Hans Olof Hildebrand Hildebrand (5 April 1842, Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

 – 2 February 1913) was a Swedish archeologist. Born in Stockholm, he was the son of Bror Emil Hildebrand

Bror Emil Hildebrand

Bror Emil Hildebrand was a Swedish archaeologist, numismatist and museum director. From 1837 to 1879 he was Custodian of Ancient Monuments and Secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters. From 1847 he was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and from 1866 a member of the Swedish...

 and Anna Mathilda Ekecrantz. He was the brother of Emil Hildebrand, and in 1867 married Elin Maria Charlotta Martin.

Hildebrand, along with his father and his colleague Oscar Montelius

Oscar Montelius

Oscar Montelius was a Swedish archaeologist who refined the concept of seriation, a relative chronological dating method...

, is considered one of the fathers of Swedish archaeology. He worked both in archaeology

Archaeology

Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...

 and numismatics

Numismatics

Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other payment media used to resolve debts and the...

, mainly of the High and Late Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

. He is internationally known as one of the pioneers of the archaeological technique of typology

Typology (archaeology)

In archaeology a typology is the result of the classification of things according to their characteristics. The products of the classification, i.e. the classes are also called types. Most archaeological typologies organize artifacts into types, but typologies of houses or roads belonging to a...

.

Between 1895 and his death, Hildebrand was Director-General of the Swedish Academy

Swedish Academy

The Swedish Academy , founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden.-History:The Swedish Academy was founded in 1786 by King Gustav III. Modelled after the Académie française, it has 18 members. The motto of the Academy is "Talent and Taste"...

. From 1879-1907 he was also Secretary to the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities

Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities

The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities also called simply the Royal Academy of Letters, abbreviated KVHAA is the Swedish royal academy for the Humanities.Its many publications include the archaeological and art historical journal Fornvännen, published since 1906.The Academy...

 and Custodian of the National Heritage, riksantikvarie. Whilst at the Academy of Letters he contributed to the foundation of the journal Fornvännen

Fornvännen

Fornvännen is a Swedish academic journal in the fields of archaeology and Medieval art. It is published quarterly by the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters in Stockholm, Sweden. The journal's contributions are written in the Scandinavian languages, English, or German with summaries in English...

. He was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences or Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. The Academy is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization which acts to promote the sciences, primarily the natural sciences and mathematics.The Academy was founded on 2...

from 1891.