Anneli Ekblom
Professor vid Institutionen för arkeologi, antik historia och kulturvård; Arkeologi
- Telefon:
- 018-471 20 77
- E-post:
- anneli.ekblom@arkeologi.uu.se
- Besöksadress:
- Engelska parken, Thunbergsvägen 3H
- Postadress:
- Box 626
751 26 UPPSALA
- ORCID:
- 0000-0001-9248-5516
Kort presentation
My research and teaching are experimentations in ways of ‘seeing the world relationally’. The climate crises and the precarious conditions of the Anthropocene calls for new ways of representing and knowing the world. I study relations between humans-nature ranging from changes in vegetation and settlement to conflicts and contestations when it comes to conservation and heritage, exploring forms of representation that convey the intimate entanglement of people, other organisms and landscapes.
Nyckelord
- conservation
- historical ecology
- mozambique
- environmental history
- biocultural heritage
- landscape management
- southern africa
- sicily
- northern sweden
Biografi
My interest in Historical Ecology was formed during the time I wrote my PhD thesis at Uppsala University, cross-examining many sources; archaeological data, written sources, interviews with local residents, palaeoecology and landscape analysis to produce an environmental history of a place. Furthermore, the thesis presented environmental data from a region, southern Mozambique where there had been no similar analysis, enabling me to pioneer in this area. After completion of my thesis, I was fortunate to be able to expand my interest also to southern Africa, working within Kruger National Park with vegetation history during a three year long post-doc at Long term ecology lab, Oxford University. Coming back to Uppsala I continued expanding my interest in historical ecology through various research projects both in Southern and Eastern Africa and Sweden. I have for a long time been engaged in the student-initiated and driven Centre for Environment and Development Studies (Cemus) both as a lecturer and examinator and as director (2017-2018).
Apart from the above engagements I also have a number of commissions of trust: from Jan 2015 until present I am Chair of the Board of Societas Archeologica Upsaliensis (SAU) a contract archaeology company aimed to link rescue archaeology with academia and education and research. Since September 2014 I am member of the Scientific Steering Committee of Integrated History and Future for People on Earth IHOPE and now also chair the International Programme Office; From pril 2015-Sep 2018 Steeringgroup for Centre for Biological Diversity (CBM), SLU and Uppsala University and from March 2016-2018 I was Member of Swedish National Committee for Global Environmental Change, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Teaching
My main teaching activity is coordinating and supervising the Master's Programme in Global Environmental History. So far, we have had 87 students graduate from the programme; see the list of their theses here.
On master level I teach the courses Historical Ecology (7,5 ECTS), Africa: Histories, Ecologies, and Sustainabilities (7,5 ECTS, every even year), Cultural Heritage Management and Contract Archaeology (7,5 Credits, every odd year). In addition, I also give single lectures at the undergraduate level on archaeological methods, archaeobotany, domestication, geology and vegetation history, landscape management, heritage, and biodiversity conservation. At Cemus, I also give lectures on Environmental History and links to sustainability.
Forskning
Current Projects
Archlab and Uppsala Archaeobotanical Group (UAG): UAG is a member of the VR-funded National Infrastructure Archlab, a collaborative venture of 13 high-profile laboratories supporting archaeological science research and development. UAG specifically develops methodologies for microfossil analyses of pollen and phytoliths, testing the possibilities of AI in pollen identification, all open source and with searchable files through the international collaboration NEPal. Since 2024, we have taken contracts for pollen, phytoliths and macrofossil analyses. We develop the archaeobotanical method to address archaeological research in Swedish heritage management and contract archaeology. UAG convey contacts with other experts and specialists within the UAG network, we also organise monthly seminars and training. If you want to be involved, please contact Anneli Ekblom.
Biocultural Heritage, under this theme we explore the intersection between archaeology, landscape management and conservation to create new opportunities for heritage, conservation, rural development and climate mitigation efforts to better inform each other. Through case studies we want to build comparative studies and also transdisciplinary collaboration between communities on practices conducive to biocultural heritage. Currently, we have ongoing projects in Sicily, Mozambique and formerly, Ängersjö parish, Sweden.
