Kirstina D Williams | Pacific Lutheran University (original) (raw)

Viking Age Research by Kirstina D Williams

By plotting out the locations of individual bead finds in the region, analyses were made to deter... more By plotting out the locations of individual bead finds in the region, analyses were made to determine if there were any specific geographic patterns and/or connections concerning these different finds based on a number of factors. Bead finds analyzed were found to be relatively spread across the whole of the region and warrant further analysis.

Much like most societies throughout history, the Norse of the Viking Age practiced a hierarchical... more Much like most societies throughout history, the Norse of the Viking Age practiced a hierarchical society consisting of multiple class levels. At the top were the ruling class of kings, jarls, and landsmen who oversaw their lands. The middle class included freemen; these were the landowners, skilled workers, and farmers. The lowest social class was that of the thralls and slaves; these people were the primary source of hard labor in Norse society. In this article, a number of the various roles and rules involving the social structure of the Norse during the Viking Age will be discussed.

While we may never fully know or understand the story of what exactly happened to the individuals... more While we may never fully know or understand the story of what exactly happened to the individuals found in the Ridgeway Hill Burial, one can appreciate the enlightenment made possible by advances in forensic archaeology. By studying the skeletal remains of the individuals found in the burial pit, an anonymous pile of bones was identified to be of Scandinavian origin, likely a war band or boat crew of some sort, from the Viking Age. Had we not the technologies made available to us through forensic archaeology, all of this would still be a mystery and any understandings of who they were and how they died would be highly theoretical rather than based on evidence.

Tablet woven bands were widely used to embellish various garments and even in some cases worn alo... more Tablet woven bands were widely used to embellish various garments and even in some cases worn alone as a headband throughout the Viking Age. Numerous surviving examples have been found at Viking Age Norse archeological sites all throughout Europe including (but not limited to) Scandinavia, the European Mainland, and the British Isles. Considering this, I thought that I should try my hand at learning how to do some basic tablet weaving and have created a thin band of weaving with a basic chevron design. I will use this band (and more in the future as my skills build) to further embellish the period costumes I create and create a more authentic look and feel.

During the Viking Age, a number of women’s head adornment accessories were in fashion including s... more During the Viking Age, a number of women’s head adornment accessories were in fashion including scarfs, woven headbands, caps and hoods. In the Norse settlement located at what is now Dublin, Ireland a distinctive hood-styled cap made from a small rectangle folded in half lengthwise and sewn up the back edge was popular. A point at the rear crown of the cap (rather than rounding the rear off to fit to the skull) seems to be unique to Dublin, while similar (rounded) versions have also be found throughout other parts of the British Isles .

An overview of sea-life consumed by the Norse peoples of the Viking Age.

Throughout history, the Norse people of the Viking Age (commonly referred to as “Vikings”) were k... more Throughout history, the Norse people of the Viking Age (commonly referred to as “Vikings”) were known as violent marauders who raided, raped, and pillaged innocent coastal villages throughout Western Europe. While that may be true, they were also an expansive culture that established extensive trade routes, founded a number of cities that still stand today, and explored the North Atlantic further than any other European culture at the time. Few can deny the prowess of the Norse on the seas, but few realize their significant impact on oceanic exploration. The Norse people were accomplished sailors and particularly skilled navigators.

Science by Kirstina D Williams

Humans are a product of millions of years of specialized hominid evolution. After breaking away f... more Humans are a product of millions of years of specialized hominid evolution. After breaking away from their common ancestor with chimpanzees and other primates, physical evolution allowed them to become primarily bipedal and live on the ground rather than in the trees like many other primates. Over time hominids evolved into modern humans by developing larger brains that allowed them to learn to use tools, migrate throughout the world adapting to their new environments, and eventually gaining the ability to think consciously creating languages, religions, philosophy, and science.

Other History by Kirstina D Williams

Ancient China was cut off from much of the rest of the world by dry deserts to the north and west... more Ancient China was cut off from much of the rest of the world by dry deserts to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the East and impassible mountains to the south until the Silk Road was established during the Han Dynasty circa 206 B.C.E. to 220 C.E. (Department of Asian Art). As a result, Chinese societies were geographically isolated from the rest of the world and had a significant impact on the development of Chinese societies throughout history.

One can often wonder how ideas and cultures spread throughout the world. Many scholars dedicate t... more One can often wonder how ideas and cultures spread throughout the world. Many scholars dedicate their lives to trying to track and understand how ideas and cultures evolve through time and space in order to develop a number of plausible theories of how things happened in ancient times. The dissemination of Mesopotamian and Egyptian culture throughout the ancient Near East can easily be credited to the consistent migrations of people, changes of political powers, and trading of goods throughout the ancient Near East.

During the Vedic Age in India, a group of people called the Aryans became a dominant culture if n... more During the Vedic Age in India, a group of people called the Aryans became a dominant culture if north India. These people spoke an early form of Sanskrit, “an Indo-European language closely related to Persian and more distantly related to Latin, Greek, Celtic, and their modern [linguistic] descendants” (McKay, 68). The Indo-European Aryans created a complex society with it’s own distinctive social structure, religious beliefs, and technologies.

