Ur- und Frühgeschichte und Archäologie des Mittelalters

Torbjörn Brorsson

Torbjörn Brorsson is an archaeologist specializing in ceramic analysis and provenance studies, with a focus on the relationship between craft, material science, and cultural interaction from prehistory to the post-medieval period. He gained his PhD in Natural Sciences at the University of Kiel (2005) and his M.A. in Archaeology from Lund University. Since 2006, he has directed Ceramic Studies, Sweden, an independent research and consultancy institution engaged in both academic and contract archaeology.

Since 2026, Brorsson has been affiliated with the Department of Medieval Archaeology at the University of Tübingen, where his research focuses on ceramic production, trade, and technological traditions in Europe. His work integrates archaeological, petrographic, and geochemical methods (including ICP, pXRF and thin-section analysis) to trace ceramic production and exchange networks across Europe. He is also a member of the international research project Bartmann Goes Global, which explores the global distribution and cultural significance of this specific type of stoneware.

His publications span a wide temporal and geographical range, from Neolithic mobility and Bronze Age exchange to medieval trade and post-medieval industrial production. He has lectured at different universities across Europe and collaborates with researchers from multiple disciplines in projects exploring technology, mobility, and social identity through ceramics.

Curriculum Vitae

Diploma 
2005Dr. rer. nat. Kiel University, Germany.
2000Master of Arts, Lund University, Sweden.
1995Bachelor of Arts, Lund University, Sweden.

Employment

2006-Ceramic Studies, Sweden. Head of company
1995-2006Laboratory for Ceramic Research, Lund University, Sweden.
1996-1998National Heritage Board, Sweden.
1995Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Germany.

Research

Senior researcher with over 30 years of experience in archaeological ceramic studies, specialising in compositional analysis (ICP, petrography, pXRF) and provenance research. Current work focuses on developing comparative datasets and analytical frameworks for cross-regional studies of ceramics and building materials, with strong relevance for international collaboration.

Research Projects

1990-2000Early research on ceramics in Northern Europe, focusing on typology, chronology, and archaeological context
2000-2010Expansion into medieval material culture and comparative archaeology, situating Northern European material within broader cultural frameworks
2010-2015Development of analytical approaches to ceramic provenance, integrating petrography and chemical methods (ICP), with increasing emphasis on reproducibility and comparative datasets
2015-2020Advanced studies of ceramic production and distribution, combined with comparative research on figurines and symbolic material culture (including case studies from the Eastern Mediterranean)
2020-presentArchaeological science and material analysis as a central research direction, with a focus on compositional analysis of ceramics and building materials (including brick), provenance studies using ICP, pXRF and petrography and development of datasets for cross-regional comparison and international collaboration.

Research Focus

Archaeological Science and Compositional Analysis
Ceramic and Building Material Studies (Neolithic to Post-Medieval)
Provenance, Production, and Technological Systems
Comparative and Cross-Regional Archaeology
Digital and Open-Access Research Infrastructures

Publications

Monographs

2010Brorsson, T. The Pottery from the Early Medieval Trading Site and Cemetery at Groß Strömkendorf, Wismar, Mecklenburg. Frühmittelalterliche Archäologie zwischen Ostsee und Mittelmeer 1. Römisch-Germanische Kommission. Frankfurt A. M.

Articles with peer review (selection)