The Historical Ecology of Olive Sicily project is funded by VR (2020-2025) with Vincenza Ferrara, Agricultural and Forestry Science, Palermo University and Department of Human Geography, Stockholm University. Together with local farmers, we document local practices and knowledge of olive management. The collaboration with local stakeholders and involved methodologies also constitute a new framework for collaborative research and sustainable management of old olive trees and associated cultural landscapes.
Through a Sida (Swedish Agency for Development Collaboration) funded training programme with Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique on “Biocultural Heritage: developing new industries” several scholars are also building knowledge in and around bicultural heritage from the perspective of archaeology and heritage assessment (Omar Madime), and the perspective of locally protected forests (Pascoal Gota). Other scholars are working with heritage management of rockshelter sites and linkages with heritage tourism and comanagement (Decio Muinga). Other PhD students are working on coastal diversity and climate adaption see projects here
Limpopo Life is an 18-year-long project together with Dr Michel Notelid, will soon be published as a book. The book centres around the area now proclaimed as Limpopo National Park. Our research moves in the cross-section between oral history, heritage, archaeology, ecology and conservation. The project was funded by VR 2012-2015 and weave together many narratives around the landscape. See project presentation here
Recontextualising Climate Change: The debates on climate change tend to be embedded in Eurocentric, Modernistic, and Hegemonic discourses or embedded in a simplistic behavioural and/or moralistic discourse. This discourse creates a frustrated sense of precarity or a sense of denial. Using data from different periods and parts of the globe, this theme is intended to examine how researchers conventionally understand past climate change and ask how we might rethink the material record of social adaptabilities and transformations to better understand what it means to live through an era of rapid climate change. This interest has led to the hosting of the European Society of Environmental History of Climate Histories in Uppsala 18-22 of August 2025. At the conference, we hope to bring together academia, artists and civil society in a conversation about what it means to live in the climate crisis.
Long-term landscape dynamics of the Southern Africa savanna: The development of tools for fine-tuning climate projection models, biome-shift predictions, and land cover change is of crucial relevance for decision-making and policy formulation with respect to biodiversity, livelihood security and social planning. The project is a long-standing one and is being collaborated with many other authors in South Africa, Mozambique, and Madagascar (see publications below).
Old projects
Ekologiska rum Mälardalen (The ecological dynamics of places in Mälardalen): The project, aims to analyse and synthesise the current knowledge on palaeo-ecology, human transformations of the landscape and ecological dynamics in the Mälar valley. See publication Framtidens naturvärden i kulturmiljöer - fallstudie Gamla Uppsala.
Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change (ARCC) (funded by the Swedish Research Council, VR in association with Sida 2017-2020), but publications are still forthcoming. Countries in eastern Africa require new frameworks for envisioning and planning desired futures. We ask how socioecological systems may respond to future climate change and social scenarios, focusing on the last 300 years. See project webpage.

Publikationer
Urval av publikationer
Ingår i Seminar, 2015
Archaeology, Historical Sciences, and Environmental Conservation
Ingår i The Oxford Handbook of Historical Ecology and Applied Archaeology, s. 72-90, Oxford University Press, 2015
Ingår i Ambio, s. 479-489, 2012
Miljöhistorier: Personliga, lokala, globala berättelser om dåtid, nutid och framtid.
