Kristian Kristiansen is Professor of Archaeology at the University of Gothenburg. He is an honorary Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, the Society of Antiquaries of London, and the European Association of Archaeologists, which awarded him the European Archaeological Heritage Prize in 2005. He is the author of Europe before History, Social Transformations in Archaeology (with Michael Rowlands), and The Rise of Bronze Age Society (with Thomas B. Larsson), which was awarded best scholarly book in 2007 by the Society for American Archaeology.
Thomas Larsson trained as a construction engineer, but in 1974, he changed his career and started renovating wooden boats full time. Sailing and boats have always interested him. Since 1994, Larsson has written highly popular articles about wooden boat restoration for Veteran Boat. He based this book off of these articles and his extensive background in wooden boats.