Erik Solfeldt

About me

Erik Solfeldt is a PhD candidate at the Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies at Stockholm University. Combining archaeology and museum ethnography, he specializes in the study of animism and material culture among hunter-gatherers and hunter-herders of northwestern Eurasia. His research explores ethnographic materials (ethnographic artefacts and visual ethnography) from northwestern Siberia, with a particular focus on the Nenets. By employing theoretical perspectives of new animism in combination with critical and deconstructive ethnographic analogies, Solfeldt's work challenges conventional archaeological theories and interpretations that rely on Western ontological preconceptions. His current PhD project, "Material Spirits of the Past and Present", delves into these themes, following his master's thesis titled "En arkeologi av det animistiska" (An Archaeology of Animism), which received the "Highly Commended, Master’s Thesis Prize" from the International Society of Hunter-Gatherer Research (ISHGR) in 2024.