CSDUppsala och Institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia, Uppsala universitet, 2012
Senaste publikationer
Ingår i Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 2025
- DOI för Multiporate Poaceae pollen grains observed in the recent fossil record from the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem and Lake Victoria region
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av Multiporate Poaceae pollen grains observed in the recent fossil record from the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem and Lake Victoria region
Ingår i Journal of geography in higher education, s. 1-11, 2024
- DOI för Scaffolding geospatial epistemic discomfort: a pedagogical framework for cross-disciplinary landscape research
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av Scaffolding geospatial epistemic discomfort: a pedagogical framework for cross-disciplinary landscape research
Ingår i Bull. Mus. Anthropol. préhist. Monaco, 2024
Ingår i Biodiversity and Conservation, 2024
- DOI för Locally protected forests: status, character and challenges a case study of Inhambane Province, southern Mozambique
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av Locally protected forests: status, character and challenges a case study of Inhambane Province, southern Mozambique
Ingår i MethodsX, 2024
- DOI för A rapid and simple method for the extraction of biogenic silica (BSi) in phytolith-poor sediments and soils
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av A rapid and simple method for the extraction of biogenic silica (BSi) in phytolith-poor sediments and soils
Alla publikationer
Artiklar i tidskrift
Ingår i Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 2025
- DOI för Multiporate Poaceae pollen grains observed in the recent fossil record from the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem and Lake Victoria region
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av Multiporate Poaceae pollen grains observed in the recent fossil record from the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem and Lake Victoria region
Ingår i Journal of geography in higher education, s. 1-11, 2024
- DOI för Scaffolding geospatial epistemic discomfort: a pedagogical framework for cross-disciplinary landscape research
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av Scaffolding geospatial epistemic discomfort: a pedagogical framework for cross-disciplinary landscape research
Ingår i Bull. Mus. Anthropol. préhist. Monaco, 2024
Ingår i Biodiversity and Conservation, 2024
- DOI för Locally protected forests: status, character and challenges a case study of Inhambane Province, southern Mozambique
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av Locally protected forests: status, character and challenges a case study of Inhambane Province, southern Mozambique
Ingår i MethodsX, 2024
- DOI för A rapid and simple method for the extraction of biogenic silica (BSi) in phytolith-poor sediments and soils
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av A rapid and simple method for the extraction of biogenic silica (BSi) in phytolith-poor sediments and soils
Chicumbane Connections: Lower Limpopo Valley During the First Millennium AD
Ingår i African Archaeological Review, s. 119-138, 2024
- DOI för Chicumbane Connections: Lower Limpopo Valley During the First Millennium AD
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av Chicumbane Connections: Lower Limpopo Valley During the First Millennium AD
Ingår i Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2024
- DOI för Late Quaternary hydroclimate variability in Madagascar and its connection to atmospheric circulation patterns
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av Late Quaternary hydroclimate variability in Madagascar and its connection to atmospheric circulation patterns
Livelihood vulnerability and human-wildlife interactions across protected areas
Ingår i Ecology and Society, 2024
- DOI för Livelihood vulnerability and human-wildlife interactions across protected areas
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av Livelihood vulnerability and human-wildlife interactions across protected areas
Ingår i Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, s. 112336-112336, 2024
Ingår i Journal of geography in higher education, s. 1-11, 2024
Paul Sinclair (1949–2023) — In memoriam
Ingår i Azania, s. 173-178, 2024
Ingår i Frontiers in Conservation Science, 2024
- DOI för Response: Commentary: The role of palaeoecology in reconciling biodiversity conservation, livelihoods and carbon storage in Madagascar
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av Response: Commentary: The role of palaeoecology in reconciling biodiversity conservation, livelihoods and carbon storage in Madagascar
Trees, carbon, and the psychology of landscapes
Ingår i Trends in Ecology & Evolution, s. 359-367, 2024
Ingår i Ambio, s. 517-533, 2024
Covid-19 pandemic effects and responses in the Maasai Mara Conservancy
