FULL-Monastic Site- Iceland
Placement dates: 21st June to 20th August 2010
Duration: 9 weeks
Number of places: 6
The participants in the Leonardo da Vinci project GrEASE will participate in the ongoing archaeological project, Monastic Activities at Skriðuklaustur. The main subject of the project is an excavation on the medieval monastic ruins at Skriðuklaustur in Fljótsdalur valley, East Iceland. The project is run by Skriðuklaustursrannsóknir (SKR) for The Institute of Gunnar Gunnarsson (Gunnarsstofnun), The East Iceland Heritage Museum and The National Museum of Iceland. The Institute of Gunnar Gunnarsson (Icelandic: Gunnarsstofnun) is located at Skriðuklaustur. The Leonardo da Vinci funding available for these placements will cover travel (return travel from main UK airport), insurance, subsistence allowance (equal to three meals a day) and accommodation.
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Images from previous excavations
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aim is to investigate the Augustinian monastery that was operated on the farmstead
Skriða in
Fljótsdalur Valley, East Iceland, during the period from 1493 to the
Reformation in 1550. Despite
its short tenure, the monastery acquired a large amount of land, and its library
was comparable to
that of other Icelandic cloisters. It is known that a children's school was
operated there. The ruins of
the monastery reaches over approximately 1300 m2 large area, including a church,
cemetery,
monastic houses and a garden. The skeletal material from the cemetery indicates
strongly that the
Augustinians at the Skriðuklaustur monastery it ran a hospice for sick
and elderly people. Botanic
evidences as well as surgical equipments designate both medical as well as
surgical knowledge was
to be found in the monastery during its running.
The investigation at the monastery at Skriða is a collaborative project
of the National Museum of
Iceland in Reykjavík, University of Iceland and two institutions whose
sphere of activity involves
East Iceland heritage and cultural research. These two institutions are East
Iceland Heritage
Museum in Egilsstaðir and Institution of Gunnar Gunnarson at Skriðuklaustur.
The project manager
is archaeologist Dr. Steinunn Kristjánsdóttir, assistant professor
at the National Museum of Iceland
and University of Iceland in Reykjavik, Iceland (http://www.hi.is/is/simaskra/enska/3140).
Reports
from the excavation are available on the webpage http://www3.hi.is/~sjk/SKR.htm
(mainly in
Icelandic). Financial resources for the excavation come from the Icelandic
Government, different
European Union funds, Research Council of Iceland, University of Iceland Research
Fund, The
Archaeology Fund, and the institutions directly involved.
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Images from the 2009 Excavation
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The Excavation Work
The excavation work ranges from digging the different rooms of the monastic
complex, besides
graves from its cemetery. This includes drawing and photographing of the different
structures and
skeletons, registration, cleaning and packing of findings and human bones,
besides collecting of
samples.
The Excavation Season
The excavation season will commence from 21st June to 20th August 2010. An
usual working day is Monday to Thursday from 8-17, Fridays from 8-12. Wednesday,
17th June and Monday, 2nd August are public holidays. Participants are urged
to bring suitable clothing for cold days as well as for
warm days at the excavation. The weather can change from 5° C to 25°
C during the period. On
days with heavy rain the team will work at the conservation lab at Skriðuklaustur
with excavated
material, i.e. cleaning and packing artefacts, preparing samples and so on.
There is a shed on the
site, where the participators will get coffee or tea at 10 and 15. Common
meals for the participants
are served at Skriðuklaustur at 12 and 17:30 every working day. All equipments
needed for the
excavation are provided by the project.
Other Practical Information
The site at Skriðuklaustur is located approximately 45 km away from Egilsstadir,
the largest town
in East Iceland with approximately 2000 inhabitants. There is an international
as well as internal
airport, hospital, pubs and most common kinds of stores, tourist center, swimming
pool (out-door)
and museums. A ferry, sailing between Norway, Faroe Islands and Iceland, stops
every week at
Seydisfjordur harbor, 25 km away from Egilsstaðir. Also Hallormsstaður,
the main Forestry in
Iceland, is located approximately 15 km away from Skriðuklaustur. At Hallormsstaður
there is a
hotel, petrol station, small shop, and horse renting.
In the team working on site are 14 specialists and students. They are archaeologists,
archaeology
student from University of Iceland, conservator and osteologists, beside the
participants from
Grampus Heritage and Training Ltd. The team members are housed in a cabin
at place called Teigur
during the excavation period. It is located 7 km away from the site at Skriðuklaustur
further down
the Fljótsdalur valley. At Teigur, there are 14 single rooms, a living
room, kitchen and two
bathrooms with showers. In the rooms, there is a bed, a table and a closet.
Sleeping bags are
needed. Suitable clothes and shoes for the work at the site are recommended
and casual clothes for
evenings and weekends. Participants also need to bring towels, swimming suits
(recommended) and
books, DVDs, etc. for entertainment in the evening. Participants also need
to prepare their
breakfasts all days and meals during the weekends. An access to a washing-machine
is at
Skriðuklaustur, as is a computer with internet for the participants to
use. Participants can also bring
their own lap-tops to use in the cabins at Teigur. There is an internet connection
as well. The team
will have access to two cars for 9 pers. each to drive between the site and
Teigur, and for shopping
tours to Egilsstaðir or Hallormsstaður. The participants can also
rent the car for low price for longer
trips on the weekends (permission needed).
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NOTE: Participants on all of our placements will now require a European Health Insurance CARD (EHIC). CLICK HERE to visit the external website and apply for your EHIC online. |
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