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I am an archaeologist by training, working as an interdisciplinary researcher and professor of museology. In my research I study constructions and uses of the ancient past for contemporary purposes – in museums, tourism, and the popular media.

My current research explores the effects of DNA studies on constructions of historic identity. In the project Deep Time DNA (funded by the Swedish Research Council 2026–2029), I work with Disa Helander and the organization (Public & Science Sweden) in an investigation of how uses of historic DNA – in studies of prehistoric aDNA as well as in businesses of genetic ancestry testing – have affected ideas of identity, relations, and belonging among the Swedish public.

In the years 2018–2022 I was PI of the interdisciplinary research project (funded by Riksbankens jubileumsfond) that investigated how research on ancient DNA (aDNA) affect stories of the ancient past. A result of that project was the book (The University of Chicago Press, 2025), which has been listed in as one of "Five Best Science Picks", and an "Outstanding Academic Title" in .   

Other publications from the Code–Narrative–History project are (MIT Press, 2024), a in the Journal of Social Archaeology, and the articles  (Current Swedish Archaeology, 2019) (New Genetics and Society, 2021) and (Current Anthropology, 2024). All project publications are found .

As a student of archaeology in the 1990s I began working in Southeast Asia, and my (Uppsala University, 2004) was based on archaeological excavations in Laos. Working in Laos, I got interested in the uses and valuations of archaeological heritage in contemporary society. Ever since, my research and teaching has been focused on critical heritage studies, investigating how things, places and traditions of the past are valued and used in contemporary society. Influenced by postcolonial theory, I have taken special interest in relations between heritage and hegemonic power, and in lingering social and political structures from the 19th and early 20th century in contemporary heritage practices.

I have explored these questions in four major research projects after my doctoral thesis (including the two latest ones, with focus on DNA). One was funded by Sida/SAREC and investigated the relationships between archaeology, French colonialism and ecotourism in northern Laos. It resulted in the book (2015). The second project was in collaboration with Johan Hegardt and funded by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond. It was a microhistorical study of international archaeology through the 20th century, where we followed the Swedish-born archaeologist  Olov R. T. Janse from Norrköping to Washington, DC, via Uppsala, Paris, Hanoi, Manila, and Harvard University. The results of this project were published in the book (2021). 

I worked with research and teaching at Stockholm University from 2006 to 2022, and joined the museology section at Umeå University in 2023. I have been Honorary Visiting Fellow at University College London since 2009, and have lectured at museums and universities in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Portugal, the UK, and the USA. I have worked at museums in Laos, Norway and Sweden (the Swedish History Museum and the National Museums of World Culture), have been Secretary of the Swedish Archaeological Society, editor of the journal Current Swedish Archaeology. I am a member of the editorial board for Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites, and a board member of – The Nordic Research School for Museums and Heritage.

My research has been communicated and noticed in major international media, for example in , Publishers Weekly, Nature, and . 
 

Selected publications

2025

Källén, Anna. : Telling Stories of the Past with Genomic Science. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. (Reviews in , , , , , )

Hegardt Källen, Anna. ''. Humtankar 2025-10-22.

2024

Källén, Anna; Charlotte Mulcare; Andreas Nyblom & Daniel Strand, ’: The Gap Between Ideal and Actual Practice in Ancient DNA Research’. Current Anthroplogy, Vol 65, no 6.

Källén, Anna. . Svenska Dagbladet, Under strecket, 2024-08-29.

Strand, Daniel; Anna Källén & Charlotte Mulcare (Eds). . The MIT Press. (Reviews in , )

Strand, Daniel & Anna Källén. '. Critical Perspectives on Ancient DNA. The MIT Press, 2024.  

2023

Källén, Anna. '.' Utställningskritik #4, 2023.

Källén, Anna. 'The Sigtuna Debacle: A story of ancient DNA, immigrants, and fake news in a Viking Age town in Sweden'. Elisabeth Niklasson (red.) . Berghahn Books.

2022

Källén, Anna. 'Hintang'. Article in conversation with art work by Tanatchai Bandasak. Ute Meta Bauer (red.) . The MIT Press & NTU Centre for Contemporary Art, Singapore.

2021

Källén, Anna & Johan Hegardt 2021. . Stockholm: Kriterium & Makadam.

