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About fifteen illustrated cloths have been preserved from medieval times in Iceland. One of them is an antependium from Svalbarð church on Svalbarðsströnd. The embroidered iconography on it is believed to depict the story of John the Apostle, who was the patron saint of the Svalbarð church. Upon closer inspection, the cloth appears to have been cut from a larger cloth, most likely a wall-hanging, in order to be used as an antependium. Moreover, the story that is embroidered on it seems to be related to secular people, because none of those appearing on it have halos around their heads, but halos are generally used in iconography to differentiate sanctified people from seculars. In this article, this discovery is discussed, and a theory that the embroidery shows the story of the most prominent woman of medieval Iceland, Ólöf the Rich, is proposed.

Palaeoecological research in Iceland has rarely considered the environmental consequences of landlord-tenant relations and has only recently begun to investigate the impact of medieval monasticism on Icelandic environment and society. Through the medium of two tenant farm sites, this investigation seeks to discern whether or not monastic landlords were influencing resource exploitation and the land management practices of their tenants. In particular, sedimentary and phyto-social contexts were examined and set within a chronological and palaeoecological framework from the late 9th century down to the 16th century. How this relates to medieval European monasticism is also considered while the prevailing influences of climate and volcanism are acknowledged. Palaeoecological data shed light upon the process of occupation at the two farms during the settlement period, with resources and land use trajectories already well-established by the time they were acquired by monastic institutions. This suggests that the tenant farms investigated were largely unaffected ecologically by absorption into a manorial system overseen by monasticism. This could be a consequence of prevailing environmental contexts that inhibited the development of alternative agricultural strategies, or simply that a different emphasis with regard to resource exploitation was paramount.

The male body often forms an important part of masculine identity. This certainly applies to medieval clerics of higher orders, who were required to have a complete and unblemished body. Still, dis...

This communication presents the results of a comparative study using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for the identification of degraded, unidentified organic fibres adhered to an iron object that was found at a rescue excavation site in East-Iceland, where artefacts and human remains from ca. 950 CE were discovered. A reference set of SEM microscopic images of hair samples from nine modern-day mammal species living in the region was generated. By visual comparison of surface microstructure with SEM images of the reference species, the archaeological hair fibres were identified as sheep wool. Our SEM results further indicated that the archaeological wool fibres belonged to the Icelandic breed of sheep. The SEM images of common Icelandic mammals presented in this research are seen as an addition to the pre-existing collection of images useful for species identification of archaeological or otherwise degraded hair or fur samples.

Stofnár þeirra fjórtán klaustra sem starfrækt voru í lengri eða skemmri tíma á Íslandi á miðöldum eru í flestum tilfellum þekkt en tímasetning og ástæður lokunar þeirra síður. Flestum, alls níu, var lokað í kjölfar siðaskiptanna um miðja sextándu öld en það gerðist ekki í einni svipan, heldur smám saman á tímabilinu frá 1539–1554. Nokkrum klaustranna hafði verið lokað löngu fyrr af ýmsum ástæðum en einkum þó vegna þeirra pólitísku deilna sem urðu um skiptingu veraldlegs og kirkjulegs valds í landinu á þrettándu öld. Hér er reynt að ná fram heildarmynd af lokun íslensku miðaldaklaustranna, um leið og skoðað verður með hvaða hætti lokunin átti sér stað í hverju tilviki fyrir sig, hvenær og hvers vegna. Stuðst verður við ritaðar heimildir sem veita vísbendingar um afdrif klaustranna en einnig er tekið mið af niðurstöðum úr fornleifauppgrefti á rústum Skriðuklausturs. Engu klaustri var lokað vegna áfalla eða hamfara. Vöxtur og viðgangur þeirra virðist í öllum tilvikum hafa verið undir kirkjulegum yfirvöldum kominn hverju sinni, enda þótt lokanirnar hafi borið að með ólíkum hætti, eins og hér er rakið.

