Tori Falck
About me
I graduated as an archaeologist at the University of Tromsø, Norway in 2001, specialising in maritime archaeology. 2005-2020, I was employed at the Norwegian Maritime Museum in Oslo. Here, I have worked on several different tasks related to cultural heritage management, research, outreach, and administration. Among other things, I have been involved in building up the museum's digital documentation laboratory, where archaeological ship finds are documented and reconstructed. This work has been mainly linked to the extensive archaeological excavations in Bjørvika, Oslo Harbour, which started in 2004 and are still ongoing. The excavations have produced a large amount of ship archaeological material, increasing our knowledge of ship and boat technology, mainly related to the late Medieval and early modern times.
As an archaeologist, I greatly appreciate the opportunity to work practically and theoretically, and I enjoy doing archaeological fieldwork above and below water.
The dissertation
In the thesis, I want to discuss craft practices in boat building from the early Medieval to approximately 1700. I take as a starting point the empirical material in Viken, which includes Oslofjord and Agder on the Norwegian side and historically also includes Bohuslän in Sweden. During this period, boat building underwent significant changes, which can be linked to trade contacts, urbanisation, and internationalisation, among other things.
The thesis aims to fill a knowledge gap related to the boat archaeological material in the Viken region. This involves systematising extensive material according to technical characteristics, aiming to identify meaningful connections and regional or local differences. On a theoretical level, I want to study the relationship between people, materials, and things in light of the boats that are activated in the investigation.
Research interests
My research interests extend beyond maritime topics to include theoretical issues related to the study of material culture and crafts. In my dissertation, I aim to bridge these fields of interest.
Together with researchers at Norway's Arctic University Museum and the Norwegian Maritime Museum, I run a project that involves the excavation, conservation, and exhibition of a boat dated AD1450 (the Lovund boat). The boat was excavated in 2017 and exhibited at Lovund in 2024. (Lovundbåten)