Following Greek’s “Dark Age,” the Archaic Age (circa 800-500 B.C.E.) led to important political c... more Following Greek’s “Dark Age,” the Archaic Age (circa 800-500 B.C.E.) led to important political changes in Greece, with the most important one being the development of the city-state called a polis (plural poleis). While there were a number of developments during the Archaic Age, perhaps the most valuable lessons that can be drawn from Greek civilization and from the formation and evolution of the Greek poleis.

In the Roman Empire, Christianity vastly and permanently changed the Roman Empire from the worshi... more In the Roman Empire, Christianity vastly and permanently changed the Roman Empire from the worship of the Greco-Roman Gods and traditions, by its spread throughout and later adopted by the Roman Empire and laying the foundation for the church’s subsequent growth worldwide.

Initially, communities of early Christian believers were able to choose their own leaders; howeve... more Initially, communities of early Christian believers were able to choose their own leaders; however, as centuries passed, the practice of having secular rulers appoint church leaders became routine. These appointed leaders were eventually able to establish permanent institutions, which not only expressed Christian values, but also drew from many Greco-Roman Traditions. The creation of the Nicene Creed and the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church and the Byzantine Christian (Orthodox) Church allowed the Christian church to expand and thrive.

While the Qin Dynasty made great advances in unifying and centralizing the Chinese government; th... more While the Qin Dynasty made great advances in unifying and centralizing the Chinese government; these advances allowed for the Chinese people to thrive. The unification of China affected many parts of politics, culture, and social life during the Qin and Han dynasties. Culture, trade, and religion went through vast changes during the time, but eventually all were able to grow to unprecedented levels.

The establishment of Islam changed Arab society in many significant ways, paramount in Muslim soc... more The establishment of Islam changed Arab society in many significant ways, paramount in Muslim society, was social equality; which affected many aspects of daily life for people of various social strata including non-Muslims, slaves, and women.

Settled agriculture significantly changed life in early societies of the Western Sudan and the Ba... more Settled agriculture significantly changed life in early societies of the Western Sudan and the Bantu-speaking societies of central and southern Africa led to numerous migrations, population booms, and the establishment of various communities and kingdoms throughout Africa. The people of Africa were no longer comprised of small bands of nomadic hunter-gatherers, but rather established sedentary communities, which allowed for much larger populations and the subsequent development of larger societies and culture.

School Papers by Kirstina D Williams

While road movies are relatively common in the United States, they are growing in popularity arou... more While road movies are relatively common in the United States, they are growing in popularity around the world. Traditionally, they usually stay within national borders showing a journey from one point to another, and generally, have a unique destination in mind which is continuously reiterated again and again from the very beginning of the movie. With the growing spread of this genre across the world, the road movie is not only being redefined, but it is also being used as a means of making social commentaries about life in different areas of the world. Lars-Göran Pettersson’s 2003 film Bázo does just this by blurring the finite boundaries of modern- day nation-states while the movie’s protagonist embarks on a journey across Sápmi, the traditional homelands of the Sámi people.

Culture shock is bound to happen to one degree or another when someone transplants themselves fro... more Culture shock is bound to happen to one degree or another when someone transplants
themselves from their home and inserts themselves into another culture. Simply put, culture shock can be defined as “the physical and emotional discomfort one suffers when coming to live in another country or a place different from the place of origin” (Guanipa, 1998, p. 1). This experience is relatively timeless and universal and can profoundly affect the individual experiencing it; sometimes with lifelong ramifications. In both Laila Stein’s 1997 novel Antiphony (translated to English in 2006) and Ella-Máijá Tailfeather’s 2014 short film Bihttoš, one can see the distinct effects of culture shock in the stories of individuals both entering and leaving the Sámi homelands.

The Other Side of Sunday is a 1996 Norwegian coming of age film in which viewers are able to emba... more The Other Side of Sunday is a 1996 Norwegian coming of age film in which viewers are able to embark on watching the complex journey of Maria, a daughter of a Norwegian minister, at the time surrounding her confirmation within the Lutheran church during the mid-twentieth century. Maria is conflicted as she deals with numerous internal conflicts regarding her identity, morals, family, and religious beliefs while she is also seeking her own personal identity. As she struggles through this difficult time, she befriends a middle-aged woman, Mrs. Tunheim, who works at her father’s church as the church’s caretaker. Mrs. Tunheim herself proves to be a complex character throughout the story who not only comes to be Maria’s closest friend, but also a troubled woman who struggles herself with the life she is living leading ultimately to her own subsequent suicide later in the movie. By looking at Mrs. Tunheim’s character and how Hildegun Riise, the actress that played her, performed her role, one can see how the art of subtlety in acting in a film can affect the story of what is happening off screen as well as on screen (IMDb.com, Inc., n.d.).

