Conferences and Seminars
Conference & Workshop Papers
2019 – ‘Tales of the Unexpected. Creativity in Archaeological Interpretation’, Keynote paper at the European Archaeological Association Annual Conference, Bern Switzerland, 7th September 2019.
2019 – ‘Global deeds and local needs. Markets and material culture in the North Atlantic’. Keynote paper in the MERC session at the European Archaeological Association Annual Conference, Bern Switzerland, 5th September 2019
2019 – Paper given at the Things adrift – Material Archives / Hlutir á reki – söfn efnismenningar seminar, University of Iceland: ‘Words and Things’, March 22, 2019.
2019 – University of Iceland History Department, Friday seminar series: ‘Writing the Past’, April 15, 2019.
2019 – Dalrymple Lecture Series: ‘Time’. University of Glasgow, February 18-21, 2019.
2018 – ‘Salient Objects. Or, do some things matter more than others?’ Paper presented at the Garrod seminar series, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, October 18th, 2018.
2018 – ‘Solido intra solidum. The tension between solidity and fluidity in the archaeologixal record’. Paper presented at the workshop Solid Fluids: New Approaches to Materials and Meanings. University of Aberdeen, Scotland, 27-29th August.
2018 – Absent Present. Paper given at the Temporal Frontiers and the Excessivity of Time in Africa: Workshop at the British Institute in Eastern Africa, Nairobi, Kenya, 28th June-1st July.
2018 – ‘Litlibær. A fisherman´s cottage from the early 20th century in Seltjarnarnes’. Paper presented in honour of Guðmundur Ólafsson´s 70th birthday, Afmælismálþing til heiðurs Guðmundi Ólafssyni Fornleifafræðingi, 7th April 2018, Reykjavík, Iceland.
2018 – ‘Sandártunga revisited’. Paper presented at the joint Archaeology departmental and society seminar series, 7th March 2018, Reykjavík, Iceland.
2018 – ‘Persistent Presences. Conceptualizing the long-term in Archaeology’. Paper presented at the Gold Medal Symposium in honour of Ian Hodder, at the 119th annual Archaeological Institute of America conference, Boston, USA, January 4th-7th.
2017 – The Future of the Past. Antiquity Keynote Lecture at the TAG (Theoretical Archaeology Group) Conference, 18th December, Cardiff, Wales.
2017 – Discussant for Time and Temporality: Twenty Years on From Time, Material Culture and Being – Ways of Thinking About Narrative session at the TAG (Theoretical Archaeology Group) Conference, 20th December, Cardiff, Wales.
2017 – A Potted History of Iceland. Paper presented in honour of Guðrún Sveinbjarnadóttir’s 70th Birthday, Afmælismálþing til heiðurs Guðrúnu Sveinbjarnardóttur fornleifafræðingi, 25th November, Reykjavík, Iceland.
2017 - Systems of Provisioning in Iceland during the Danish Trade Monopoly period. The Case of Skálholt. Paper presented at the interdisciplinary research seminar, Colonialism and Commerce in the North Atlantic (c. 1500 to 1800), 17-19th October, Bifröst, Iceland.
2016 - Organization and presentation of material at the 2nd Skálholt workshop, 12th November, 2016, Reykjavik.
2014 – Identity and Mobility in the North Atlantic 1600-1900. Paper given at the workshop Entangled Colonialism: Scandinavian Trade in the Atlantic and Asia. November 13th-14th, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
2014 – The Fragment and the Relic. Paper given at the roundtbable The contrived Past: Contemporary remains as a challenge to Archaeology, Metz, France, October 29th-31st 2014.
2014 – Theory Building, Theory Borrowing. Keynote speech at the XIVth Nordic TAG (Theoretical Archaeology Group) Conference, April 22nd-25th, 2014.
2014 – State Formation in Iceland in the 17th and 18th century. Paper given at the annual Society of Historical Archaeology Conference, Quebec, Canada January 8th-12th, 2014.
2014 – Organization and presentation of material at the 1st Skálholt workshop, 29th September, 2014, Reykjavik.
2013 – The problem of contemporaneity in archaeology. Paper given at a Mellon colloquium on Archaeology, Heritage and the Mediation of Time, at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York, April 12-13th 2013.
2013 – Iceland and the Colonial project. Paper given at the joint SHA/SPMA conference in Leicester, January 9-12th 2013.
