Jan Petersen (historian)

He was the son of Hans Henrik Petersen (1827–1906) and Elisabeth Cæcilie Thaulow (1845–1901). His father was the principal of Trondheim Cathedral School. Petersen became a cand.philos. in history in 1914 at the University of Oslo and the following year was employed as a curator at the University's Antiquities Collection. Petersen received a dr.philos. in archeology during 1919. Petersen was director of the Stavanger Museum from 1923 to 1958. [1]

During this period he worked with excavation and publication of Iron Age farms in southwestern Norway. He also worked with architect Gerhard Fischer (1890-1977) in the preservation and restoration of the medieval monastery Utstein Abbey.[3] [4]

He was notable for writing De Norske Vikingsverd ("The Norwegian Viking Swords") in 1919. This book was the "standard and authoritative work" on Norse sword typology and "remains an invaluable guide today."[5]

The Oakeshott typology by British historian and illustrator Ewart Oakeshott (1916–2002) was based on Petersen's work. [6][7]

In 1928, he was elected to the Norwegian Academy of Sciences. In 1917, he married Gerda Holtermann (1892–1985). Their daughter Liv Petersen (1922–81) married the political scientist Knut Dahl Jacobsen (1925–1999). [8]

• De Norske Vikingesverd (1919)
• Vikingetidens smykker (1928)
• Gamle gårdsanlegg i Rogaland (2 volumes, 1934–1936)
• Vikingetidens redskaper (1951)

• Partial online English translation of De Norske Vikingsverd by Kristin Noer (1998)