Holmfridur Sveinsdottir

Doctoral Research Fellow - Department of Archaeology
Image of Holmfridur Sveinsdottir
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Visiting address St. Olavs gate 29 0166 Oslo
Postal address Postboks 6762 St. Olavs plass 0130 Oslo
Other affiliations Faculty of Humanities (Student)

PhD Project

My PhD project “The Materiality of Medieval Healing Rituals” entails a study of the KHM‘s collection of medieval artefacts connected to illness and healing in the medieval period (including relics, lead amulets and anatomical votives). The collection will be used as a case study to explore how the material culture at hand was used as a medium in healing rituals, including practices rooted in popular belief as well as miraculous healing, in order to reflect on how the medieval worldview shaped people’s relationships with their bodies as well as attitudes towards illness and impairments.

Background

MSc (distinction) in archaeology from the University of Glasgow with a specialism in Material Culture & Artefact Studies. I have worked as a find’s specialist on numerous excavation projects at the Institute of Archaeology, Iceland as well as teaching at the Archaeology Department of the University of Iceland.

Tags: Medieval Archaeology, Archaeological artefacts, archaeological theory and Methods

Selected publications

Articles

  • Hólmfríður Sveinsdóttir. (forthcoming). “Hitting the Vein: Bloodletting Fleams from Medieval Oslo.” Journal of Medieval Archaeology.

  • Hólmfríður Sveinsdóttir. 2024. “A Material Culture of Medieval Disability: Contextualising Norwegian Votive Offerings”. Norwegian Archaeological Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/00293652.2024.2332383.

  • Hólmfríður Sveinsdóttir, og Lilja Björk Pálsdóttir. 2023. “Beingripir frá Gufuskálum: Daglegt líf á 15.–17. aldar verbúð.” Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags 111, 171–183.

  • Hólmfríður Sveinsdóttir. 2019. “Ferðasaga mósaíkflísa – Porfýrsteinar á Íslandi.” Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags 108, 107–149.

Papers

  • Miðalda lækningagripir á Oslóarsafni. “Nýjar rannsóknir í fornleifafræði 2024”, Fyrirlestraröð Félags fornleifafræðinga og Háskóla Íslands, 24. janúar 2024.

  • The Mediation of Medieval Objects: Towards an Interactive Artefact Display. “Art and Lived Religion: 800–1800”, Academy of Finland’s Centre of Excellence in the History of Experiences, University of Tampere, 2nd–3rd of May 2023.

  • Experiencing Miraculous Healing in Medieval Norway. "The Role of the Senses in Medieval Liturgies and Rituals", Universitá di Padova, Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali Padua, 21-23 September 2022.

  • The Use of Lead Tablets and Anatomical Votives in Medieval Healing Practices. “Medicine and Healing”, Oxford Medieval Graduate Conference, 21–22 April 2022.

  • “From the Ground to the Glass Case: Displaying Archaeological Narratives”. Archaeological Exhibitions: Challenges of Sharing the Past to Contemporary Public – An online workshop organized within the project ”Underground Iași - Rediscovered (Hi)Stories”, implemented by ”Moldova” National Museum Complex of Iași, Romania and the Institute of Archaeology, Iceland. 26th of February 2021.
  • “Carving the Cross and Beast: The Expression of Social Identity through the Adornment of Decorative Bone Pins in Viking Age and Medieval Iceland”. Adornment as expression of everyday identity in ancient and medieval life, 12–13th of September 2019, The Norwegian Institute in Rome.

Excavation reports

  • Lilja Björk Pálsdóttir & Hildur Gestsdóttir (eds) with contributions by Birna Lárusdóttir, Hólmfríður Sveinsdóttir & Egill Erlendsson. 2021. Ólafsdalur við Gilsfjörð: Fornleifarannsóknir árið 2020. 3. áfangi. FS841-18123. Fornleifastofnun Íslands, Reykjavík.
  • Ragnheiður Gló Gylfadóttir (ed.). Authors: Ragnheiður Gló Gylfadóttir, Hólmfríður Sveinsdóttir, Orri Vésteinsson og Uggi Ævarsson. 2021. Öskuhaugarnir á „Bergsstöðum“ í Þjórsárdal. Fornleifarannsókn árið 2020. FS822-20061. Fornleifastofnun Íslands, Reykjavík.
  • Hólmfríður Sveinsdóttir og Lilja Björk Pálsdóttir. 2021. Fornleifarannsóknir í Vogavík, Vogum á Vatnsleysuströnd: Vegna fyrirhugaðra framkvæmda á lóð Stofnfisks. FS840-20451. Fornleifastofnun Íslands, Reykjavík.
  • Hólmfríður Sveinsdóttir. 2020. Framkvæmdarannsókn vegna endurbyggingar smiðju og fyrirhugaðrar byggingar tæknihúss í Ólafsdal. FS808-20341. Fornleifastofnun Íslands, Reykjavík.
Published Mar. 24, 2022 1:01 PM - Last modified Mar. 20, 2024 4:45 PM