Jens F Jensen
Universities and education
2005: Ph.D. in Prehistoric Archaeology University of Copenhagen.
1993: Cand.phil. Prehistoric Archaeology University of Copenhagen.
1992-1993: International scholarship at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. Archaeology Unit.
Administrative positions
1996-1997: Head of NUKAKA – the association of local museums in Greenland
1993-1997: Head of Qasigiannguit Katersugaasiviat (The Museum of Qasigiannguit, Greenland).
Research projects:
2015 The Now Project - Living Resources and Human Societies aroundt the North Water in the Thule Area. http://now.ku.dk/
2014 Kap York Meteorittens Kulturhistorie (Eng: The Cultural History of The Cape York Meteorite)
2012-2013 Cold War – sites and narratives from Greenland. In collaboration with The Danish Agency for Cultureand National Museum of Greenland.
2008- The battle of the weather, historic-archaeological investigations of German and Danish weather stations from the Second World War in North East Greenland. Commission for Scientific Investigations in Greenland and the National Museum of Denmark.
2006-2008: Stone Age Settlements in the Northernmost Landscapes, Spatial Analysis of the Prehistoric Settlements of Peary Land and North East Greenland. Danish Council for Independent Research Humanities.
1994-1997: Head of ”South East Bay Project “Change in Dwelling form and social structure in prehistoric time in South East Bay, West Greenland. – in collaboration with University of Tromsø, University of Copenhagen and the Museum of Aasiaat and Museum of Qasigiannguit.
Funded by Nordic Council Research Funds.
Employment:
2023- Curator National Museum of denmark
2019-2022: Project senior researcher National Museum of Denmark, Activating Arctic Heritage.
2015-2019: The Natural History Museum of Denmark, Preparer at Aasivissuit – Nipisat nomination for inclusion on the World heritage List.
2009-2015:Project senior researcher The National Museum of Denmark
2006: Post. Doc.The National Museum of Denmark
2005: Archaeologist Kroppedal Museum, Copenhagen.
2005: Project researcher at Sila, The Greenland Researche Centre at The National Museum of Denmark
2005: External lecturer, Ilisimatusarfik, (University of Greenland).
2004: External lecturer, University of Copenhagen, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology
2002-2004 Research fellow University of Copenhagen, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology.
2001-2002: Leave from fellowship. 12 months. Imployed at Sila, The Greenland Researche Centre at The National Museum of Denmark. Finishing manuscript ”Northernmost Ruins of the Globe”.
1999: Research fellow University of Copenhagen, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology.
1999: Academic staff for Peary Land Foundation.
1997-1998: Assistant lecturer in Prehistoric Archaeology University of Copenhagen
1993 - 1997: Head of Qasigiannguit Katersugaasiviat (The Museum of Qasigiannguit in Greenland).
Supervisors: Dr. Erik Brinch Petersen and Dr. Priscilla Renouf
2005: Ph.D. in Prehistoric Archaeology University of Copenhagen.
1993: Cand.phil. Prehistoric Archaeology University of Copenhagen.
1992-1993: International scholarship at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. Archaeology Unit.
Administrative positions
1996-1997: Head of NUKAKA – the association of local museums in Greenland
1993-1997: Head of Qasigiannguit Katersugaasiviat (The Museum of Qasigiannguit, Greenland).
Research projects:
2015 The Now Project - Living Resources and Human Societies aroundt the North Water in the Thule Area. http://now.ku.dk/
2014 Kap York Meteorittens Kulturhistorie (Eng: The Cultural History of The Cape York Meteorite)
2012-2013 Cold War – sites and narratives from Greenland. In collaboration with The Danish Agency for Cultureand National Museum of Greenland.
2008- The battle of the weather, historic-archaeological investigations of German and Danish weather stations from the Second World War in North East Greenland. Commission for Scientific Investigations in Greenland and the National Museum of Denmark.
2006-2008: Stone Age Settlements in the Northernmost Landscapes, Spatial Analysis of the Prehistoric Settlements of Peary Land and North East Greenland. Danish Council for Independent Research Humanities.
1994-1997: Head of ”South East Bay Project “Change in Dwelling form and social structure in prehistoric time in South East Bay, West Greenland. – in collaboration with University of Tromsø, University of Copenhagen and the Museum of Aasiaat and Museum of Qasigiannguit.
