[5] Arwidsson's parents took her to public lectures as a child, including talks by Oscar Montelius and Gabriel Gustafson about the Viking Oseberg finds.

[5] Matriculating at Uppsala University,[2] she obtained a Master of Philosophy in 1930 with studies in Latin, geography and history, and designs of going on to teach.

[3] From 1942 until 1946, she was a lecturer in Scandinavian and Comparative Archaeology at Uppsala University, working at the Jämtland Museum during the summers of 1943 and 1944.

[3] Arwidsson became Sweden's first female professor of Scandinavian and Comparative Archaeology in 1956, when she took the post at Stockholm University.

[3] From 1958 until 1961 she also served as dean of the Faculty of Humanities and as a member of the college board.