Valter Lang

Valter Lang (born 26 January 1958) is an Estonian archaeologist and academic whose research has centred on the prehistory of Estonia and the eastern Baltic, especially settlement archaeology in northern Estonia, the Bronze Age and Iron Age, and archaeological approaches to the emergence of Finnic-speaking communities. He has been professor of archaeology at the University of Tartu since 1999 and a member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences since 2010. A two-time recipient of the Estonian state science prize, he was awarded the Order of the White Star, 4th Class, in 2001.

Early life and education Lang was born in Kulunda, Novosibirsk Oblast, in the Russian SFSR, into a family that had been deported to Siberia in 1949. He attended school in Kuigatsi and graduated from Otepää Secondary School in 1976.

Career and research After graduating, Lang joined the Institute of History in Tallinn, where he advanced through research and administrative posts before becoming head of its archaeology department in 1994. His English-language synthesis The Bronze and Early Iron Ages in Estonia presented Estonian material to an international readership in book form. In later work he addressed questions of Finnic ethnogenesis and early Finnic–Baltic contacts, including in the article "Early Finnic-Baltic contacts as evidenced by archaeological and linguistic data" and the monograph Finnic Be-Comings.

Lang has also served as editor-in-chief of the series Muinasaja teadus and of the Estonian Journal of Archaeology.

Honours and recognition Lang received the Estonian state science prize in 1997 and 2011. He also received the University of Tartu Badge of Distinction in 2008, the University of Tartu Grand Medal in 2012, and the Baltic Assembly Medal in 2015. In 2017 he became a foreign member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters.

Selected works Muistne Rävala [Prehistoric Rävala], 2 vols. (1996) From Centre to Periphery: Establishment and History of Farming Settlement in Vihasoo and Palmse Area (Virumaa, North Estonia) (2000) The Bronze and Early Iron Ages in Estonia (2007) "Early Finnic-Baltic contacts as evidenced by archaeological and linguistic data" (2016) Finnic Be-Comings (2018)