Background Little is known about the nature and durability of the humoral immune response to infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Methods We measured antibodies in serum samples from 30,576 persons in Iceland, using six assays (including two pan-immunoglobulin [pan-Ig] assays), and we determined that the appropriate measure of seropositivity was a positive result with both pan-Ig assays. We tested 2102 samples collected from 1237 persons up to 4 months after diagnosis by a quantitative polymerase-chain-reaction (qPCR) assay. We measured antibodies in 4222 quarantined persons who had been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 and in 23,452 persons not known to have been exposed. Results Of the 1797 persons who had recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection, 1107 of the 1215 who were tested (91.1%) were seropositive; antiviral antibody titers assayed by two pan-Ig assays increased during 2 months after diagnosis by qPCR and remained on a plateau for the remainder of the study. Of quarantined persons, 2.3% were seropositive; of those with unknown exposure, 0.3% were positive. We estimate that 0.9% of Icelanders were infected with SARS-CoV-2 and that the infection was fatal in 0.3%. We also estimate that 56% of all SARS-CoV-2 infections in Iceland had been diagnosed with qPCR, 14% had occurred in quarantined persons who had not been tested with qPCR (or who had not received a positive result, if tested), and 30% had occurred in persons outside quarantine and not tested with qPCR. Conclusions Our results indicate that antiviral antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 did not decline within 4 months after diagnosis. We estimate that the risk of death from infection was 0.3% and that 44% of persons infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Iceland were not diagnosed by qPCR.

Volcanic emissions are known to be a serious source of pollution to humans and animals. This study aimed to examine the possible health burden of fluoride (F) exposure from volcanic eruptions in the past. Osteological analyses were performed on 186 skeletons from seven sites across Iceland with the aim of identifying skeletal changes potentially associated with osteofluorosis. Additionally, ion selective electrode (ISE) was used to investigate possible correlations between skeletal lesions and bone fluoride concentrations in a subset of skeletons (n = 50) from two of these sites, Skriðuklaustur in Fljotsdalur and Skeljastaðir in Þjorsardalur. The results showed that pathological markers or skeletal changes increased according to age across all investigated time periods and geographical regions but likely not due to significant fluoride exposure. The fluoride concentration range was 223–4370 ppm (mean = 2324 ± 1067 ppm) at Skriðuklaustur (n = 36) while at Skeljastaðir (n = 14), the range was 223–3030 ppm (mean = 1366 ± 937 ppm). The pathological changes noted in this study are thus more likely to relate to the environment, population dynamics, culturally mediated behaviours and increasing urbanisation than serious fluoride contamination. Therefore, volcanic emissions appear to have only substantially affected those living within the closest vicinity of actual eruption events. It may be vital to not only consider the severity of the immediate effects of volcanic pollution but also to reinforce socioeconomic circumstances and disaster preparation in regions with environmental hazards.

This study aimed to evaluate the possible use of mercury as a medical treatment at the medieval monastic hospital Skriðuklaustur (ad 1494–1554) in eastern Iceland. The individuals excavated from Skriðuklaustur exhibited a wide range of pathological conditions, including the only skeletal evidence of venereal syphilis in Iceland. Skeletal remains from the Skeljastaðir cemetery (ca. ad 1000–1104) in southern Iceland were also analysed in light of the site's proximity to the mercury emitting volcano Hekla. The eruption produced a severe toxic fallout resulting in the mass mortality of livestock and is believed to have caused the abandonment of Skeljastaðir and the other farms in the region. The skeletal analyses and sampling were conducted according to standard anthropological methods. Mercury concentrations were determined in human (n = 50), faunal (n = 23), and soil (n = 22) samples using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Individuals from both sites exhibited elevated mercury concentrations. At Skriðuklaustur, some individuals showed normal concentrations, but those with pathological conditions (e.g., hydatidosis, syphilis, tuberculosis, and other non‐specific infections) had the highest concentrations overall. On the other hand, all the individuals analysed from Skeljastaðir exhibited elevated mercury concentrations, some of which were remarkably high. A few of the individuals buried at Skeljastaðir post‐date the eruption, possibly indicating that some of them experienced heavy exposure to volcanic emissions. The less extreme concentrations at Skriðuklaustur may be a result of attention to dosage and the temporary nature of mercurial treatments. None of the faunal and soil samples presented with concentrations exceeding the normal limit, implying that diagenesis was not a concern in this research. The conclusion is that a variety of factors from medical treatment to scholarly work lead to mercury exposure at Skriðuklaustur, whereas at Skeljastaðir, volcanogenic emissions are implicated.

