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GALL-GHAIDHEIL: The Western Isles in the Viking World Museum nan Eilean
& Stornoway, Isle of
Lewis Conference |
The Norse occupied the Hebrides for nearly five hundred years, between the end of the eighth century and the end of the thirteenth century. This long period of coexistence left a profound impression on the culture and archaeology of the Western Isles, one that is often underestimated in the light of the succeeding centuries of Scottish affiliation.
Recent work in the islands and elsewhere has gone some way towards redressing the balance, and increasing our understanding of this neglected period of our history. This conference will bring together the latest research in linguistics, numismatics, archaeology and history to examine Norse settlement and life in the islands, and the role of the Western Isles in the wider sphere of the Viking and Norse cultural hegemony.
The conference takes place over a week based in Stornoway, with study trips and public lectures in other parts of the Isle of Lewis. Delegates will have the opportunity to attend the formal opening of an exhibition of the same title at Museum nan Eilean during the conference.
Provisional Programme
Monday 3rd April:
8pm Professor James Graham-Campbell (University College, London)
Life and Death in the Viking World: the pagan Norse graves of the Western Isles
inaugural public lecture
Tuesday 4th April
Migration and Identity: Style and Ritual
9:30 The Convenor (Comhairle nan Eilean Siar)
Introduction
9:45 Tim Neighbour (University of Edinburgh)
You are what you eat: skeletal clues to the impact of the Norse on the Western Isles
10:30 Dr Thomas Clancy (University of Glasgow)
What’s in a name? The Gall-Ghaidheil & Galloway revisited
11:15 Professor Chris Morris (University of Glasgow)
The Norse Church in the North and West of Britain: an archaeological perspective
12:00 Dr Pat Wallace (National Museum of Ireland)
title to be announced
14:15 excursion to Norse sites
site details
20:00 Reception and opening of exhibition in Museum nan Eilean
Wednesday 5th April
Migration and Identity: Style and Ritual
9:30 Dr Barbara Crawford (University of St Andrews)
The Orkney Earls and the Hebrides
10:15 Olwyn Owen (Historic Scotland)
What can artefacts tell us? A case study of whalebone plaques and Troms type brooches, from northern Norway to the Scottish islands
11:00 Michèle Smith (University of Glasgow)
Viking Age insular jewellery from Iceland and its connection to the Western Isles
11:30 Dr Richard Cox (University of Aberdeen)
Studying the Norse element within the place nomenclature of the Western Isles of Scotland
12:15 Iain Crawford
The onset and development of Norse Settlement in the Western Isles
Sites, Settlement and Subsistence
14:15 Mike Parker Pearson, & Mark Brennand (University of Sheffield)
The Norse period farmhouse at Cille Pheadair through three centuries
15:00 Dr Niall Sharples (University of Cardiff)
Excavations at Bornais, South Uist and the cultural transformations of the Late Norse period
15:45 Dr Helen Smith (University of Bournemouth)
Reconstructing House Activity Areas
16:30 Dr Jacqui Mulville (University of Oxford & English Heritage)
A walk on the wild side: Viking attitudes to farming and catching
Conference dinner
Thursday 6th April
Sites and Settlement
9:15 Guided tour of Norse and earlier sites in Uig, including the site of the discovery of the Lewis chessmen, Cnip cemetery
packed lunch
Uig Community Hall
14:30 Mary MacLeod (Comhairle nan Eilean Siar)
Primary Viking Age and Norse settlement in the parish of Uig
15:30 Trevor Cowie (National Museum of Scotland)
A Norse settlement at Barabhas Machair, Isle of Lewis
16:00 Dr Colleen Batey (City of Glasgow Museum & Art Gallery)
Norse Mills: a problem revisited
17:15 return to Stornoway
19:30 film, Stornoway Town Hall
Friday 7th April
Landholding, Trade and Travel
9:15 Dr Gareth Williams (British Museum)
Land assessment and political authority in the Western Isles in the Early Middle Ages
10:00 David McCullough (University of Glasgow)
title to be announced
10:45 Brian Smith (Shetland Archive)
title to be announced
11:15 Dr Alex Woolf (University of Edinburgh)
Life after York: Uí Ímair and the Isles in the Later
12:00 Peder Gammeltoft (University of Copenhagen)
Naming Fashions and Fashions of Naming in Place-Names of Scandinavian Origin in Scotland
Saturday 8th April
9:30 optional excursions
CONFERENCE FEE:
£100 for the whole conference (£90 if booked and paid
in full by January 30th),
£50 unwaged, including wine reception and opening of exhibition
£10 per half-day of lectures
CONFERENCE DINNER:
The Conference Dinner will take place on Wednesday 5th April, and will cost £ 17 per person. Places are limited, so please book and pay as soon as possible. Please state any dietary requirements on the application form.
OPTIONAL EXCURSIONS:
On Saturday, delegates have the option of booking places on excursions further afield in Lewis and Harris. These excursions will be paid for separately. Places are very limited, so delegates should book as soon as possible. Delegates should note that it is not possible to leave the island on a Sunday.
These excursions will involve walking, and getting in and out of boats, possibly in bad weather. If you have mobility difficulties, please contact Mary MacLeod to check whether an excursion is appropriate.
If you are interested in an excursion, please note this on the application form, and provisional bookings will be made.
Pabbay, Uig
Dun Eistean, Ness
St Clement’s Rodel, and sites in Harris