Peder Mortensen

Peder Mortensen
Born	(1934-05-07)7 May 1934
Died	8 December 2022(2022-12-08) (aged 88)
Academic background
Education	Aarhus University
Academic work
Discipline	Archaeologist
Sub-discipline	Prehistoric archaeology Near Eastern archaeology
Institutions	Moesgaard Museum Danish Institute in Damascus University of Copenhagen

Peder Mortensen (7 May 1934 – 8 December 2022) was[1] a Danish archaeologist specialized in the Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods of southwest Asia.[2][3]

Education and career

Mortensen was born on 7 May 1934 in Jutland.[4] He studied prehistoric archaeology at Aarhus University and graduated with an MA degree in 1960.[5] He was a curator at the National Museum of Denmark from 1961–1968,[4] the director of the Moesgaard Museum from 1982–1996,[6] director for the Danish Institute in Damascus and cultural advisor to the Danish embassy in Damascus 1996–2001,[4] and then honorary professor in Middle Eastern studies at University of Copenhagen.[4]

Recognition

Mortensen was a member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters[7] and a member of the Academia Europea.[8]

In 2004, he was honored by the festschrift From handaxe to Khan : essays presented to Peder Mortensen on the occasion of his 70th birthday.[9]

Books

Mortensen's books include:

• Tell Shimshara: The Hassuna Period (1970)[10]
• The Hilly Flanks and Beyond: Essays on the Prehistory of Southwestern Asia Presented to Robert J. Braidwood, 15 November 1982 (edited with T. Cuyler Young Jr. and Philip J. Smith, 1983)[11]
• Bayt al-'Aqqad. The History and Restoration of a House in Old Damascus (2005)[12]
• Excavations at Tepe Guran. The Neolithic Period (2014). Peeters, Leuven
• Mount Nebo. An Archaeological Survey of the Region. Volume I: The Palaeolithic and Neolithic Periods (2013) (with Ingolf Thuesen and Inge Demant Mortensen)
• Mount Nebo. An Archaeological Survey of the Region. Volume II: The Early Bronze Age (2019) (with Ingolf Thuesen and Inge Demant Mortensen)
• Eyes on a Street in Cairo. (2017). Copenhagen, Orbis Publishing House

References

1. "Peder Mortensen | Dødsannoncer i Danmark". afdoede.dk. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
2. "Archaeologists find new evidence of Paleolithic era in Iranian cave". 4 November 2019.
3. "Tilbage til Mellemøsten: Iransk udgravningseventyr venter to arkæologer". Newspaper of the University of Copenhagen. 9 May 2016.
4. "Peder Mortensen - 80 år". Stiften. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
5. Thrane, Henrik (2004). "From Jutland to Jordan". In von Folsach, Kjeld; Thrane, Henrik; Thuesen, Ingolf (eds.). From Handaxe to Khan: Essays Presented to Peder Mortensen on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press. pp. 9–28. ISBN 9788779341074.
6. "Peder Mortensen" (in Danish). The Great Danish Encyclopedia.
7. "Adj. Professor Peder Mortensen" (in Danish). Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020.
8. "Academy of Europe: Mortensen Peder". www.ae-info.org. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023.
9. Folsach, Kjeld von; Thrane, Henrik; Thuesen, I.; Mortensen, Peder (2004). From handaxe to Khan : essays presented to Peder Mortensen on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Aarhus University Press. ISBN 87-7934-107-1. OCLC 57046829.
10. McGuire Gibson (January 1976). "Review of Tell Shimshara". Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 35 (1): 65–67. JSTOR 544837.
11. Margaret C. Brandt (October 1988). "Review of The Hilly Flanks and Beyond". Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 47 (4): 294–296. JSTOR 544891.
12. Wolf Koenigs (January 2008). "Review of Bayt al-'Aqqad". Arabica. 55 (1): 156–159. JSTOR 25162275.