Mats Skare
Position
Phd candidate, Archaeology
Affiliation
Research
I am an archaeologist whose primary period of interest spans the Roman Iron Age through the Viking Age (c. AD 1鈥1100). Main topics include animal representations, animal style, cult, craft, iconography, metalwork, myth, religion, ritual, symbolism, and warfare, and are frequently approached through the perspective of materiality.
My PhD project, 鈥淐langorous Beasts 鈥 A Survey of Metal-Detected Artefacts and Animal Representations from west and east Norway, c. AD 550鈥750/800鈥, is two-fold. On the one hand, it assesses the source value of metal detected finds from this period; these are then surveyed to develop and enhance our current understanding of AD 550鈥750/800, a timeframe, which until the recent influx of metal-detected diagnostic material, was considered 鈥渄ark鈥. On the other, it further scrutinizes the artefacts adorned with animal style and animal representations, linking these to the period鈥檚 mentality.
Publications
2025. Hillforts to puzzle 鈥 Joining archaeology and citizen science to document and interpret remote drywalls at Tyvenborg氓sen, Hvittingfoss, eastern Norway. Primitive Tider 27:39鈥58.
2025. Gripping Boundaries. Animal Style Contingencies in c.AD 600鈥800 Scandinavia. Danish Journal of Archaeology 14:1鈥21.
2024. Merovingian or Vendel Period? The Norwegian-Swedish Divide. Fr眉hmittelalterliche Studien 58:77鈥94.
2023. Kulturminnelovens terskel: Klassifisering av kontekstl酶se ringformede spenner fra middelalder og nyere tid. Viking 87:9鈥28.