The final complete program is now online.
The Conference kicks off on Thursday 25th June 2015, and ends at lunch time Saturday 27th June 2015. We recommend planning your arrival for Wednesday 24th June.
We ask that presenters prepare to present for 15 minutes only, to leave plenty of time for questions and discussion. Please bring slides with you on a USB stick, or email these to Marius Münier, mleom@ruc.dk
The conference will include the following social events (all included in the conference fee):
Conference Dinner
Three course dinner, including wine, soda and coffee/tea, at the conference hotel.
Viking Ship Museum Trip
Although the surroundings have been inhabited since at least the Stone Age, the modern city of Roskilde was founded by the vikings over 1000 years ago and for centuries served as both the political and religious centre of Denmark. The viking King Harald Bluetooth converted the kingdom to Christianity and built the first Christian church on the site the city's cathedral in the 9th Century. The vikings made Roskilde and its fjord an important trade post and political center, from where vikings could travel safely and benefit from important trade routes both on land and at sea. The city is today home to just under 50'000 people, many of them connected to the university and to the energy research center at Risø just outside the city.
The Viking Ship Museum is a unique combination of museum and research facility into ships, seafaring and boatbuilding culture in ancient and medieval times. The Viking Ship Hall, the oldest part of the museum, was opened in 1969. It was designed as a large showcase to display the five Viking ships excavated from the fjord at Skuldelev. The hall also houses special temporary exhibitions and a cinema, where a film about the excavation of the ships is shown. An extension to the museum, Museum Island, was opened in 1997. The museum boatyard, where visitors can watch shipwrights at work, is located on the island. The Activity Centre is also found here. A large collection of traditional Nordic wooden boats is berthed at the harbour on Museum Island. Here you will also find the five reconstructions of the Skuldelev ships. Many of the vessels were built at the museum boatyard, which also maintains them.
Together with other museums, the Viking Ship Museum carries out investigations before construction projects are commenced under water and along Denmark's coasts, or when the forces of nature uncover items of historical interest on the sea floor. Archaeological finds from throughout Denmark are documented at the Archaeological Workshop on Museum Island using digital technology, and information on all Danish maritime archaeological finds are collected in the museum archives.
We will be hosted by the museum's Director for an exclusive guided tour of the Museum Island after closure (closing time is 17h00) , which will last approximately 60 minutes. After this there is time to relax or explore the harbour area or town before dinner.
Website: http://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/index.php?id=1246&L=1
Roskilde Cathedral Tour
Roskilde Cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the first gothic cathedral in Northern Europe and the final resting place of 39 Danish kings and queens. The viking King Harald Bluetooth converted his kingdom to Christianity and built the first Christian church (in wood) on the site of the city's Cathedral in the year 980. The vikings made Roskilde and its fjord an important trade post and political center, from where vikings could travel safely and benefit from important trade routes both on land and at sea.
The first Cathedral was replaced successively by two travertine structures, built in 1030 and 1080 respectively. In the mid-12th century brick-making was introduced into Denmark by craftsmen from Lombardy, and Bishop Absalom decided around 1170 to rebuild his cathedral in this new material; his work was continued after his death in 1191 by his successor, Bishop Peder Suneson. The original structure was Romanesque; however, when only the eastern half had been built the plan was changed, under the influence of Gothic buildings. The transept was located further back and the towers planned for the choir were removed to the west end. Work was virtually complete by around 1275, apart from the north tower, finished at the end of the 14th century. In the centuries that followed, chapels, porches, and other structures were built around the cathedral, first by bishops and nobles and later by the royal family, which partly hid the original structure.
We will be welcomed for an exclusive guided tour of the Cathedral interior, which will last approximately 30 minutes, after which there will be time to explore the Cathedral independently or in groups.
Video: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/695/video