Anna Wessman is Associate Professor in Iron Age Archaeology at the University Museum of Bergen, Norway. She worked as senior researcher in Subproject 1 (User Needs and Public Cultural Heritage Interactions), based at the Department of Cultures, University of Helsinki, until January 2021. Anna was previously a researcher in the Menneisyyttä etsimässä – kolmannen sektorin merkitys kulttuuriperinnön tutkimuksessa – project, which was funded by the Kone Foundation and focused on a specific metal detectorist group in Häme (Kanta-Hämeen menneisyyden etsijät ry). She has worked as a University Lecturer in Museum Studies between 2015-2017. Between 2010-2015 Anna was the PI in the project The Levänluhta site – A Multidisciplinary research into a unique mystery in Northern European prehistory founded by the Emil Aaltonen Foundation. Anna has collaborated with metal detectorists since 2011. In 2015 and 2016 she was awarded for this work by the Finnish Metal Detectorist Association in Finland (SME) and Suomen Muinaistutkimuksen tuki ry (SMT).
Selected publications and books:
Wessman, A., Koivisto, L. & Thomas, S. 2016: Metal detecting in Finland – an ongoing debate, Topical issues on Aspects of non-professional metal detecting in Europe, Pieterjan Deckers, Michael Lewis & Suzie Thomas (eds),Open Archaeology 2016; 2: 85-96.
Wessman, A. 2015. Women along the River banks. New Iron Age Finds from Espoo, In Mankby – a deserted medieval village on the coast of the southern Finland, Janne Harjula, Maija Helamaa, Janne Haarala & Visa Immonen (eds.), pp. 17-29. Archaeologia Medii Aevi Finlandiae XXII, Turku.
Cremation and the Archaeology of Death, Cerezo-Román, J., Wessman, A. & Williams, H. (eds.). Oxford University Press. 2017.
Muinaisuutemme jäljet. Suomen esi- ja varhaishistoriakivikaudelta keskiajalle, Haggrén, G., Halinen, P., Lavento, M., Raninen, S., & Wessman, A. (eds.). Gaudeamus. 2015.
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