An Icelandic medieval stave church made of drift timber: the implications of the wood identification

Abstract

This paper aims to view the implications of an identification of wood species found during an archaeological excavation on a medieval church building and a surrounding graveyard at Thorarinsstadir in Seydisfjordur, east Iceland. The excavation in Seydisfjördur is a part of a project entitled ‘The transition from paganism to Christianity in Iceland’ sponsored by The East Iceland Heritage Museum, the Research Council of Iceland and The European Commission. It started in 1997 and from 1998 it has been a part of the PARABOW project, in the frame of the Raphael project. The project involves archaeological researches on pagan and Christian remains from the early medieval times in Iceland. The aim is to examine the origin and development of the Christian religion in Iceland. Furthermore, it is the intention to investigate how Christianity evolved alongside paganism assuming the conversion to Christianity was a long process, climaxing in the year 1000 when Christianity was adopted as a national religion. The wood identification uncovered evidence concerning church architecture, limiting actors for building traditions, Icelandersˈ ritual practices as well as their contacts with the foreign countries during the Viking Age and early medieval times. It did show that the native species were mainly used as fuel but drift timber was probably mainly used for construction purposes and for making coffins. According to the results from the wood identification, for instance, the excavation at Thorarinsstadir in Seydisfjördur revealed a wooden church made of drift timber.