Ingår i Tourism and Hospitality Research, 2023
Ingår i Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, s. 615-633, 2023
- DOI för Hunter-gatherer farming during the first millennium bce in inland, boreal landscapes: new pollen analytical and archaeological evidence from Dalarna, central Sweden
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av Hunter-gatherer farming during the first millennium bce in inland, boreal landscapes: new pollen analytical and archaeological evidence from Dalarna, central Sweden
Household Vulnerability and Transformability in Limpopo National Park
Ingår i Sustainability, 2021
- DOI för Household Vulnerability and Transformability in Limpopo National Park
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av Household Vulnerability and Transformability in Limpopo National Park
Ingår i Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, s. 759-771, 2021
- DOI för The history of settlement and agrarian land use in a boreal forest in Värmland, Sweden, new evidence from pollen analysis
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av The history of settlement and agrarian land use in a boreal forest in Värmland, Sweden, new evidence from pollen analysis
Historical Ecologies of Pastoralist Overgrazing in Kenya: Long-Term Perspectives on Cause and Effect
Ingår i Human Ecology, s. 419-434, 2019
- DOI för Historical Ecologies of Pastoralist Overgrazing in Kenya: Long-Term Perspectives on Cause and Effect
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av Historical Ecologies of Pastoralist Overgrazing in Kenya: Long-Term Perspectives on Cause and Effect
Ingår i Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, s. 104-116, 2019
Vegetation dynamics within the savanna biome in southern Mozambique during the late Holocene
Ingår i The Holocene, s. 277-292, 2018
Ingår i Global and Planetary Change, s. 221-233, 2018
- DOI för Leaf wax delta D inferring variable medieval hydroclimate and early initiation of Little Ice Age (LIA) dryness in southern Mozambique
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av Leaf wax delta D inferring variable medieval hydroclimate and early initiation of Little Ice Age (LIA) dryness in southern Mozambique
Ingår i Earth-Science Reviews, s. 322-378, 2018
Water flow, ecological dynamics, and management in the lower Limpopo Valley: a long‐term vie
Ingår i WIREs Water, 2017
Anthropological contributions to historical ecology: 50 questions, infinite prospects
Ingår i PLOS ONE, 2017
- DOI för Anthropological contributions to historical ecology: 50 questions, infinite prospects
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av Anthropological contributions to historical ecology: 50 questions, infinite prospects
The Importance of paleoecology in the conservation andrestoration of Cultural landscapes.
Ingår i PAGES Magazine, s. 88-89, 2017
- DOI för The Importance of paleoecology in the conservation andrestoration of Cultural landscapes.
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av The Importance of paleoecology in the conservation andrestoration of Cultural landscapes.
Negotiating identity and heritage through authorised vernacular history, Limpopo National Park
Ingår i Journal of social archaeology, s. 49-68, 2017
- DOI för Negotiating identity and heritage through authorised vernacular history, Limpopo National Park
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av Negotiating identity and heritage through authorised vernacular history, Limpopo National Park
Ingår i Seminar, 2015
Ingår i eTopoi, s. 94-108, 2015
Ingår i Seminar, 2015
Archaeological surveys in the lower Limpopo valley, Limpopo national park
Ingår i South African Archaeological Bulletin, s. 201-208, 2015
Ingår i Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, s. 15-32, 2014
Coastal forest and Miombo woodland history of the Vilankulo region, Mozambique
Ingår i The Holocene, s. 284-294, 2014
Water-level variations in Lake Nhauhache, Mozambique, during the last 2,300 years
Ingår i Journal of Paleolimnology, s. 311-322, 2012
Ingår i Antiquity, s. 723-737, 2012
Ingår i Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, s. 69-78, 2012
Ingår i Ambio, s. 479-489, 2012
Ingår i Uppsala nya tidning, 2012
A Historical Ecology of the Limpopo and Kruger National Parks and Lower Limpopo Valley
Ingår i Journal of Archaeology and Ancient History, s. 1-29, 2011
Faunal remains from Chibuene, an Iron Age coastal trading station in central Mozambique
Ingår i Southern African Humanities, s. 1-15, 2011
Ingår i Zimbabwean Prehistory, s. 38-54, 2011
Ingår i Landscape Ecology, s. 1529-1546, 2010
Dung fungi as indicators of past herbivore abundance, Kruger and Limpopo National Park
Ingår i Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, s. 14-27, 2010
Ingår i The Holocene, s. 1063-1077, 2010
Ingår i Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, s. 171-185, 2009
Ingår i Ecosystems (New York. Print), s. 1189-1203, 2009
Holocene palaeo-invasions: the link between pattern,process and scale in invasion ecology?