Källén, Anna; Charlotte Mulcare, Andreas Nyblom & Daniel Strand 2021. ’Introduction: Transcending the aDNA Revolution’. Journal of Social Archaeology, . 

Strand, Daniel & Anna Källén 2021. ' DNA, popular culture and the construction of geneticized identity'. New Genetics and Society.

Källén, Anna 2021. ''. Yearbook of the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities 2021, Ed: Ulrika Gustafsson, Stockholm: Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, pp. 77–88.

Källén, Anna & Daniel Strand 2021. ''. The Conversation.

2020

Källén, Anna 2020. ''. Fronesis, nr 66–67, pp 110–123.

Björkman, John; Victoria Fareld & Anna Källén (Eds) 2020. . En vänbok till Inga Sanner. Lund: Ellerströms förlag.

Björkman, John; Victoria Fareld & Anna Källén 2020. 'Kärlekens kulturhistoria – en introduktion'. Eros, philia, agape – kärlekens kulturhistoria. En vänbok till Inga Sanner, ss 9–22. Lund: Ellerströms förlag.

2019

Källén, Anna; Charlotte Mulcare, Andreas Nyblom & Daniel Strand 2019. : Contemporary Implications of Ancient DNA'. Current Swedish Archaeology, vol 27, pp 69–91.

Källén, Anna (red.) 2019. . KVHAA Konferenser 100. Stockholm: Vitterhetsakademien.

Källén, Anna 2019. 'Heritage and Borders: An Introduction'. Heritage and Borders, Ed: Anna Källén. KVHAA Konferenser 100. Stockholm: Vitterhetsakademien, pp 7–12.

Källén, Anna & Johan Hegardt 2019. 'Arkeologen och avståndet'. : en vänbok till Anders Andrén. Eds: Cecilia Ljung et al. Lund: Nordic Academic Press, pp 276–278.

2018 

Källén, Anna. . Tidskriften Respons, vol 2, 2018. 

2017

Källén Anna & Fredrik Krohn Andersson. 'Portik som politik'. Medusa 38:4, pp 2–7. 

2015

Källén, Anna. Archaeology, Colonialism and Ecotourism in Northern Laos. UCL Critical Heritage Studies Series. Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press (nu Routledge).

Källén, Anna. . Arctic Anthropology, vol 52:2, pp 81–86.

Källén, Anna. 'Hintang and the Double-Bind Promise of Development'. . Eds: Paul Basu & Wayne Modest. Routledge Studies in Culture and Development Series. London: Routledge. Pp 229–249.

2014

Hegardt, Johan & Källén, Anna. ''. Museum Worlds, vol 2 (2014), pp 42–62.

Källén, Anna. ''. Journal of Social Archaeology. 14(3), pp 383–405.

Källén, Anna & Hegardt, Johan. ' Bulletin of the History of Archaeology, Vol 24 (2014).

2013

Källén, Anna (ed.) Essays from the Research School of Studies in Cultural History. Lund: Nordic Academic Press.

Källén, Anna. 'Laos, Cultural Heritage Management in'. Encyclopaedia of Global Archaeology. Springer Press.

2012

Källén, Anna. ' – Comments on Bjørnar Olsen, "After Interpretation: Remembering Archaeology"'. Current Swedish Archaeology, vol 20, 2012, pp 61-66.

Källén, Anna. 'Hintang and the Dilemma of Benevolence'. Appropriating the Past: Philosophical Perspectives on the Practice of Archaeology II. Eds: Geoffrey Scarre & Robin Coningham. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 119-138.

2011

Hegardt, Johan & Källén, Anna. 'Being through the past. Reflections on Swedish archaeology and heritage management'. In: Ludomir Lozny (Ed.). Comparative Archaeologies: A Sociological View of the Science of the Past. Springer Press. Pp 109–135.

2010

Jakobsson, Mikael & Källén, Anna. 'A Hobbling Marriage: on the relationship between the collections and the societal mission of the Historical Museum'. Current Swedish Archaeology, Vol 17, 2009, pp 151–164.

2004    

Källén, Anna. . PhD dissertation at the Dept of Archaeology and Ancient History. Studies in Global Archaeology 6, Uppsala: Uppsala University.

(more publications in )