Small Churches and Religious Landscapes in the North Atlantic c. 900-1300
Jette Arneborg, Orri Vésteinsson (eds)
- Pages: approx. 365 p.
- Size:216 x 280 mm
- Illustrations:63 b/w, 51 col., 10 tables b/w.
- Language(s):English
- Publication Year:2025
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- ISBN: 978-2-503-60525-8
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- ISBN: 978-2-503-60526-5
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Jette Arneborg is senior researcher at the National Museum of Denmark
Orri Vésteinsson is professor of archaeology of the University of Iceland
In recent years, archaeologists working at Norse sites across the North Atlantic have excavated a number of very small churches with cemeteries, often associated with individual farms. Such sites seem to be a characteristic feature of early ecclesiastical establishments in Norse settlements around the North Atlantic, and they stand in marked contrast to church sites elsewhere in Europe. But what was the reason behind this phenomenon?
From Greenland to Denmark, and from Ireland to the Hebrides, Iceland, and Norway, this volume presents a much-needed overview of small church studies from around the North Atlantic. The chapters gathered here discuss the different types of evidence for small churches and early ecclesiastical landscapes, review existing debates, and develop a synthesis that places the small churches in a broader context. Ultimately, despite the varied types of data at play, the contributions to this volume combine to offer a more coherent picture of the small church phenomenon, pointing to a church that was able to answer the needs of a newly converted population despite the lack of an established infrastructure, and throwing new light on how people lived and worshipped in an environment of dispersed settlements.
List of Illustrations
Introduction
Jette Arneborg and Orri Vésteinsson
Section 1. Ireland, Scotland, Isle of Man, Hebrides, Orkney, and Shetland
Ireland and the Scandinavian North Atlantic. Comparing Small Churches and Religious Landscapes
Tomás Ó Carragáin
Planning the Presence of God. Approaching Small Churches in Early Medieval Scotland
Gilbert Márkus
The Manx Keeills. Small Churches on the Isle of Man
Andrew Johnson
Small Churches in the Hebrides
Sarah Thomas
A Case Study from the Western Isles. The Lewis Coastal Chapel-sites Survey
Rachel C. Barrowman
Small Churches in Orkney
Sarah Jane Gibbon
Small Churches and Chapels in Shetland. An Archaeological Project in the Context of Norse Christianity in the Norðreyjar (Northern Isles) and Suðreyjar (Southern Isles)
Christopher D. Morris with summaries of projects by Rachel C. Barrowman and Kevin J. Brady
Section 2. Mainland Scandinavia: Denmark and Norway
Between Worship and Representation in the Viking Age. The Early Christian Buildings in Jelling and South Scandinavia
Mads Dengsø Jessen
Small Churches in Norway
Jan Brendalsmo
Section 3. North Atlantic: Faroes, Iceland, and Greenland
Christianity, Churches and Medieval Kirkjubøur. Contacts and Influences in the Faroe Islands
Símun V. Arge
Small Churches in Iceland
Orri Vésteinsson
Hofstaðir in Mývatnssveit. An Early Religious Landscape
Hildur Gestsdóttir
The Geography of a Cemetery. Internal Layout, Burial Customs and Social Hierarchy in Early Christian Cemeteries, North Iceland
Guðný Zoëga
Small Churches and Church Organization in Norse Greenland. Farms and Churches in Norse Greenland
Jette Arneborg, Jan Heinemeier, and Niels Lynnerup
Þjóðhildarkirkja Reconsidered
Orri Vésteinsson
Conclusions. The Small Church Phenomenon
Jette Arneborg and Orri Vésteinsson
Index
Index