Aardvarchaeology

Monastic archaeology is enjoying a boom right now in Sweden. Elisabet Regner has written up and analysed Frödin's many years of fieldwork at Alvastra (founded in 1143), Lars ErsgÃ¥rd & Marie Holmström have published the results of their 90s project around that same monastery, Marie Ohlsén is doing fieldwork at Krokek (founded in the 1430s), Gunhild Eriksdotter has reevaluated Dalby (founded before 1066), Maria Vretemark & Tony Axelsson are finding amazing things at Varnhem (founded c. 1150) and Göran Tagesson is digging at Vretakloster (founded c. 1110 and mentioned here before). Have I forgotten anyone?

Now Göran Tagesson, Elisabeth Regner and their local associates are hosting a conference on monastic archaeology at Vretakloster, not far from where me and the guys did some metal detecting recently. The conference will take place 4-5 September. You can download the schedule and paper abstracts here, featuring:

• Lars Hermanson on "Vreta nunnery and sacral power"
  
• Christian Lovén on "Vreta and its founders"
  
• Alf Ericson on "Vreta nunnery's oldest land ownership"
  
• Patrick B. McGuire on "The nuns of Vreta in a European perspective"
  
• Catharina Andersson on "Convent and aristocracy. Vreta from the perspective of gender and donations"
  
• Gunilla Gardelin on "Vreta and stonemason organisation in Medieval Östergötland"
  
• Elisabet Regner on "Vreta -- just another Swedish nunnery?"
  
• Johanna Bergqvist on "Archaeological evidence for the practice of medicine at Vreta"
  
• Karin Lindeblad on "Medieval garden archaeology"
  
• Frédéric Elfver on "Coins from Vreta nunnery"
  
• Martin Berntsson on "Vreta and the Reformation"

Anybody with an interest in the subject is welcome to sign up to participate.

[More blog entries about archaeology, history, Sweden, middleages, medieval, monasteries; arkeologi, historia, Sverige, medeltiden, kloster.]