An overview of sea-life consumed by the Norse peoples of the Viking Age.

When reading Linn Ullmann’s Before You Sleep, one finds themselves diving into a unique multi-gen... more When reading Linn Ullmann’s Before You Sleep, one finds themselves diving into a unique
multi-generational narrative of the Blom family over the course of four generations and across two continents. The story itself is narrated by the wildly imaginative Karin Blom the clever and imaginative daughter who is the youngest child in the third generation of the family. While most novels aim to engross the reader in a world which is believable from beginning to end, Karin takes the reader on a wild journey through a unique world that is the way it is primarily because she simply chooses to say that the world is that way because she says so rather than going into long details as a means of justification. The unique and wild narration style of Ullmann’s fictional character Karin provides the reader with a unique and vivid example of examining the ideas of subjectivity and ideology within the narrative and consequently may even provide the reader with some fascinating insight into their personal ideology and subjectivity in their self-narrative.

In Erik Skjoldbærg’s 1997 film Insomnia, a Swedish detective with a questionable moral background... more In Erik Skjoldbærg’s 1997 film Insomnia, a Swedish detective with a questionable moral background comes to Tromsø, Norway during the summer season of never-ending light to help with solving the murder of a local girl. As the film progresses one sees that while this film does feature a detective, it does not fit the stereotype of a typical detective film but rather, tells a disturbing and dark story of a detective’s break from not only what one would consider good detective work, but also his sanity as the relentless light in the film breaks him down as the tale progresses. It is this constant light which works as a catalyst in Insomnia taking what would normally be considered a plotline found in a film noir genre film, and evolving it into its own unique styling which some have called “Cinema Blanc” (Montalbano, 2002) which affords the viewer an increasingly unsettled experience throughout the film.

In the 2008 Norwegian film Max Manus, one encounters the story of Maximo Guillermo “Max” Manus, a... more In the 2008 Norwegian film Max Manus, one encounters the story of Maximo Guillermo
“Max” Manus, a real hero who played a significant role in the Norwegian resistance in Nazi- occupied Norway. The main plot of the film progresses through the story of Max and his fellow resistance fighters’ many experiences during the war as they worked hard to sabotage the Nazi war effort in Norway in hopes of getting their homeland back from the occupying German forces. While the stories of the sabotages themselves are quite exciting, the filmmaker further enhanced the telling of this epic tale by the use of modifying the narrative structure in the film to include a number of flashbacks from Max’s time as a volunteer fighting in Finland during the Soviet-Finnish Winter War of 1939-1940. These flashbacks allow the filmmaker to tell a deeper story about Max as they show not only his past but also his ongoing struggles with the memories of these earlier events as he once again faces the many stressors of war in the main story of the film.

In Stephen Jay Gould’s article “Nonmoral Nature,” he discusses the religious interpretation of an... more In Stephen Jay Gould’s article “Nonmoral Nature,” he discusses the religious interpretation of animals in nature and suggests a scientific rather than anthropomorphic (applying human traits to nonhuman things) approach to the study and interpretation of nature. He presents the reader with the case of the ichneumon wasp in significant detail to illustrate that nature cannot be simply viewed in anthropomorphic terms or on the terms of good and evil. Gould’s use of a variety of modes of development along with both formal and middle dictation provide a convincing argument to the scholarly minded adult concerning nature’s lack of morals or ethics guiding it, and the ways people inappropriately anthropomorphize animals in nature.

Since the beginning of the feminist revolution, the discussion of Traditional Family structure ha... more Since the beginning of the feminist revolution, the discussion of Traditional Family structure has been a topic of strong debate and discussion on a relatively constant basis. Due to this revolution one thing can be plainly seen, “the traditional single-role family, where the wife stayed at home and the husband went to work is disappearing” (Rowbotham 401). It is important that an agreeable meeting ground to the controversy of the traditional family structure is found, rather than having such extreme sides constantly warring with each other.

While it very important for us to make every effort to protect our environment and ensure a healt... more While it very important for us to make every effort to protect our environment and ensure a healthy future for our planet, it must also be recognized that being green is not as simple as it looks. Ignorance does not always constitute bliss. It is important for people to recognize that simply following the hype of going green does not always mean that they are actually helping to protect and improve the environment’s future. A lot of effort and research must also go into creating an individual plan of action for being green.

This article discusses the subjective and conditional nature of authenticity in artifacts at the ... more This article discusses the subjective and conditional nature of authenticity in artifacts at the Scandinavian Cultural Center and in general. Additionally, this paper explores the long-term globalization of the Scandinavian world and how it has not only been influenced by the rest of the world but also influenced the world as well. Finally, this article also discusses the continued curation of authenticity within the Scandinavian Cultural Center’s collection via the utilization of their PastPerfect 5.0 Database.
Keywords: artifact, artifacts, authentic, authenticity, collection, curation, globalization, Scandinavia, Scandinavian, subjective, trade