2026Lucenius, J., Brorsson, T. & Stenbäck, N. Faces in Places: Portable Clay Figurines from Åland and South-Western Finland in the Light of Chemical and Petrographic Analysis. European Journal of Archaeology 2026. Cambridge University Press, pp. 1-23. 
2026Björk, T. & Brorsson, T. Store Frigård on Bornholm. Provenance Determination using ICP-MA/ES Analysis of Pottery from an Early Iron Age Cemetery. DANISH JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 2026, VOL 15, 1-15, doi.org/10.7146/dja.v15i1.158780
2025Fauvelle, M., Brorsson, T., Artursson, M., Björck, N. & Horn, C. Maritime exchange during the Middle Neolithic: evidence of trade in ceramic figurines at the Pitted Ware Culture site of Tråsättra. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports Volume 66, October 2025 105342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105342. Elsevier
2025Högberg, A., Brink, K., Brorsson, T. & Malmström, H. Transdisciplinary Theoretical Approaches to Migration Studies in Archaeology. Cambridge Archaeological Journal (2025), 35, p. 418–434. doi:10.1017/S0959774325000046
2024Urbonaitė-Ubė, M. & Brorsson. T. New evidence of contacts across the Baltic Sea: Analysis of Kukuliškiai Late Bronze Age pottery. Archaeologica Baltica 31, 2024. Klaipeda, pp. 29-43
2023Ulriksen, J., & Brorsson, T. Sukow Ware at Vester Egesborg, Denmark? Import, Inspiration or Coincidence in Viking Age Pottery Style? Danish Journal of Archaeology, 12(1), p. 1-17
2022Lund and the Earliest Baltic ware. In: Ekengren, F. & Hansson, M. (eds.). Lund Archaeological Review Vol. 26-27. 2020-2021. Lund, p. 23-52
2020Blank, M., Brorsson, T. & Bakunic Fridén, I. Provenancing Neolithic pottery. An investigation of the elemental composition of Pitted Ware and Funnel Beaker pottery from Djursland and adjacent regions. In: Klassen, L. (ed.). The Pitted Ware Culture on Djursland. Supra-regional significance and contacts in the Middle Neolithic of southern Scandinavia. Aarhus University Press. Aarhus, p. 385-406
2019Brorsson, T. Lucenius, J. & Stenbäck, N. Changing perspectives. Thin section and ICP analysis of Neolithic pottery from the Åland Islands. In: Mannermaa, K., Manninen, M. A., Pesonen, P. & Seppänen, L. (eds.). Helsinki Harvest. Proceedings of the 11th Nordic Conference on the Application of Scientific Methods in Archaeology. MASF 7. Archaeological Society of Finland. Helsinki, p. 48–71
2018Brorsson, T., Blank, M. & Bakunic Fridén, I. Mobility and exchange in the Middle Neolithic: Provenance studies of Pitted Ware and Funnel Beaker pottery from Jutland, Denmark and the west coast of Sweden. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 20 (2018), p. 662-674
2016Mühlenbock, C. & Brorsson, T. ICP-analysis of 66 terracotta statues, statuettes and pottery sherds from Ayia Irini, Cyprus. In: Bourogiannis, G. & Mühlenbock, C. (eds.). Ancient Cyprus Today. Museum Collections and New Research. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology and Literature. PB 184. Uppsala, p. 299-312
2013Brorsson, T. A new method to determine the provenance of pottery – ICP analyses of pottery from Viking sge settlements in Northern Europe. In: Kleingärtner, S., Müller, U. & Scheschkewitz, J. (eds.). Kulturwandel im Spannungsfeld von Tradition und Innovation. Festschrift für Michael Müller-Wille. Neumünster, p. 59-66 

