Charlotte Blindheim

Charlotte Blindheim (née Undset, 6 July 1917 – 5 March 2005) was a Norwegian archaeologist. She was the first female member of the scientific staff at the University of Oslo to be permanently employed when she hired as the museum curator in 1946.

Biography She was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. She was the daughter of Sigge Pantzerhielm Thomas (1886-1944) and Signe Dorothea Undset (1887-1973). Her father was a classical philologist and lecturer at the University of Oslo. She completed a master's degree in archaeology in 1946 at the University of Oslo, writing her thesis on Viking costume and jewellery. She was subsequently hired as a curator at the University as the museum's first permanently employed female member of scientific staff.

As an archaeologist, Blindheim became particularly known for her work with the excavations at Kaupang in Skiringssal in the former municipality of Tjølling (now Larvik in Vestfold). Excavations were started systematically in the spring of 1950 and continued until the first half of the 1970s. In 1968 she became a curator in Vestfold, a position which she retained until her retirement in 1987.

Awards Blindheim received the King's Medal of Merit (Kongens fortjenstmedalje) in gold during 1987.

Personal life Blindheim was the maternal granddaughter of archaeologist, Ingvald Undset (1853-1893) and the niece of novelist Sigrid Undset, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for 1928. She was married to medieval art historian Martin Edvard Blindheim (1916-2009). She died during 2005 and was buried at Vår Frelsers gravlund in Oslo.

Selected works Blindheim, Charlotte; (1953) Kaupang : markedsplassen i skiringssal (Oslo: Norsk arkeologisk selskap) Blindheim, Charlotte; Tollnes, Roar L. (1972) Kaupang: Vikingenes Handelsplass (Oslo: Mortensen) Blindheim, Charlotte; (1977) Vikingtog og vikintid : en innføring i bilder og tekst for undervisningsbruk (Oslo: Schibsted Forlag) Blindheim, C.; Heyerdahl-Larsen, B., and Ingstaf, A. S. (1998) Kaupang-funnene, Volume 2, Part 1 (Oslo: University of Oslo)