Funded by Nordic Council Research Funds.
Employment:
2023- Curator National Museum of denmark
2019-2022: Project senior researcher National Museum of Denmark, Activating Arctic Heritage.
2015-2019: The Natural History Museum of Denmark, Preparer at Aasivissuit – Nipisat nomination for inclusion on the World heritage List.
2009-2015:Project senior researcher The National Museum of Denmark
2006: Post. Doc.The National Museum of Denmark
2005: Archaeologist Kroppedal Museum, Copenhagen.
2005: Project researcher at Sila, The Greenland Researche Centre at The National Museum of Denmark
2005: External lecturer, Ilisimatusarfik, (University of Greenland).
2004: External lecturer, University of Copenhagen, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology
2002-2004 Research fellow University of Copenhagen, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology.
2001-2002: Leave from fellowship. 12 months. Imployed at Sila, The Greenland Researche Centre at The National Museum of Denmark. Finishing manuscript ”Northernmost Ruins of the Globe”.
1999: Research fellow University of Copenhagen, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology.
1999: Academic staff for Peary Land Foundation.
1997-1998: Assistant lecturer in Prehistoric Archaeology University of Copenhagen
1993 - 1997: Head of Qasigiannguit Katersugaasiviat (The Museum of Qasigiannguit in Greenland).
Supervisors: Dr. Erik Brinch Petersen and Dr. Priscilla Renouf
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Papers by Jens F Jensen
prestigious appointments acknowledge the unique and diverse cultural assets of both properties and two diverse geographical and
culturally distinct parts of the country. Kujataa, in the South, is characterized by its rich Inuit, Norse and Colonial cultural history, with a
thriving tradition of Arctic sheep herding and agriculture. Conversely, Aasivissuit-Nipisat in West Greenland represents a 4,400 year old tradition of subsistence hunting and fishing that has remained largely similar across the Pre-Inuit, Thule and Historic/Modern Inuit periods. Families in this portion of West Greenland still make annual journeys from the coast to the inland to hunt caribou and fish Arctic char, retracing the same ancient pathways and camping on the same grounds as their ancestors.
The ‘Activating Arctic Heritage’ project benefits from the world-wide attention, the present momentum, and the unique research opportunities resulting from these two recent UNESCO appointments.
Kangerlussuaq, west Greenland. Our reconstruction is based on a lake sediment core and methods include chemical proxies and a palynological analysis.
The investigated site is located 15 km from the Aasivissuit Inuit summer hunting ground, which has been in use for caribou hunting for more than
2000 years. The presented climatic reconstruction covers the time from c. 560 CE to present time. We identify three distinct periods of climate regimes:
From c. 560–1100 CE conditions were stable, warm and humid, and summer temperatures were 1.5–2°C warmer than today. 1100–1600 was a period of
cooler and very arid conditions with more sea ice, corresponding to the Neoglacial cooling. In this period, we detect two wildfire events and subsequent
temporary caribou abandonment of the area. From 1600 to present we find increasingly warmer conditions with more precipitation and less extensive
sea ice cover, gradually approaching today’s climate regime in Kangerlussuaq. We review the existing literature regarding the Aasivissuit summer hunting
ground, which was first used concurrently with the detected cooling. Despite climatic deterioration, the hunting ground was regularly in use throughout
the Neoglacial and onwards, with peak hunting intensity in the early 1700s. The detected wildfires and reindeer abandonment are interpreted to be
localized events at the coring site and did not affect the hunting ground. Our findings highlight the resilience of the Inuit hunters to climatic changes as
well as the advantages and limitations of local environmental reconstructions.
and Computed Tomography (CT) scanning were implemented for documenting
and interpreting graves and human remains, whichwere excavated inGreenland
during the summers of 2018 and 2019. The burial sites are characterised by
isolated stone graves that were built with either single or multiple chambers. Both
single- and multi-individual graves were discovered. Photogrammetric documentation
as well as traditional sketches of the graves were performed during each excavation
phase. Here, we discuss how these two approaches correlate and complement
each other, including highlighting the advantages and drawbacks of each method.We
also show how 3D models of the human remains from CT scanning and 3D models
of a grave obtained from SfM photogrammetry were combined and used to give an
illustrative and more comprehensive view of the stone-built features, as well as to
assist in the overall interpretation.