2013 – Conduits of Dispersal. Paper given at the joint SHA/SPMA conference in Leicester, January 9-12th 2013.
2012 – The Witness and the Archive. Paper give at a workshop on An Archaeology of Archaeological Archives at Birkbeck College, UCL, London, April 14, 2012.
2012 – 2012: A Ruin Odyssey. Paper presented at the Ruin Memories Workshop, Svanhovd, Norway, 27-30th September 2012.
2012 – The role of archaeological societies in the contemporary world. Paper given at the Icelandic Archaeological Society one day conference, 6th october 2012
2011 - Ruin-nation: reflections on the Icelandic ruin. Paper given at the annual Humanities Conference (Hugvísindaþing), University of Iceland, 26th March 2011
2011 - Mobile Homes. Ruination and the Mobility of Things. Paper presented at the Ruin Memories Workshop, Falmouth, England, 18th November 2011.
2010 – (with Philippa Ascough & Tom McGovern) Ritual sacrifice and isotopic analysis at Hofstadir, North Iceland Paper presented at the Association for Environmental Archaeology Conference 30th March-1st April, 2010
2010 - Excavations of the Viking Age settlement of Hofstaðir in NE Iceland. Paper presented at a Hofstaðir málþing 24. Apríl 2010, Narfastaðir.
2010 - Personal Reflections on Rescue Archaeology. Paper presented at a one day conference Rescue and Development Excavations 8th May 2010, Félags íslenskra fornleifafræðinga
2010 - Fast Ruins. Nature and Modernity in Iceland. Paper presented at the Ruin Memories workshop, 19-20 Nov 2010, Reykjavik
2009 - Pyramids and Palimpsests. Object, Event and Assemblage on the Archaeoliogical Record. Paper presented at the Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG), Stanford University, 3rd May 2009
2009 - The Great Pyramid at Goza and Other Archaeological Objects. Materializarion and History. Paper presented at Hugvísindaþing, 14th March 2009.
2009 - Excavations at Hofstaðir. Paper presented at the 16th Viking Congress, Iceland. 5th August 2009.
2009 - Materiality and the Paradox of Material Culture. Paper presented at Þjóðarspeglinum X 2009 (annual research conference of the Social Sciences School at the University of Iceland), 30th October 2009.
2008 – (with Oscar Aldred) ‘Events, temporalities and landscapes in Iceland’. Paper presented at Toward an Eventful Archaeology: Approaches to Structural Change in the Archaeological Record, a conference held at the Institute for European and Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Buffalo, NY, USA, 3-5th April 2008.
2007 - ‘Time and the Archaeological Record’ Paper presented at the Society for American Archaeology 72nd Annual Meeting, April 25-29 2007, Austin Texas.
2006 - ‘Aspects of Method and Practice in Historical Archaeology’ Keynote speaker, Contemporary and Historical Archaeological Theory (CHAT) 4th annual conference, University of Bristol, 10-12 November 2006
2006 – ‘The Viking Settlement at Hofstaðir in Mývatnssveit’ in the Valdamiðstöðvar á miðöldum session of the Íslenska söguþin, 18-21 mai 2006
2006 – ‘The ceramic revolution in Iceland, 1850-1950’, in the Efnismenning-neyslumenning session of the Íslenska söguþin, 18-21 mai 2006
2005 – ‘Archaeology and Anonymity. Reflections on Jón Steffensen´s ‘osteonymy’’ at the Menning og meinsemdir conference in honour of Jón Steffensen at the National Library of Iceland.
2005 - ‘Process and Identity. Freedom and Respectability in a Mission Station in the Western Cape, South Africa’ in Re-constructing Identity session at Society of Historical Archaeology (SHA) at the University of York
2004 – ‘Architectures of Power: the Viking settlement of Hofstaðir’ at the SILA/NABO conference at Copenhagen
2004 – ‘Ceramics, Trade and Consumption in Iceland 1640-1940’ at the SILA/NABO conference at Copenhagen
2002 – ‘Archaeologia Islandica’ in the conference Whither Icelandic Archaeology? at Háskóli Íslands.
2000 - ‘Speaking with the subaltern?’ Archaeology in a post-colonial context’ delivered at Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG) at Oxford Univerity
1999 – ‘Landscapes of alienation’ at the Landscapes of Conflict session at the World Archaeology Congress 4 (WAC) at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
1998 - 'The Construction Site: The Temporality of Excavation' in Reconceptualising the Field session at Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG) at Birmingham University
1998 - 'Archaeology and the Economics of Destruction' at Landscapes in Transition, Hunter College, CUNY
1996 - 'The Archaeology of the Workhouse' in The Familiar Past session at Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG) at the University of Liverpool.
