The third and final Skálholt volume is out

The third and final volume of Skálholt: Excavations of a Bishop’s Residence and School c.1650–1790, Volume 3: The Ecofacts and Synthesis, has been published.

It concludes more than twenty years of research and publication that began when the Institute of Archaeology, Iceland, started excavating at Skálholt in 2002. The excavation ran for six summers and became one of the largest ever carried out in Iceland.

The first volume, The Site, came out in 2022 and covers, among other things, the more than 30 buildings investigated at the site. The second volume, The Artefacts, followed in 2024 and is devoted to the thousands of finds that came to light during the excavation.

The third and final volume widens the view further. It gives a detailed account of the plant remains, insects, and animal and fish bones from the excavation, which shed light on diet, farming, environment and daily life at Skálholt. It also draws together the results of the project as a whole and places Skálholt in a wider context, including society, economy and environment.

This is a major publication with few parallels in the history of Icelandic archaeology. Together, the three volumes form an extensive body of evidence on life, society and material culture at Skálholt, and an important foundation for further research on Icelandic society in later centuries.

Volume 3 is now on sale at a special launch price in the Institute’s online shop.