to have disappeared when the Thule culture (the ancestors of present Inuit) expanded to this region around AD 1200. The archaeological remains, especially the stone tools, of the earliest Paleoeskimos have been typologically divided into three material cultures: “Independence I,” “Saqqaq,” and “Predorset.” This paper will give a picture of Saqqaq, who represent the first people in West Greenland, and Independence I, which is the pioneer culture in Northeast Greenland. In Greenland, Pre-Dorset is only known from a few localities along the Nares Strait, and for the moment, it seems as if this culture only settled the Nares Strait region and never dispersed to other parts of Greenland. Therefore we will only discuss the two pioneering cultures of Saqqaq and Independence I.
presents a case study from the site of Qajaa in West Greenland. Trial excavations in the 1980’s by Jørgen Meldgaard (1927-2007) proved that the site holds unique preservation conditions for organic artefacts and waste due to permafrost. Through analyses of Saqqaq’s processing of organic materials like caribou antler, whale bone, and gull bones it is possible to demonstrate some of our points: We advocate a more rigorous inclusion of spatial analysis in studies of technological
dynamics.
Aasivissuit – Nipisat provides the most complete and best-preserved record of arctic hunting traditions from 2500 BC onwards, demonstrating sustainable land use based on seasonal migration between the coast and the interior. In the archipelago towards Davis Strait in the west, there are centuries-old winter settlements with ruins of turf houses on virtually every cove and point. Colonial ruins reflect the arrival of Europeans in the 18th century and their interaction with Inuit. The old well-trodden trail inland passes summer camps, stone-built graves and caches, and far inland there is the great summer camp of Aasivissuit, with its perfectly preserved caribou drive system, ‘hopping stones’ and meat caches, recalling the joy and social importance of communal hunts.
Today, hunters and their families continue these seasonal journeys, staying and hunting in the same places as their predecessors and thereby forging a tangible link between the past and the present.
prestigious appointments acknowledge the unique and diverse cultural assets of both properties and two diverse geographical and
culturally distinct parts of the country. Kujataa, in the South, is characterized by its rich Inuit, Norse and Colonial cultural history, with a
thriving tradition of Arctic sheep herding and agriculture. Conversely, Aasivissuit-Nipisat in West Greenland represents a 4,400 year old tradition of subsistence hunting and fishing that has remained largely similar across the Pre-Inuit, Thule and Historic/Modern Inuit periods. Families in this portion of West Greenland still make annual journeys from the coast to the inland to hunt caribou and fish Arctic char, retracing the same ancient pathways and camping on the same grounds as their ancestors.
The ‘Activating Arctic Heritage’ project benefits from the world-wide attention, the present momentum, and the unique research opportunities resulting from these two recent UNESCO appointments.
Kangerlussuaq, west Greenland. Our reconstruction is based on a lake sediment core and methods include chemical proxies and a palynological analysis.
The investigated site is located 15 km from the Aasivissuit Inuit summer hunting ground, which has been in use for caribou hunting for more than
2000 years. The presented climatic reconstruction covers the time from c. 560 CE to present time. We identify three distinct periods of climate regimes:
From c. 560–1100 CE conditions were stable, warm and humid, and summer temperatures were 1.5–2°C warmer than today. 1100–1600 was a period of
cooler and very arid conditions with more sea ice, corresponding to the Neoglacial cooling. In this period, we detect two wildfire events and subsequent
temporary caribou abandonment of the area. From 1600 to present we find increasingly warmer conditions with more precipitation and less extensive
sea ice cover, gradually approaching today’s climate regime in Kangerlussuaq. We review the existing literature regarding the Aasivissuit summer hunting
ground, which was first used concurrently with the detected cooling. Despite climatic deterioration, the hunting ground was regularly in use throughout
the Neoglacial and onwards, with peak hunting intensity in the early 1700s. The detected wildfires and reindeer abandonment are interpreted to be
localized events at the coring site and did not affect the hunting ground. Our findings highlight the resilience of the Inuit hunters to climatic changes as
well as the advantages and limitations of local environmental reconstructions.