Until recently, Icelandic monasticism has been considered remote from European monasticism and that it had little impact upon medieval Icelandic society. Focussing upon a monastic site in northern ...

Objectives A multi‐isotope study was conducted on individuals buried at Skriðuklaustur monastery (AD 1493–1554) to investigate their geographic origins and dietary composition. Comparative material from individuals excavated from Skeljastaðir, an inland farm site was also analyzed. Materials and methods Bone collagen was extracted from 50 humans (Skriðuklaustur and Skeljastaðir) and 25 animals (Skriðuklaustur) and analyzed for δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S. Dental enamel samples from 31 individuals (Skriðuklaustur) were also analyzed for 87Sr/86Sr, δ18O, δ13C, and trace elements (Pb, Sr, Zn, Ba). Results The mean value determined from individuals from Skriðuklaustur (n = 36) was δ13C = −18.7 ± 0.8‰, δ15N = 12.8 ± 1.1‰, and δ34S = 9.0 ± 1.6‰, whereas at Skeljastaðir (n = 14), it was δ13C = −20.5 ± 0.8‰, δ15N = 7.8 ± 0.9‰, and δ34S = 9.4 ± 1.6‰. At Skriðuklaustur, human dental enamel samples (n = 31) provided a 87Sr/86Sr range of 0.7060–0.7088, δ18Ophosphate from 13.9 to 16.1‰ and δ13Ccarbonate from −16.6 to −12.9‰. Inferred drinking water (δ18Odw) values range from −12.3 to −8.9‰. Sr concentrations range from 25.8 to 156.7 ppm, Ba from 0.11 to 0.81 ppm, Zn from 43.8 to 145.8 ppm, and Pb from 0.13 to 9.40 ppm. Discussion A combination of results indicates that the people from Skriðuklaustur were born in Iceland, but some lived inland during childhood while others lived closer to the coast. Since Skriðuklaustur was a hospital, these individuals may have sought medical treatment at the monastery. The δ13C and δ15N values determined from bone collagen indicate that the people residing at Skriðuklaustur consumed a diet high in marine protein, while those residing at Skeljastaðir exhibit values more consistent with terrestrial resources., This research was financed by Fornminjasjóður (the Archaeology Fund), Háskólasjóður Eimskipafélags Íslands (the Eimskip University Fund), and the Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry Laboratory (SIBL).

Founder effects in modern populations The genomes of ancient humans can reveal patterns of early human migration (see the Perspective by Achilli et al. ). Iceland has a genetically distinct population, despite relatively recent settlement (∼1100 years ago). Ebenesersdóttir et al. examined the genomes of ancient Icelandic people, dating to near the colonization of Iceland, and compared them with modernday Icelandic populations. The ancient DNA revealed that the founders had Gaelic and Norse origins. Genetic drift since the initial settlement has left modern Icelanders with allele frequencies that are distinctive, although still skewed toward those of their Norse founders. Scheib et al. sequenced ancient genomes from the Channel Islands of California, USA, and Ontario, Canada. The ancient Ontario population was similar to other ancient North Americans, as well as to modern Algonquian-speaking Native Americans. In contrast, the California individuals were more like groups that now live in Mexico and South America. It appears that a genetic split and population isolation likely occurred during the Ice Age, but the peoples remixed at a later date. Science , this issue p. 1028 , p. 1024 ; see also p. 964

The diverse appearances of church buildings, iconography and altered burial practices have commonly been used to exemplify the expansion of Christianity in early medieval Europe. Less emphasis has been placed on how the common European dealt with the Christian transformation in daily life, perhaps because of the tendency in research to distinguish ritual actions from secular. To become Christian did not necessarily entail greater religiousness or deeper religious devotion but centred rather on how people synchronized their everyday lives, both religious and secular, in accordance with Christian doctrine and the laws imposed by the Roman Church. However, social transformations do not emerge exclusively from political or administrative institutions, such as the Church or other ruling authority; they also emerge interactively, through the general public, who are equally capable of exercising power by taking part in societal discourse. With reference to examples from early medieval Iceland, this article argue...

