Published in the Spring 2020 issue of Westwind Magazine
Nobody’s career unfolds quite as planned, but J. Bjørnar Storfjell—whose work has taken him on a serendipitous series of adventures around the globe—understands life’s unpredictable nature better than most.
Storfjell’s many layers make him difficult to summarize: He’s an archaeologist, an educator, a polyglot, an editor, and a former competitive ski jumper. He’s native to Norway, with citizenship in the U.S. and U.K. His story is far from linear and tricky to follow—assuming you’re unfamiliar with soil contexts and ancient Near East history—but in its simplest form, it’s a tale of “time and chance” launching a man to greater heights than he believed possible as an undergraduate.
In the ’60s, Storfjell moved to the States to study theology at Walla Walla University. He wanted to expand his knowledge of ancient history, and under the instruction of biblical languages professor Richard Litke ’48, he saw a larger context to which his studies could be applied. “Dr. Litke was really the person who was most influential in steering me in the direction of archaeology and Semitic languages,” says Storfjell, crediting the professor’s ability to engage students with the material.
Storfjell graduated WWU determined to continue learning. He earned a bachelor of divinity degree from Andrews University, studied at Portland State University, and later completed a doctorate in archaeology at Andrews, which involved research on the Byzantine Period and fieldwork in the Middle East.
“Dr. Litke was really the person who was most influential in steering me in the direction of archaeology and Semitic languages.”
Success is difficult to quantify, and though Storfjell’s résumé leaves little room for dispute, it was his partnership with Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl that undeniably proved his prestige. Heyerdahl led the 1947 Kon-Tiki raft expedition across the Pacific Ocean, and in the late 60s, Storfjell named his son Thor in honor of Heyerdahl. Decades later, Storfjell met Heyerdahl in the mountains of Azerbaijan during an excavation commissioned by the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Heyerdahl was impressed with Storfjell and invited him to Russia to work on what would ultimately be Heyerdahl’s final project. When Heyerdahl passed away in 2002, Storfjell carried on his legacy, directing the Thor Heyerdahl Research Centre for five years.
As Storfjell developed expertise in archaeology and biblical languages, he worked hard to raise a new body of academics in his wake. He’s taught around the globe throughout his career, clocking a year at Auburn Adventist Academy, three at Middle East University in Jordan, nearly two decades at Andrews, a year at Kingston University in London, three years at Open University, and a decade of lecturing at Oxford University. As a professor, he showed care for his students, even crediting their names first on published articles. While teaching at Andrews, he involved students in excavation work in Michigan, Jordan, and Israel. On dig sites, he continued educating, taking Russian students into the trenches to teach them the latest methodologies.
“I was looking so much forward to having all the time in the world when I stopped teaching at Oxford,” Storfjell confesses, but only two months into retirement, he agreed to step in as editor of the Palestine Exploration Quarterly, where he currently reviews the latest archaeological research. “I think this is probably the last sort of professional thing that I will be doing,” he says, “but who knows. I will meet any challenge if it comes my way. I’m still an archaeologist.”