prehistoric Archaeology from the University of Copenhagen 🥂

Relived, happy and so, so unbelievably ready for the next step!

#graduation #archaeology

I handed in my Prehistoric #Archaeology Master's Degree thesis a few days ago, and now the long (approximately) four weeks of waiting begin. I am equal parts relieved and nervous.

Please tell me: What was the first thing you did when you handed it in or got your thesis graded?

You are right - the two bears under 'd' are the forgeries

Gold bracteate showing a horse, a raven and a head in profile. The head is thought to be Odin.

SPACE: In 2023 Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen brought cultural heritage to space, incl. a gold bracteate showing Odin on a horse and raven, Huginn. The bracteate dates to the 5th-6th century, and was found by a detectorist in 2019. #Archaeology #Space 🏺
📷Søren Greve, The Nationalmuseum of Denmark

My favorite thing about #archaeology is the vast array of methods - both scientific and digital one can use. My least favorite thing is all the methods that I can't do. But luckily, my second favorite thing is learning new methods.

Bag-shaped pendant made of bronze (square shaped) with a silver indlay with a animal motive.

However, most of them were made of bronze and featured an inlay of silver on the front - which sadly often isn't preseved in the ploughsoil. Most is found by metal detectorist, like this one from Stevns municipality.
#Archaeology 🏺

📷DI48472, metaldetektorfund.dk

Bag-shaped pendant (square) made of gold and with 5 cells of garnet on the front.

One of my favorite objects is bag-shaped pendants & especially this one: gold with cloisonné - & most likely garnet. Found by a metal detectorist on an Iron Age central site, Gudme (Denmark).
I wouldn't mind a replica of that around my neck!

📷Søren Greve, The National Museum of Denmark #Archaeology

Iron age brooch with red cloisonné.

I'll share a very similar brooch from Nørre Sandegård (Bornholm), Denmark. - Over 1300 km from Haukenes.
📷Lennart Larsen, National Museum of Denmark, CC-BY-SA

My head (or heart) cannot bear the thought of all that was famously "I'll-remember-that-no-need-to-write-it-down" lost..

The material we excavate are not perfect either, and we can't change either of it - just make sure to do better in the future.

Full body bronze statue showing a woman standing front-on. She only wears a belt and a necklace and her hands are on her hips. Her body characteristics cleary indicates that she is indeed female.

Thesis thoughts: As I'm going through research history, I thought I'd share, what is believed to be the first object found by metaldetector & be considered treasure in Denmark. She was found in 1978 in Værebro. LBA per.IV

📷Roberto Fortuna & Kira Ursem, The National Museum of Denmark #archaeology 🏺

It becomes an excavation in itselves to figure out old unpublished dataset and registrations for later publishing. Oh those notebooks have given me more nightmares that I'll like to admit...

Forgetting your headphones at home is the modern equivalent of leaving your sword behind in medieval times.

Almost the same thing was done in Denmark with 4 pigs between 1989-1992. Archaeologist Mogens Bo Henriksen burned the pigs, buried the remains and they where just dug up last year!
(Pub pending: news article: shorturl.at/k8Ajb )
#Experimentalarchaeology #Archaeology 🏺

Early midevil bronze fitting with interlaced ornamentation and what looks to be two animals holding each other with bear faces. Credit: Rikke Søgaard, National Museum of Denmark, CC-BY-SA (D701/2019)

Same bronze fitting seen from the back

One of my favorite things is the representation of animals - do they have to look like something specific? These look a bit like bear faces. Other refers to them as cats. What do you think?

Photo: Rikke Søgaard, National Museum of Denmark, CC-BY-SA

#Archaeology 🏺

I did my bachelor degree on socketed axeheads from ploughsoil contexts. This is absolutely an amazing discovery! Unbelievable amazing - and such luck that it has been preserved!

Those tortoise brooch reproductions are absolutely gorgeous!

Four pictures in a collage. Upper left: selfie of the author of the post - a woman with a subtle warm smile and red hair. The 3 other picture are from concerts. Upper right is a black and white picture taken from the side of Eivor. Lower left is a black and white photo of Lenny Kravitz playing guitar. Lower right is a color photo of Aurora singing.

Hi!
I'm Rikke, 26 years old and from Denmark. Undergraduate in Prehistoric Archaeology by day and (sometimes) a concert photographer by night 👋🏻

#archaeology #archaeologist #photographer #concertphotography