The Vatnsfjörður Excavation Project

July 26-August 20, 2010

Application deadline: April 30, 2010

Applications should include: 1) an outline of your academic interests, future plans, and why you want to take the course; 2) details of your education, completed courses, and grades; 3) one letter of reference.

North American students wishing to apply should send a CV to Prof. Tom McGovern

Icelandic students should send this information in the form of a CV and cover letter submitted by email to Dr Orri Vésteinsson at the University of Iceland.

European students should send this information to Dr Karen Milek at the University of Aberdeen by downloading and printing the online application form

Further details are available from the fieldschool flyer

The farm of Vatnsfjörður is located in northwest Iceland, on the fjord of Ísafjarðardjúp. It has played an important role in the settlement and economic history of the Westfjord region since the Viking Period: it was one of the main seats of power in the area, and eventually, in the later Middle Ages, it became one of the richest farms in Iceland. Excavations by FSÍ began on the Viking Age part of the site in 2003, and have so far uncovered the remains of a large house, a smithy and an associated small storage building, a larger workshop/storage building, outdoor hearths, an outdoor cooking pit, and middens. In 2007, the excavation of a small building that may have been used for drying meat and fish was completed, and a new outbuilding with a substantial stone pavement was exposed. In addition, a large excavation area was opened up on the farm mound at Vatnsfjörður, revealing the remains of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century houses. Dovetailing with the excavation at Vatnsfjörður, a programme of landscape survey is taking place in Vatnsfjarðardalur, which is placing the farm in its wider landscape context. The field school is housed at Ferðaþjónustan Reykjanesi (Hotel Reykjanes), where there are also classroom and laboratory facilities.

Field School Staff

All of the instructors on the course had many years of teaching, excavation, and post-excavation experience in Iceland, Europe, and North America. Most taught at the field school before, but 2007 saw the addition of one geophysicist (Dr. Damiata) and three palaeoecologists from the United Kingdom (Drs Caseldine, Langdon, and Lloyd), who contributed lectures and practicals in the analysis of lake core sediments, chironomids, and foraminifera.

Core Teaching Staff:

  • Garðar Guðmundsson (Fornleifastofnun Íslands): project manager, archaeobotanist
  • Dr. Karen Milek (Fornleifastofnun Íslands/University of Cambridge): field school director, field director of the Viking Age part of the site, geoarchaeologist
  • Guðrún Alda GÍsladóttir (Fornleifastofnun Íslands): co-field director on the farm mound, artefact specialist
  • Uggi ævarsson (Fornleifastofnun Íslands): co-field director on the farm mound
  • Mjöll Snæsdóttir (Fornleifastofnun Íslands): field assistant
  • Konrad Smiarowski (Fornleifastofnun Íslands/City University of New York): field assistant, zooarchaeologist
  • Ramona Harrison (Fornleifastofnun Íslands/City University of New York): field assistant, post-excavation assistant, zooarchaeologist
  • Astrid Daxböck (Fornleifastofnun Íslands/University of Vienna): field assistant, post-excavation assistant
  • Elizabeth Pierce (Fornleifastofnun Íslands/University of Glasgow): field assistant
  • Dawn Mooney (University of Cambridge): field assistant, flotation manager, archaeobotanist
  • Prof. Christian Keller (University of Oslo): survey instructor, landscape archaeologist
  • Oscar Aldred (Fornleifastofnun Íslands): survey instructor, landscape archaeologist
  • Poul Heide (University of York): survey instructor, landscape archaeologist

Visiting Instructors:

  • Adolf Friðriksson (Fornleifastofnun Íslands): Viking Age burials
  • Dr. Colleen Batey (University of Glasgow): Viking Age artefacts
  • Graham Langford (National Museum of Iceland): artefact conservation
  • Prof. Ian Simpson (University of Stirling): homefields, soil description, landscape impacts
  • Prof. Torfi Tulinius (University of Iceland): history and culture of the Westfjords
  • Dr. Orri Vésteinsson (University of Iceland): settlement of Iceland, church archaeology
  • Dr. Christopher Caseldine (University of Exeter): climate and vegetation change, palynology
  • Dr. Peter Langdon (University of Southampton): climate change, chironomids
  • Dr. Jeremy Lloyd (University of Durham): sea-level change, coastal reconstruction
  • Dr. Brian Damiata (University of California, Los Angeles): remote sensing using geophysics

For current information on the latest season, contact Karen Milek