The prevailing view has long been that the monastic houses operating in medieval Iceland functioned somewhat differently than their counterparts elsewhere in Europe. The results of an archaeological investigation of the ruins of the Augustinian monastery of Skriđuklaustur in East Iceland (1493–1554) show how the objectives of monasticism appeared in the buildings and artefacts uncovered. The investigation reveals how social systems can cross borders without necessitating fundamental change apart from that triggered by the constant process of hybridization. No less importantly, the results from the Skriđuklaustur monastic site demonstrate that cloistral institutions, wherever they operated, should by no means be observed as a passive element of monasticism. Rather, they should be approached as interactive participants in developments across regions and time.

In the multidisciplinary project presented here, 12 known monastic grounds in Iceland were surveyed by a group of medievalists from different fields in the summers of 2009, 2010 and 2011. The aim of the survey was to increase knowledge of the Icelandic monastic garden and of the plants that were known and used there; to look for possible medieval cultural relict plants; to observe continental influence on the island; and to vitalize discussion and research. Landscape and plants were surveyed at the 12 monastic sites, and full botanical investigations made. Many of the plants found have a medieval past as medicinal and utility plants, and some of their properties may have been common knowledge to medieval Icelanders. An investigation of written sources and archaeological and archaeobotanical findings from excavated sites added to the investigators’ knowledge. So were there monastic gardens in Iceland in the Middle Ages? The answer is a rather confident yes. With all the evidence combined, the investigators...

While syphilis spread rapidly in Europe during the late 15th and early 16th centuries, scholars have doubted that the disease reached Iceland at that time. Still, discoveries of nine cases of venereal and congenital syphilis during a recent excavation on a monastic site, Skriðuklaustur (1496–1554) in East Iceland, indicate that the disease became an epidemic there, as it did worldwide. These findings may also be regarded as an important source of information on the contacts and communications of a country, which is commonly regarded as having been socially isolated from the outer world, with its neighbouring countries during the medieval times.

Material objects from distant societies and cultures have long been an axis for archaeological research. In recent research, however, growing attention has been drawn to exploring simultaneously the conceptual meaning of material substances as the products of humans. The visual appearance of material is in this respect no more than the tip of an iceberg, where only a small part of something largely hidden is evident. In this article, Skriðuklaustur, an Augustinian monastery which operated in Eastern Iceland from ad 1493 to 1554 will thus be approached as embracing the remains of an internationally based society that flourished on the outskirts of the medieval monastic world. An excavation of its ruins has revealed residues of a society whose material is both domestic and international but still reflects the universally based meaning of monasticism. The Catholic Church is in this manner regarded as having fabricated phenomena through its pervasive institutions, upholding a distinct monastic identity. This ...

Eight individuals with calcified cysts preserved in the thorax and abdomen, one of which had a maximum diameter of 17–20 cm, were recovered during recent excavations at Skriðuklaustur, a medieval monastic site which also functioned as a hospital during its operation from AD 1493–1554 in Eastern Iceland. Hydatid cysts are the result of parasitic infection by Echinococci commonly in the liver and lungs of the accidental human host. Echinococcus granulosus was likely introduced to Iceland soon after the settlement period (9th century AD) and became endemic around AD1200 when dogs were introduced from Germany. It has since been eradicated in Iceland due to an extensive educational literature programme and government controls implemented since the mid-1800s. Reviews of the palaeopathological literature mentioning calcified shell fragments indicated hydatism to be the most logical aetiology. The eight individuals in question were buried in close proximity to one another. This may indicate that this particular ailment (sullaveiki) had its own classification during the medieval period in Iceland and perhaps even a distinct treatment if not in life, at least in death. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This paper aims to view the implications of an identification of wood species found during an archaeological excavation on a medieval church building and a surrounding graveyard at Thorarinsstadir in Seydisfjordur, east Iceland. The excavation in Seydisfjordur is a part of a project entitled ‘The transition from paganism to Christianity in Iceland’ sponsored by The East Iceland Heritage Museum, the Research Council of Iceland and The European Commission. It started in 1997 and from 1998 it has been a part of the PARABOW project, in the frame of the Raphael project. The project involves archaeological researches on pagan and Christian remains from the early medieval times in Iceland. The aim is to examine the origin and development of the Christian religion in Iceland. Furthermore, it is the intention to investigate how Christianity evolved alongside paganism assuming the conversion to Christianity was a long process, climaxing in the year 1000 when Christianity was adopted as a national religion. The wood identification uncovered evidence concerning church architecture, limiting actors for building traditions, Icelandersˈ ritual practices as well as their contacts with the foreign countries during the Viking Age and early medieval times. It did show that the native species were mainly used as fuel but drift timber was probably mainly used for construction purposes and for making coffins. According to the results from the wood identification, for instance, the excavation at Thorarinsstadir in Seydisfjordur revealed a wooden church made of drift timber.

