Between a Rune Stone and a Hard Place: Deconstructing Mass Media Influence on Knowledge Production in Viking Age Archaeogenetic Publications

Abstract: The archaeological traditions of the Viking Age have a complex history. Some of it has been nationalist in orientation, at times constructing proud historical narratives reflecting ownership in and continuity of the past. These narratives conflict with increasing population diversity in the Scandinavian nations, where contemporary identity politics grapple with real and imagined realities of immigration, ethnicity, and origin. Within this complex climate of public and political debate, archaeology, now bolstered by ancient genetic data, is often deployed. Ancient DNA studies on Viking Age mobility are forcing ideologically polarized stakeholder groups to reconsider their perceptions of Nordic identity both past and present. This creates an opportunity to investigate the relationship between science, mass media, and diverse publics as the nature of knowledge production and communication changes. The historically dominant mode of knowledge dissemination has been a linear, one-way model of simplification from the “expert” source of production to a generalized public to then consume. This thesis takes a different approach borrowed from science and technology studies, deemed medialization, in which knowledge is produced through an integrated, reciprocal relationship between research institutions, public consumers, and the media. This thesis investigates this medialization, evaluating knowledge production and translation in a meta-analysis of three archaeogenetic case studies that focus on Viking Age population genomics and migration. It concludes that medialization alone is not a sufficient enough lens with which to clarify the relationship between science, its stakeholders, politics, and the mass media that ties them all together. This relationship varies case by case in which institutions and individual researchers cannot be absolved of responsibility when research is not communicated with integrity or press releases are not vetted for misinformation. This research is indicative of a likely paradigm shift in Viking studies. The current political climate and use of new aDNA data is broadening the definition of Viking identity. This situates it in a polarized public and political discourse to suit a more diverse, globalized Scandinavia to the support of some, and disapproval of others. This medialization, while inevitable, is not inherently reductive. Scientific knowledge production and communication is changing. The relationship that archaeologists and research institutions have with media, society, and politics must also change accordingly