• home
• history
• projects
• fieldschools
• meetings
• publications
• products
• postgraduates
• outreach
• links

Vatnsfjörður details on NABO PMS
Further details about the Vatnsfjörður project on the NABO project management system. These include several years worth of reports.

Field School Student Manual 2012
Information on what students can expect and what we expect from students.

Confidential Health and Safety Form
Essential details for the safe running of the fieldtrip.

Rousay Fieldschool 2011
More details on 2011's fieldschool.

Rousay Fieldschool 2010
Details on 2010's fieldschool in Orkney are available here.

Barbuda Archaeology Field School
Be a part of our field research exploring Caribbean Archaeology! Barbuda offers a pre-history that goes back more than 3700 years, challenging much of what was previously assumed to be true. In addition to it's expansive pre-history, Barbuda has many historic sites going back to the 1630s. No previous experience required - our field school program is appropriate for students at all levels. Photographs from this year's Field School are available here.

The Vatnsfjörður Excavation Project

15 July - 9 August 2013

The NABO Field School in North Atlantic Archaeology at Vatnsfjörður ran during the summer of 2013.

PDF flyer for the 2013 Field School.

The NABO field school began as a cooperative venture with the Institute of Archaeology, Iceland (FSÍ) in 1997. Originally the field school centered on the long running excavations at Hofstaðir, later expanding (along with the Mývatn projects) into a wider investigation of multiple Viking Age sites in the landscape. The Mývatn field school continued through the summer of 2004, eventually providing students from 26 nations a chance to experience the hot springs, lava fields, and rich insect life of this highland lake basin. The field school collaborated closely with the Bradford University field school at Old Scatness led by Steve Dockrill and Julie Bond, and with the NSF-Funded Research Experience for Undergraduates program led by Sophia Perdikaris (Brooklyn College CUNY).

Film: Við Djúpið/In the Depths

Við Djúpið/In the Depths by BUTET Stephane available on Vimeo. The title "Við Djúpið" refers to the name of the region ("Ísafjarðardjúp"), but also to the experience of young archaeologists, exploring the depths of time. In this documentary, there is a brief description of the programme and the training of field methods as well as post-excavation work.

In 2005, the field school shifted venue to Vatnsfjörður in the impressive West Fjords of Iceland. Since then the school has been run by Dr. Karen Milek (U Aberdeen) and Gardar Gudmundsson (FSI) with the active participation of Christian Keller (U Oslo) and a full range of NABO collaborating specialists. The Vatnsfjörður Field School in North Atlantic Archaeology is now a collaboration involving the Icelandic Ministry for Education, the Archaeological Institute Iceland (FSI), the University Centre of the West Fjords, the Medieval Westfjords Society, University of Iceland, University of Aberdeen, University of Oslo, and the Northern Science & Education Center of CUNY. The Icelandic Government is kindly subsidising the cost of food, housing, and tuition. This much improved and upgraded NABO field school is aimed at graduate students or senior undergrads with some field experience and an interest in archaeology as a profession, and is run with a high level of involvement in excavation, survey, and laboratory analysis.

The director Dr. Karen Milek is herself a graduate of the (now legendary) 1997 class of the early NABO field school. Alumni now represent a growing network of younger scholars pursuing doctoral projects in Norway, Faroes, Iceland, Greenland, Canada, US, and Europe, and many have already begun professional careers focused upon the North Atlantic.

Vatnsfjörður's details on the NABO Project Management System, including field reports.

PDF flyer for the 2013 field school.