This compilation thesis is situated at the intersection of the scholarly fields of medieval masculinities and the bioarchaeology of identities. The aim is to explore bodily aspects of medieval masculinities through the analysis of human skeletal remains from two medieval monastic sites, the Augustinian monastery Skriðuklaustur in Iceland (1493-1554), and the Dominican priory in Västerås, Sweden (1244-1528). A total of 461 individuals were analysed, using standard osteological methods (Buikstra and Ubelaker, 1994). Theories of masculinities have been developed with reference to modern gender relations, but scholars have found them relevant to medieval contexts (e.g. Beattie and Fenton, 2011; Hadley, 1999; Hodgson et al., 2019; Karras, 2003; Kiefer, 2009; Lees et al., 1994; Murray, 1999; Thibodeaux, 2010). They have to be applied with caution, however, as medieval society and gender relations differ in many ways from their contemporary equivalents (Fletcher, 2011; Karras, 2003:9-10). Connell’s (2005) definition of masculinity as a configuration of gender practices has been used in the thesis. Defining masculinity as a form of practice enables a bioarchaeological approach. The skeleton is plastic, and so enactments of masculinity can leave identifiable marks (Sofaer, 2006), such as specific patterns of entheseal changes, joint disease or trauma. The four case studies in the thesis address the topics of diet, physical violence, performance in battle, and ability and appearance. The results indicate similarities and mutual influence between different masculinities, but also differences that could be detected through osteological analysis. The carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of a sample of sixteen males and six females buried in Västerås revealed no significant differences in diet between the sexes, between adults and children (represented by dentin samples from the second molar), or between males of higher and lower status. The results suggest that fresh water fish were an important part of the diet, and that both clerics and laity took part in religious fasting (Paper I). There was a significant difference in patterns of weapon-related trauma, however. Lay males were more exposed to trauma than clergy and females. This particularly applied to males of high social standing, and those with battle experience (Paper II). There were also individual differences in gender performance, and some individuals may have transgressed the norms of ideal behaviour, such as ignoring rules of fasting or attacking defenceless victims. At the same time as the body is shaped by enactments of gender, the way gender can be enacted is conditioned by the skills and abilities of the body. Changes in the body can result in changed gender practices, and a loss of ability could lead to a crisis of masculinity (Shilling, 2004). This is exemplified in Paper III, on warrior masculinity, by weapon-related trauma and the risk of losing the ability to perform in battle, and in Paper IV, on clerical masculinity, through antemortem tooth loss and the risk of becoming irregular due to altered appearance and speech impairments., 2013 University of Iceland Research Fund (research grant) 2013 Berit Wallenberg Foundation (grant for scientific analysis) 2013 Västerås stad (grant for scientific analysis) 2014 University of Iceland, Travel Grants of the Research Fund (travel grant) 2015 Berit Wallenberg Foundation (grant for scientific analysis) 2016 Västerås stad (grant for scientific analysis) 2018 Berit Wallenberg Foundation (grant for scientific analysis) 2018 Västerås stad (grant for scientific analysis) 2019 Helge Ax:son Johnson foundation (research grant) 2019 Letterstedtska (travel grant) 2019 Icelandic Research Fund, through the Disability before Disability project (travel grant) 2021 University of Iceland School of Humanities Education Fund (research grant)