International conference: The Birth of Christian Life in the Nordic Religion, 6th-7th May 2010
Recent research and archaeological excavations have improved our knowledge about the earliest Christians in the Nordic countries. At present it appears as if the differences between the earliest Christian cults in the various Nordic countries have been more different than previously thought. The organisers of this conference hope that the presented papers will up-date the participants on recent results, and reveal the character of the earliest Christian life in the Nordic countries as it appears and thus some of the differences and similarities observed. Archaeological material will be open for discussions in the light of what we could expect on the basis of written evidence, such as the laws and theology.
The conference is organised on behalf of the interdisciplinary Religion Team in the Nordic Centre for Medieval Studies. Organisers are Sæbjørg Walaker Nordeide, University of Bergen; Michael Andersen and Jette Arneborg, the National Museum, Copenhagen. Papers will be presented by invitation only.
Program with abstracts
Thursday 6 May
09.00 Words of welcome
09.15-10.00 Bertil Nilsson: Funeral liturgies and counciliar decisions on Christian burials in the early Middle Ages
Session 1: Early Christian sites
10.00-10.30 Stefan Brink: Early Church Sites and Early Christian Cult Places
10.30-11.00 Coffee
11.00-11.30 Ulrich Müller: From places to spaces and vise versa - the birth of Christian life in Schleswig-Holstein under lower Saxony
11.30-12.00 Anne Pedersen: Jelling. Recent results
12.00-13.30 Lunch
Session 2: Early Cemeteries
13.30-14.00 Jacob Kieffer Olsen: Early Christian cemeteries in Denmark
14.00-14.30 Anna Wessman: Early possible Christian graves in Finland
14.30-15.00 Tore Artelius: Cremation, inhumation and Conversion. Ritual and religious Change within the Viking Age Burial Tradition of South-Western Sweden
15.00-15.30 Coffee
15.30-16.00 Stian Hamre: Burial practices in Early Christian Norway
16.00-16.30 Sæbjørg Walaker Nordeide: Christian graves, Christian cemeteries or Christian churchyards? Searching for the earliest Christian graves in Norway
19.00 Dinner for speakers and Team members
Friday 7 May
Session 3: Earliest Christian churches and church sites
09.00-09.30 Cecilia Ljung: Christian cemeteries with Early Christian grave monuments in central Sweden.
09.30-10.00 Jette Arneborg: The early church sites in Norse Greenland
10.00-10.30 Coffee
10.30-11.00 Orri Vesteinsson: Prayer and proper burial but not much else? Christian life in 11th century Iceland.
11.00-11.30 Nanna Holm: Hedensted and early churches in Denmark
11.30-12.00 Lunch
12.00-13.30 General discussion
13.30 End of seminar
Practicalities:
There is no conference fee. Team members and speakers will be provided for, meals included. Other participants are most welcome to join the conference, but will have to organise their own practicalities.
Programme (pdf)
Collection og abstracts (pdf)