and Computed Tomography (CT) scanning were implemented for documenting
and interpreting graves and human remains, whichwere excavated inGreenland
during the summers of 2018 and 2019. The burial sites are characterised by
isolated stone graves that were built with either single or multiple chambers. Both
single- and multi-individual graves were discovered. Photogrammetric documentation
as well as traditional sketches of the graves were performed during each excavation
phase. Here, we discuss how these two approaches correlate and complement
each other, including highlighting the advantages and drawbacks of each method.We
also show how 3D models of the human remains from CT scanning and 3D models
of a grave obtained from SfM photogrammetry were combined and used to give an
illustrative and more comprehensive view of the stone-built features, as well as to
assist in the overall interpretation.
to have disappeared when the Thule culture (the ancestors of present Inuit) expanded to this region around AD 1200. The archaeological remains, especially the stone tools, of the earliest Paleoeskimos have been typologically divided into three material cultures: “Independence I,” “Saqqaq,” and “Predorset.” This paper will give a picture of Saqqaq, who represent the first people in West Greenland, and Independence I, which is the pioneer culture in Northeast Greenland. In Greenland, Pre-Dorset is only known from a few localities along the Nares Strait, and for the moment, it seems as if this culture only settled the Nares Strait region and never dispersed to other parts of Greenland. Therefore we will only discuss the two pioneering cultures of Saqqaq and Independence I.
presents a case study from the site of Qajaa in West Greenland. Trial excavations in the 1980’s by Jørgen Meldgaard (1927-2007) proved that the site holds unique preservation conditions for organic artefacts and waste due to permafrost. Through analyses of Saqqaq’s processing of organic materials like caribou antler, whale bone, and gull bones it is possible to demonstrate some of our points: We advocate a more rigorous inclusion of spatial analysis in studies of technological
dynamics.
Aasivissuit – Nipisat provides the most complete and best-preserved record of arctic hunting traditions from 2500 BC onwards, demonstrating sustainable land use based on seasonal migration between the coast and the interior. In the archipelago towards Davis Strait in the west, there are centuries-old winter settlements with ruins of turf houses on virtually every cove and point. Colonial ruins reflect the arrival of Europeans in the 18th century and their interaction with Inuit. The old well-trodden trail inland passes summer camps, stone-built graves and caches, and far inland there is the great summer camp of Aasivissuit, with its perfectly preserved caribou drive system, ‘hopping stones’ and meat caches, recalling the joy and social importance of communal hunts.
Today, hunters and their families continue these seasonal journeys, staying and hunting in the same places as their predecessors and thereby forging a tangible link between the past and the present.
Knuth’s expeditions from 1932 to 1995 took him to Greenland and Canada, in particular High Arctic Greenland. In a number of important articles Knuth published the findings dating back to the earliest human settlement in Greenland. However, he never managed to present the complete body of information and results from his many investigations. The present authors have thus compiled a computer data base based on his archive, and this has formed the starting point of the present book. The book focuses on Knuth’s most substantial contribution to archaeology: the prehistory of Peary Land and adjacent areas.
In the catalogue emphasis has been placed on topographical and architectural information, site structure, artefact statistics and radiocarbon dates. A total of 154 archaeological sites are presented. 51 sites with a total of 244 features are Independence I sites (c. 2460 – 1860 cal. BC), 23 sites with a total of 416 features belong to Independence II (c. 900 – 400 cal. BC) and 63 sites with a total of 626 features are of Thule origin (c. 1400 – 1500 ca. AD).
It has not been our ambition to re-analyse the finds or add new empirical data in connection with the production of this book. We do, however, present some new information on the faunal material from Peary Land based on Christyann Darwent’s recent analyses as well as new data on the dwelling features on the Adam C. Knuth Site, which was visited by a multidisciplinary team in 2001.
The book is provided with an introduction presenting an overview and evaluation of Knuth’s remarkable curriculum vitae as an independent arctic archaeologist.
In the concluding chapters some basic statistics on the archaeological sites are presented. We evaluate Knuth’s radiocarbon datings of the Independence I, Independence II and Thule cultures in High Arctic Greenland, and settlement distributions and settlement patterns for the three cultures represented in Peary Land are discussed.