In addition I have co-organized several sessions at conferences:
- Co-organizer (with Natascha Mehler) of an interdisciplinary research seminar Colonialism and Commerce in the North Atlantic (c. 1500 to 1800), 17-19th October, Bifröst, Iceland.
- Co-organizer (with Oscar Aldred) of a session on practice-led theory, at Nordic TAG, Reykjavik, 2013.
- Co-organizer of a seminar on archaeology presenting the research of doctoral candidates in the department of Archaeology as part of Doktorsdagur Hugvísindasviðs, 23rd October 2009.
- Session Co-organiser Re-Thinking the Archaeology of Us, at Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG)1997.
- Co-organiser and co-chair of international conference Interpretive Archaeologies at Peterhouse, Cambridge, 1991
Seminars
2016 – Excavations at Skálholt 2002-2007. Paper given at the joint Departmental/Archaeological Society Lecture series, Reykjavik, Iceland. 30th March, 2016.
2015 - Historical Archaeology in the North Atlantic and Excavations at a Bishops Seat in Iceland. Paper given in the Garrod seminar series, McDonald Institute, University of Cambridge, 26th November, 2015.
2015 - The Contemporary Past Revisited: A Conversation between Victor Buchli and Gavin Lucas. Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. 3rd November, 2015.
2015 - Skálholt in Seven Objects. Paper given at the joint Departmental/Archaeological Society Lecture series, Reykjavik, Iceland. 11th March, 2015.
2014 – Archaeology and Contemporaneity. Paper given at the Department of Archaeology, University of Bergen, 4th April, 2014.
2014 – Archaeology and Contemporaneity. Paper given at the Department of Archaeology, University of Manchester, 1st April, 2014.
2014 – Archaeology and Contemporaneity. Paper given at the Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton, 27th March, 2014.
2013 - Time and the Archaeological record, Paper given at the Department of Archaeology, University of Stockholm, October 2013.
2013 – The Obscure object of archaeology. Paper given at the Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago, April 11th 2013.
2013 – Remains of the Day. Ruins, residues and the archaeological record. Paper given at the Department of Archaeology, University of Newcastle, January 14th 2013.
2012 – The Bridge and the Bowl - or why things matter. Paper given at the post-reformation working group workshop, University of Iceland, 10th May 2012
2012 - The archaeology of capitalism in Iceland. The view from Viðey. Paper given at the department of archaeology graduate seminar series, University of Iceland, 29th march 2012
2011 - Later Historical Archaeology in Iceland and the excavations at Skálholt. Paper given at the Department of Archaeology, University of York, graduate seminar series, 4th May 2011
2011 - Modernity at the Margins. Paper given at the Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton, graduate seminar series, 5th May 2011
2011 - Archaeology of the Recent Past in the North Atlantic. Problems and Potentials. Paper given at the Society of Icelandic Archaeologists (Félags íslenskra fornleifafræðinga) seminar series, 19th May 2011.
2008 - ‘Discourse and Fieldwork’ Paper presented at the Nordic Graduate School Seminar series Dialogues with Past, Discourse, Theory and Archaeological Excavation, 20-25 October, 2008, Athens, Greece.
2008 - ‘Archaeology and Heritage in Iceland’, International Heritage Ethics Lecture, November 15, 2008, Archaeology Center, University of Stanford, CA, USA
2008 - ‘Historical Archaeology in Iceland. Skálholt and Modernity’, Thursday Evening Lecture, November 15, 2008, Archaeology Center, University of Stanford, CA, USA
2006 - ‘Archaeology and the Field’ Graduate seminar, 15 November, Dept. of Archaeology, University of Glasgow
2004 – ‘Historical Archaeology Today’ at Institute for Archaeology, Göteborg Univesity
2004 – ‘Field Works’ at the Centre for Archaeology, University of Stanford, California
2002 – ‘Translating the Field’ at the Department of Archaeology, Manchester University.
2002 – ‘Archaeology and Colonialism’ at the department of Archaeology, University of Newport, Wales
2001 – ‘Consumption and Rubbish’ at the department of Anthropology and Material Culture Studies, University College London.