Gotland University

Faculty Member, School of Culture, Energy and Environment

Associate Professor

Thesis Title: Ceremonial Stone Structures. The Archaeology and Ethnohistory of the Marae Complex in the Society Isalnds, French Polynesia

About

Paul Wallin (b. 1961) is Associate professor in archaeology at Gotland University.

BA from  Stockholm University in 1985, PhD from Uppsala University in 1994 with a dissertation on “Ceremonial Stone Structures”  on the Society Islands in French Polynesia.  In the 1980s I worked  at excavations on Gotland, and Southeastern Sweden as well as on the Island of Åland (Finland).  My focus was on Stone age sites, but I also excavated at sites from all different time periods. During the 1990s my research interest turned into Pacific archaeology, mainly East Polyneisan ceremonial sites (called marae) and early settlements. In 1996 I came to the Kon-Tiki Museum as a researcher and Chief Curator, and led several fieldwork projects on Easter Island, Society Islands, Christmas Island and on Samoa. Became a Senior Lecturer at Gotland University in 2008.

Research interests

•    Prehistory (Gotlandic/Baltic Stone Age) and ethnoarchaeology.
•    Ethnohistorical and anthropological perspectives in archaeological interpretations.
•    Materiality and its relations to stories of the past.

Contact Information