Haakon Shetelig

Haakon Shetelig (June 25, 1877 – July 22, 1955) was a Norwegian archaeologist, historian and museum director. He was a pioneer in archaeology known for his study of art from the Viking era in Norway. He is most frequently associated with his work on the Oseberg ship (Osebergfunnet) near Tønsberg, Norway.

Haakon Shetelig grew up in Christiania (now Oslo, Norway). He and studied classical languages and the Old Norse philology and history at the University of Christiania (now University of Oslo). In 1901, Shetelig was hired as curator and manager of the historical-antiquarian part of the Bergen Museum, the University of Bergen museum in Bergen, Norway. He was appointed professor in 1914 and worked as director of the History and Antiquarian Department until 1942.

Shetelig and his colleague, Swedish archaeologist Gabriel Gustafson, led the team that dug out and preserved the Oseberg ship in 1904-1905. After Gustafson's death in 1915, he collaborated with archaeologist Anton Wilhelm Brøgger and Hjalmar Falk to publish the discovery. In 1920 he led the excavation of the Kvalsund ships (Kvalsundskipet) which were found at the Kvalsund farm at Herøy, Møre og Romsdal County during 1920.

In 1910 he founded the magazine Kunst og Kultur, with Harry Fett which he edited (1910–1927). He published a number of papers and writings about the archeology, history and cultural history. He also wrote the first volume of the six volume series Viking Antiquities in Great Britain and Ireland, on which he also served as the main editor. He introduced the Shetelig axiom which refers to the idea that the Viking age began when Scandinavian Vikings attacked Lindisfarne in 793.

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