Other publications

2026Kihlstedt,B., Hindfers, N. & Brorsson, T. Ceramic craft, exchange networks and hybridisation. I: Kihlstedt, B. (ed.). Crafts and Contacts. Examples from Norvik. A Pitted Ware Culture Site in East-Central Sweden. Stiftelsen Kulturmiljövård. Västerås, pp. 64-101
2026Holdgaard Schultze, C. & Brorsson, T. Keramik og kemi. Naturvidenskabelige analyser af otte jernalderurner fra Bellinge Fælled, Odense.In: Tings Tale. Nr. 08. Tidskrift for material kultur. Nordic Academic. Köpenhamn, pp. 74-97
2025Välkänt och okänt hantverk – Skärvor och krukor, men inga produktionsplatser. In: Heinonen, T., Ehrnsten, F., Harjula, J., Knuutinen, T., Ratilainen, T., Terävä, E., Tuomenoja S. & Haarala, J. (eds.) Shattered and scattered pasts. Festschrift for Professor Georg Haggrén. ARCHAEOLOGIA MEDII AEVI FINLANDIAE XXXI. Society for Medieval Archaeology in Finland. Vaasa, pp. 179-191
2025Edberg, R., Larsson, R. & Brorsson, T. Glazed ceramic resurrection eggs found in Sweden and their Slavic origin. Fornvännen 2025/1. Journal of Swedish Antiquarian Research. Stockholm, pp. 63-67 
2024Tracing clay deposits and pottery workshops – the importance of combining archaeology with ICP-MA/ES analyses. In. Keller, C. Mehler, N. Röser, C. & Schmauder (eds.). From the wheel to the world. The journey of Rhenish stoneware. Conference proceedings of the international workshop “Rhenish stoneware. Local product – global player“ 1st–2nd of December 2022 at the LVR-Landesmuseum Bonn. Vor- und Frühgeschichtliche Archäologie Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn. Bonn, pp. 121-132
2024Kvalø, F., Wammer, E., Pohl, M., Brorsson, T., Skowronek, T., & Storemyr, P. The Selør Tile Wreck: A Late Medieval Cargo Ship near the South Cape of Norway. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. IJNA-09-24-0043.
2024Kjellberg, J., Brorsson, T., Johansson, E. & Stevens, T. 2024. Äldre rödgods från Studentholmen i Uppsala - en undersökning av proveniens genom pXRF- och ICP-analys. Meta H: historiskarkeologisk tidskrift. Historiskarkeologiska föreningen. Uppsala p. 61-78
2023Eriksson, N., Brorsson, T., Daly, A., Hansson, J. & Isaksson, S. The Maderö wreck: a ship loaded with bricks from Lübeck sunk in the Stockholm Archipelago in the late 15th century. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NAUTICAL RCHAEOLOGY doi.org/10.1080/10572414.2023.2295452. Routledge, p. 1-19
2023Hall, Derek & Brorsson, Torbjörn. The pottery. In: Shakespeare, C., Clark, J., Garner-Lahire, J., Oram, R. & Toop, Nicola. Eilean Donan Castle. Exploring a Highland icon, Archaeological research excavations 2009-2017. Oxbow books. Oxford, p. 84-86
2023Bodenzeichen auf der Ostseeware von Lolland – Ein Beitrag zur Deutung von Keramik und ihrem sozialen Umfeld. In: Jensen, A.-E. Freunde und Feinde. Dania Slavica. Südseeland, Lolland-Falster und Møn in der Wikingerzeit und im Hochmittelalter. Aarhus Universitetsforlag. Aarhus, p. 265-272
2022Brorsson, T. & Jeffery, S. Medieval face jugs from Lödöse, Sweden. Where were they made? In: Blackmore, L. & Ratkai, S. (eds.). Medieval Ceramics. Vol 41, 2020. Journal of the Medieval Pottery Research Group. London, p. 55-66
2022von Arbin, S., Skowronek, T., Daly, A. Brorsson, T., Isaksson, S. & Seir, T. Tracing Trade Routes: Examining the Cargo of the 15th-Century Skaftö Wreck, International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, DOI: 10.1080/10572414.2022.2076518
2021Brorsson, T. & Victor. H. Norjeskogen i världen. Från Norjegravfälten till Baltikum. In: Rudebeck, E. & Anglert, M. (eds.). Att leva vid Vesan. Arkeologi längs nya väg E22 i västra Blekinge. Blekinge museum. Karlskrona, p. 377–396
2020Blank, M., Brorsson, T. & Bakunic Fridén, I. Provenancing Neolithic pottery. An investigation of the elemental composition of Pitted Ware and Funnel Beaker pottery from Djursland and adjacent regions. In: Klassen, L. (ed.). The Pitted Ware Culture on Djursland. Supra-regional significance and contacts in the Middle Neolithic of southern Scandinavia. Aarhus University Press. Aarhus, p. 385-406
2020Sabatini, Serena, Brorsson, Torbjörn and Peter Skoglund. in press. ' Clay, Burial Urns, and Social Distinction in Late Bronze Age Southern Scandinavia.' in Knut Ivar Austvoll, Marianne Hem Eriksen, Per Ditlef Fredriksen, Anne Lene Melheim, Lisbeth Prøsch-Danielsen and Lisbeth Skogstrand (eds.), Contrasts of the Nordic Bronze Age. Essays in Honour of Christopher Prescott (Brepols: Turnhout). ISBN 978-2-503-58877-3.
2019Mehler, N., Ólafsson, G., Holterman, B., Coolen, J. Edvardsson, R. & Brorsson, T. Gautavik – a trading site in Iceland re-examined. I: Mehler, N. Gardiner, M. & Elvested, E. (Red.). German trade in the North-Atlantic c. 1400-1700. Interdisciplinary Perspectives. AmS-Skrifter 27, Universitetet i Stavanger. Stavanger, p. 227–243
2019Ås kloster, dess keramik och kontakter med moderklostret i Sorø. En Vänbok till Erik och Lena. Utskrift 17. Kulturmiljö Halland. Halmstad, p. 13-16
2019Människorna från andra sidan havet – den förromerska keramiken från gravfältet i Tjärby Norra. I: Wranning, P. (red.). Vägsjäl. Arkeologi längs Väg 117 i Halland. Utskrift 15. Kulturmiljö Halland. Halmstad, p. 129–152 
2018Brorsson, T. Lucenius, J. & Stenbäck, N. Kulturella influenser på Åland under stenåldern – exemplet kalkmagring i keramiken. Åländsk odling 2018. Forum för Åländsk kulturhistoria. Årgång 69. Ålands landskapsregering. Mariehamn, p. 96–107.
2008Ytterberg, N., Björck. N. & Brorsson, T. Lerkärl och andra keramiska artefakter. In: Björck, N. & Hjärthner-Holdar, E. (eds.). Mellan hav och skog. Högmossen, en stenåldersmiljö vid en skimrande strand i norra Uppland. Arkeologi E4 Uppland, Volym 6. Uppsala, p. 215-252
2007Brorsson, T. Isaksson, S. & Stenbäck, N. Stil, gods och kärlanvändning. In: Stenbäck, N. (ed.). Stenåldern i Uppland. Volym 1. Arkeologi E4 Uppland – studier. Uppsala, p. 409-440