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The objective of the visit was to gain hands-on experience of ancient Icelandic building methods by working on the reconstruction of a Viking Age turf- and wood church at "Geirsstaðir" in East of Iceland.
Eight men arrived in Reykjavik on Friday the 13th. They were Sten and Anders from Denmark, Holger and Peter from Germany, Errki from Finland, Graham and Paul from Scotland and Juray from Slovakia. Johanna and Steinunn of the East Iceland Heritage Museum greeted them and the day after they all set out for a two day drive to the East where the PARABOW project in Iceland is situated.
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The course for taken north through the countryside of the West. Among the stops on the way was a visit to an excavation site in "Reykholt" where the renowned Icelandic scolar, priest and author "Snorri Sturluson" lived until decapitated by power rivals in the year 1241. At the site were explanations describing the layout of the farmstead and construction materials and -methods. In the late afternoon the group arrived in "Haukadalur", in the North-West region, where archaeologists working on the site of a small Viking Age longhouse were expecting us. The experts described in detail the findings and deductions about the house and the lifestile of the people who lived there 1000 years ago. Vear the site a reconstruction of the longhouse is well under way. Guðjón and his team had built high turf walls and later they will be clad on the inside with timber. The roof construction was discussed in detail and many pictures taken.
The next day we had a long drive before us through the north of Iceland. We had lunch in the beautiful town of Akureyri where many buldings from the turn of the century form a picturesque city center. Near the end of the drive we visited a reconstructed heath cottage, where the visitors are led throught the structure, using all senses, even the taste buds, as the hostess distributed some shark and berry schnaps to go with it. Finally we arrived at the farm in "Hróarstunga" where the turf church is to rise.
The next day the team divided between collecting the turf from the field and digging for the foundation of the building. The weather was wet and windy and after lunch it was decided to go inside where the wood was waiting to be formed fittingly with Viking Age tools. The whole team had a chance to examine the actual archaeological site of the ancient church on this day.
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For the remainder of the week four men attended the turfbuilding in situ while the others remained in the work shop and scraped and cut the wood according to plans. On Tuesday evening Andy joined in from Ireland. In the evenings they visited the site of an archaeological dig of a wooden church and graveyard from 900-1200 AD, saw the workshop of a local woodcutter, visited the East Iceland Heritage Museum, took an excursion to a small fishing village and went horsebackriding.
On Saturday the men rose early and started the drive back to Reykjavik, this time along the south coast. On the way they had a chance to visit a small turf and wood chapel and some old outhouses where the roof was built much in the same way as in Viking times. They also visited a traditional Icelandic farmhouse with wood panelling and turf and rock walls.
The day before departure in Reykjavik the team met with an Icelandic ship builder, one who built the "Icelander", a Viking Age ship for oars and a sail. They went for a short ride on the bay on the shores of which Reykjavik stands and thereby rounded up their experience of Iceland through the ages, the people, the saga, the tradition, -the use of wood and how it had to be supported by other local materials.
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Contribution from Johanna Bergman
Minjasafn Austurlands