Perhaps at the last minute, before the few thousand left disappear due to deforestation and new lifestyles far from nomadic life.
Some of the knowledge he has gained in the fieldwork, he currently uses in a research professorship at Museum Lolland-Falster.
Here, the research is based on the findings that archaeologists have made during the excavations for the 18-kilometer-long Fehmarn tunnel between Denmark and Germany.
It may be animal jaws, pottery, spears and flint axes used in religious rituals by the Stone Age people 5500 to 6500 years ago.
The long-term dream is to write the earliest chapter in Denmark’s religious history. It has not been done before.
Perhaps a parallel can even be drawn to the penans on Borneo, who may have shared living conditions with the Stone Age people.
When Mikael Rothstein is not researching Lolland, he is employed as an associate professor of religious history at the University of Southern Denmark, where in addition to indigenous peoples, he has the new religions in Europe and the United States as his field.
In addition to research, Mikael Rothstein is known as a debater. As a scientist, he sees religions as “man-made constructions”.
– I do not think there is more between heaven and earth than seagulls and airplanes.
Behind him he has a number of books, including “The Christian Body – Five Essays on Flesh, Blood, Skin and Hair” and the debate book “God is Blue” on neo-religious movements.
His main work, “The Religion of the Rainforest”, was published in 2016. 500 pages about the religion of the penans, which this year was followed up with “The Rhinoceros Bird Screams”, which is about the neighbors of the penans.
In addition, he and his brother, Klaus Rothstein, have written “The Bomb in the Turban” about the crisis over the Muhammad cartoons.
Privately, Mikael Rothstein has lived together and been married to Mie for 37 years. They have two children and two grandchildren. A third is on the way.
However, a Russian tortoise has followed Rothstein even further, since he was 14 years old. When he got it, it was five or seven years old, so he considers it peers.
It also belongs to the private that Rothstein neither smokes nor drinks. But he appreciates good food, as long as he does not have to change clothes before.
– I have never worn a tie, and I do not own a suit.
Source: The Nordic Page