Finding aid for the Andreas Oldeberg papers, circa 1940-1975 930009
Ann Harrison.
Special Collections
2007
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
Business Number: (310) 440-7390
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reference@getty.edu
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections
Title: Andreas Oldeberg papers
Creator:
Oldeberg, Andreas, 1892-1980
Identifier/Call Number: 930009
Physical Description:
5.5 Linear Feet
(21 boxes)
Date (inclusive): circa 1940-1975
Abstract: Authority on ancient Scandinavian metalwork and metallurgy. The Andreas Oldeberg papers are comprised of research data for
metal artifacts from Sweden dating from the Bronze Age through the Middle Ages, as well as a small amount of analysis relating
to these objects.
Physical Location: Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the
catalog record for this collection. Click here for the
access policy .
Language of Material:
Swedish
.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Andreas Oldeberg papers form a research archive for the study of ancient metalwork and metallurgy in Scandinavia. The
archive consists primarily of Oldeberg's research data for metal artifacts from Sweden dating from the Bronze Age through
the Middle Ages. There is also a small amount of analysis relating to these objects.
Oldeberg's basic research data on metal archaeological artifacts from Sweden, as well as a small number of related wooden
artifacts, comprise the first series. Inventory cards form the majority of the material. This inventory, either on actual
card stock or slips of plain paper, records data for each artifact and usually includes a photograph or sketch of the object.
The cards provide varying combinations of data relating to current location, original findspot and context, national registration
number, dimensions and description, as well as occasional information on metallurgical analysis and bibliography. A wide range
of objects are documented on these inventory cards including jewelry and decorative metalwork, household and agricultural
implements, weaponry and horse trappings, as well as the molds and matrices used in their production. The remainder of the
research materials in this series are loose photographs of such objects, many with some data added.
Much of the data collected in Series I served as the basis for Oldeberg's three major synthetic monographs,
Metallteknik under forhistorisk tid (1942-1943),
Metallteknik under vikingatid och medeltid (1966), and
Die altere Metallzeit in Schweden (1974-1976), and many of the images found in the archive are published within these volumes. The time frame of these publications
provides a rough date for the material in Series I, and indeed for the archive as a whole.
The second, much smaller, series in the archive contains materials related specifically to the analysis of metal artifacts.
The majority of the material here consists of another group of cards with data and photographs. These cards include much of
the basic identifying data mentioned above, but the focus is metallurgical. Most cards include detailed metallurgical analysis
and the photographs attached to each card document the metal itself, through photomicrographs or radiographs, rather than
the finished object. Also included are several heavily illustrated laboratory reports on samples submitted for testing by
Oldeberg.
Organized in two series: Series I. Artifact research data, circa 1940-1975; Series II. Analysis of metal artifacts, 1952-1965,
undated.
Andreas Emil Oldeberg (1892-1980) was an authority on Scandinavian metalwork and early metal technology.
The archive was acquired in 1993.
Andreas Oldeberg papers, circa 1940-1975. Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Accession no. 930009
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa930009
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Contact
Library Reproductions and Permissions .
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Sweden -- Antiquities
Scandinavia -- Antiquities
Viking antiquities -- Sweden
Metallurgy -- Sweden -- History
Metal-work -- Sweden -- History
Iron Age -- Sweden
Bronze Age -- Sweden
Archaeology, Medieval -- Sweden
Photographic prints
Research notes
Gelatin silver prints
Photomicrographs
Artifact research data, Series I. 1940-1975
Physical Description:
4.7 Linear Feet
(19 boxes)
The organization and sequencing of the materials in this series preserves Oldeberg's original arrangement. His inventory of
artifacts falls into three initial groups. The bulk of the material is a group of cards cataloging objects made from a variety
of metals. The metals represented here include gold, silver, iron, bronze, copper and lead. This main group of objects is
supplemented by a separate, small group of silver objects, as well as a group of related wooden objects. Oldeberg's large
initial grouping of general metal objects is further subdivided into four chronological and cultural groups. Each box in the
container list below holds the contents of one of Oldeberg's original boxes. The original boxes were labeled with a chronological
period, but the intended order of the multiple boxes for each period and the precise relationship of the cards within each
of these boxes remains unclear.
General metal objects
box 14, box 15, box 16, box 17
box 19
Analysis of metal artifacts Series II. 1952-1965, undated
Physical Description:
0.8 Linear Feet
(2 boxes)
box 20, folder 1-4