Bjarte Einar Aarseth

• Aarseth, Bjarte Einar; Pantos, George Alexis & Sztal, Aleksandra (2023). DOCUMENTING CRAFT/CRAFTING DOCUMENTATION? Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  tral to the work of the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo from its beginning nearly 200 years ago. While the aim has remained the same – to secure a reliable resource for future generations to study and enjoy rare and fragile artefacts – the approaches, methods and technologies used to document them have changed beyond recognition. Hand drawing, glass-plate photography and plaster-casts have been replaced by highaccuracy structured light scanning, photogrammetry and CT-scanning, and while these technologies do bring many opportunities the promise of near-perfect replication is yet to be truly realised. This presentation will take one of the ornately carved Viking Age animal-head posts uncovered during the Oseberg Ship burial excavations as its case study. This artefact is the only one of the five posts to suffer irreparable damage during the second world war and as such primarily survives today only through its earlier documentation, including an intricate hand-carved wooden replica which itself has been the subject of documentation. In exploring this chain of documentation, we will draw on the work of (Jeffrey et al., 2021), (Fredengren and Karlsson, 2019) to explore the complex interconnected relationship between artefact, record and society and contextualise the museum’s 3D documentation within a wider theoretical framework. Through this, we hope to take the long view of documentation and discuss the differences, similarities and affordances of the many approaches and how they have contributed to keeping this artefact ‘alive’ for future generations. The aim of the presentation is to critically analyse the agency of software in acquiring, accessing and interpreting digital heritage using the example of the ‘reborn digital’ collections of the Polish ccTLD (1996–2001). In the case of Web archives, the process of ‘heritage production’ is no longer merely discursive, but radically technical. The mediation of software is necessary within it at every stage. What attitude should a researcher, educator and museum adopt towards heritage produced by machines and interpreted solely through the mediation of machines?

• Kristensen, Steinar; Samdal, Magne; Aarseth, Bjarte Einar & Vogt, David (2015). ”One stone with rock art; four documentation techniques”. Full text in Research Archive
• Eriksen, Thomas Hylland; Gansum, Terje; Bill, Jan; Iversen, Frode; Rødsrud, Christian Løchsen & Eriksen, Marianne Hem [Show all 14 contributors for this article] (2013). Arkeologene: Vikingen - superhelt og bonde 5:8. [TV]. NRK1. Full text in Research Archive
• Braovac, Susan; Jensen, Maria; Aarseth, Bjarte Einar; Bill, Jan; Hjulstad, Guro & Løchen, Ragnar [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2011). Long term responses in archaeological wood to ambient temperature and relative humidity – case study: the Oseberg Ship. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  INTRODUCTION The Oseberg ship, dated from ca 815-820 AD, is one of the most important discoveries of the Viking age period in Norway. The fact that the ship consists of 90 % original material makes it a unique find with no comparison elsewhere in the world. The ship is 21.5 meters long, built with radially cut, 3 cm thick oak planks and is 5 meters at its widest. In 1904 the waterlogged wood was conserved with linseed oil and creosote and the surface exterior was then lacquered. Over 2000 pieces were used for the reconstruction of the ship with the use of both original and modern screws together with adhesive. The Oseberg ship, displayed at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, has been subjected to an uncontrolled climate since 1926, with only heating in winter. The display area is therefore influenced by seasonal changes in relative humidity (RH), which rises above values of 70% RH in summer, and drops below 30% RH in winter. Rapid changes over the course of a few hours have also been recorded. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS Continuous monitoring of dimensional change due to RH fluctuations has been carried out on two planks of the ship and on two samples free to warp. To our knowledge, it is the first example of long term hygro-mechanical monitoring on an archaeological wooden artifact. Through this approach it is possible to show the specific sensitivity to RH fluctuations; restrained planks show the least response, while unrestrained samples have highest response to RH changes. The analysis of the data obtained after fifteen months of continuous logging allows us to quantify the specific “sensitivity” of the wood, which can be useful in determining the threshold of allowable RH fluctuations. The results of stress on the free samples in the exhibition site will be discussed. It is also planned to measure the forces absorbed by the restrained samples so that long-term mechanical effects of absorbed stress can be understood better. These data are fundamental as a validation of future Finite Element simulations and hygromechanical modelling of deteriorated wood.

• Vici, Paolo Dionisi; Aarseth, Bjarte Einar; Bill, Jan; Hjulstad, Guro; Jensen, Maria Malherbes & Løchen, Ragnar [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2009). In-situ deformation measurements on a large wooden archaeological artefact: the Viking Age Oseberg ship. Full text in Research Archive

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