The Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde was opened in 1969 and is the Danish museum for ships, seafaring and boatbuilding culture in ancient and medieval times. Besides exhibitions, a boatyard where visitors can watch shipwrights at work, an Activity Centre where the School Service is housed, a large sailing collection of traditional Nordic wooden boats, an Archaeological Workshop in which archaeological finds are documented using digital technology, a Maritime Archive on all Danish maritime archaeological finds, the Viking Ship Museum has a Maritime Archaeology unit carrying out marine archaeological investigations in connection to off shore construction work, rescue excavation and research excavations. The unit of Maritime Archaeology comprises both a staff of experienced marine archaeologists and craftsmen and is well equipped with boats, pumps and diving equipment for working underwater. The Viking Ship Museum has both experience and facilities in organizing and housing conferences, seminars and field schools and the vicinity at Roskilde Fjord makes it a perfect location for underwater field schools.

www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk

Key Persons:

Jørgen Dencker is curator, cand.phil and head of Maritime Archaeology at the Viking Ship Museum and one of the most experienced marine archaeologists in Denmark dealing with all aspects of maritime archaeology for more than 30 years: marine archaeological investigations in connection to a great number of construction developments at sea, rescue and research excavations of submerged landscapes and Stone Age settlements. He has also worked with: geophysical survey and interpretation of geophysical data, mapping drowned coastlines, prediction of location of submerged Stone Age settlements, excavation of well preserved submerged Stone Age settlements, development of methods and equipment for recovery of both small and larger fragile wooden artefacts and objects. Furthermore he has been involved in research on in situ preservation of both submerged Stone Age settlements and wrecks in cooperation with the National Museum of Denmark. He has been a partner in the EU project Wreck Protect and has been responsible for field schools, seminars and workshops on the survey and excavation of submerged Stone Age settlements in Denmark, Sweden, Faroe Islands and in methods on in situ preservation. He lectures on marine archaeology at a University level and is supervisor to a PhD student investigating submerged landscapes and Stone Age and has been a consultant in both Sweden and Norway in this matter.

Others. Besides Jørgen Dencker the Viking Ship Museum has a staff of fully qualified marine archaeologists who are commercial / scientific divers. These will be involved in the project in different work packages – primarily in connection with field work.