Ailsa Mainman

English by birth, Ailsa grew up in Canada before returning to England to study archaeology. Most of her career has been spent researching and publishing aspects of the world-famous Viking discoveries made in York, although she has worked on excavations in many different countries and time periods.

Ailsa has worked for Lindblad intermittently for many years and loves the ethos and the culture on board the ships. In recent years she has become a freelance researcher, continuing to lecture and write about archaeology while also writing fiction. Ailsa is a Research Associate at the University of York and at York Archaeological Trust and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

Archaeology gives a great excuse to travel which is what she loves to do and, although she is based in the UK, she divides her time between home and family living in Canada and New Zealand.