Conserving Norwegian Stave Churches

Medievalists.net has a report about a substantial government grant in Norway to conserve a number of the country’s distinctive medieval stave churches. As the article points out these churches are unique survivals in the country, without parallel elsewhere.

The report can be accessed at Norway Invests Millions to Preserve Its Medieval Stave Churches 

I believe I am correct in saying that where the account refers to tar it does not mean the sticky black gloop we refer to as bitumen and associate with road building, but rather to Baltic or pine tar. This is made from pine trees and used as a sealant and preservative on ships an and timber buildings for centuries. It is brushed on and provides a varnish-like coating that protects the wood from decay. It also emits a distinctive pine aroma.

With regard to stave churches I recall attending one of Martin Biddle’s archaeological seminars in Oxford where we were shown the very simple stone foundation footprint of a stave church that had been destroyed in the nineteenth century alongside an architectural drawing of the lost church. The point was that such a simple foundation could support so wonderfully elaborate a structure as the church had been, and that the ability of craftsmen in wood needs to be borne in mind when interpreting surviving archeological remains. A simple footprint does not necessarily mean a simple superstructure.