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Gavin Lucas, recipient of the 2026 Gad Rausing Prize for Outstanding Research, sheds new light on the lives of Iceland’s elite during the 17th and 18th centuries – a time of profound change in the transatlantic world.

From the early 12th century, Iceland was divided into two dioceses, with an episcopal seat in the north and another in the south. The southern seat, Skálholt, is the focus of Gavin Lucas’s lecture, which presents the archaeological excavations at the site.

Lucas provides an overview of the finds and shows how they deepen our understanding of Icelandic society – particularly an elite milieu in the North Atlantic during a post-Reformation era when the transatlantic world was undergoing major changes.

The lecture is followed by a short conversation with Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson, Associate Professor at Uppsala University. The conversation will focus on Lucas’s work on periodisation in archaeology and its implications for interpreting objects and narratives.

Gavin Lucas is Professor of Archaeology at the University of Iceland and recipient of the 2026 Gad Rausing Prize for Outstanding Research. The prize is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities.

Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson is an Associate Professor and researcher at the Centre for the Viking World in the Department of Archaeology, Ancient History and Conservation at Uppsala University.

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