Tag Archives: Faroe islands

The Stones and Mortars of the Medieval Cathedral on the Faroe Islands

Posted on September 5, 2024 by Per Storemyr

Presented in Tórshavn earlier this year, “The Cathedral of Kirkjubøur” is a book covering all you ever wanted to know about building a big Gothic church in the middle of the North Atlantic – 700 years ago, and far away from contemporary European centres of stone architecture. Edited by Kirstin S. Eliasen and Morten Stige, the book contains 18 papers with various perspectives on the archaeology and building history. My contribution is written together with Faroese geologist Uni Árting: How were stone and lime procured on a remote archipelago that basically consist of basalt? Read on and download PDF of our paper. Continue reading →

Posted in New publications | Tagged ancient stone quarrying, basalt, building stone, Faroe islands, Kirkjubøur, lime mortar, medieval cathedral, old quarries, sea shell, soapstone | 6 Comments

Burning the beaches. Happy New Year from the Faroe Islands!

Posted on January 8, 2018 by Per Storemyr

The Faroe Islands, in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. Basalt and other volcanic stone everywhere! Yet, many buildings on the islands were erected by the use of lime mortar, from the Middle Ages on. There is absolutely no limestone on the Faroes. Thus, lime mortar had to be produced by “burning the beaches” – collecting shells from beach deposits, stacking the shells above a fire in a field kiln – and let it happen: Hold the temperature at some 900 degrees centigrade for a couple of days, and out comes quicklime to be mixed with water and beach sand for the mortar. Continue reading →