”Small churches” in Norse Greenland – what became of them?
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 2017-02-07

Greenland was settled in the later part of the 10th century when Christianity had been introduced in northern Europe. Christianity was a part of the settlers’ kit, and churches and churchyards were built on the farms from the very beginning of settlement. The churches were built close to the farmhouses, and they were characterised by their “secular” architecture, small size, and a surrounding circular, or sub-circular, enclosure. During the 13th century the early churchyards were taken out of use, as were apparently the church buildings, and a number of farms lost their status as church farms. In the same period new and larger churches were built either on earlier church farms or on newly established ones, now adapting “traditional” church building architecture known in Scandinavia. Based on archaeological excavations of “small churches” 2001 – 2010 I will explore the changes in Norse Greenlandic church building in the context of ecclesiastical and community organisation.

Author - Dr. Arneborg, Jette, Danish National Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark (Presenting author)