Ingår i Landscape Ecology, s. 757-769, 2008
Forest-savanna dynamics in the coastal lowland of southern Mozambique since 400 AD
Ingår i The Holocene, s. 1247-1257, 2008
Paleohydrology of Lake Nhaucati (southern Mozambique),c. 400 AD to present
Ingår i Journal of Paleolimnology, s. 1127-1141, 2008
Att hitta till stallet, en gård från förromersk järnålder i Falltorp
Ingår i Arkeologi E18. Från Bergslagsbygd till Bondebygd 2007, s. 66-77, 2007
Artiklar, forskningsöversikt
Ingår i Frontiers in Conservation Science, 2023
- DOI för The role of palaeoecology in reconciling biodiversity conservation, livelihoods and carbon storage in Madagascar
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av The role of palaeoecology in reconciling biodiversity conservation, livelihoods and carbon storage in Madagascar
Using palaeoecology to explore the resilience of southern African savannas
Ingår i Koedoe, 2020
- DOI för Using palaeoecology to explore the resilience of southern African savannas
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av Using palaeoecology to explore the resilience of southern African savannas
Conservation through Biocultural Heritage-Examples from Sub-Saharan Africa
Ingår i Land, 2019
- DOI för Conservation through Biocultural Heritage-Examples from Sub-Saharan Africa
- Ladda ner fulltext (pdf) av Conservation through Biocultural Heritage-Examples from Sub-Saharan Africa
A framework for exploring and managing biocultural heritage
Ingår i Anthropocene, 2019
Böcker
Dataset
Kapitel i böcker, delar av antologi
Ingår i Other landscapes of cultural heritage(s), s. 319-339, Coimbra University Press, 2023
Ingår i Landscape as heritage, s. 80-90, Routledge, 2022
An historical ecology of cattle in Mozambique
Ingår i At Nature’s Edge, Oxford University Press, 2018
Concepts for Integrated Research in Historical Ecology
Ingår i Issues and Concepts in Historical Ecology: ThePast and Future of Landscapes and regions, s. 145-181, Cambridge University Press, 2018
Ingår i Framtidens naturvärden i kulturmiljöer -, s. 91-114, Institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia, Uppsala Universitet, 2018
Ingår i Framtidens naturvärden i kulturmiljöer -, s. 1-16, Institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia, Uppsala Universitet, 2018
Ingår i Framtidens naturvärden i kulturmiljöer: fallstudie Gamla Uppsala, s. 1-16, Institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia, Uppsala universitet, 2018
Ingår i The Swahili World, Routledge, 2017
Ingår i Early Exchange between Africa and the Wider Indian Ocean World, s. 195-230, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016
Archaeology, Historical Sciences, and Environmental Conservation
Ingår i The Oxford Handbook of Historical Ecology and Applied Archaeology, s. 72-90, Oxford University Press, 2015
Ingår i Institutionens historier: En vänbok till Gullög Nordquist, s. 3-12, Institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia, 2013
Samhälle, beslutsfattande och miljö
Ingår i Miljöhistorier: Personliga, lokala, globala berättelser om dåtid, nutid och framtid., s. 53-62, CSD Uppsala och Institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia, 2012
Ingår i Politicized Nature, s. 93-117, Centre for Environment and Development Studies, (Cemus), 2010
Rapporter
Samlingsverk (redaktörskap)
Framtidens naturvärden i kulturmiljöer: fallstudie Gamla Uppsala
Institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia, Uppsala Universitet, 2018
Miljöhistorier: Personliga, lokala, globala berättelser om dåtid, nutid och framtid.
CSDUppsala och Institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia, Uppsala universitet, 2012