
Dr Kristján Ahronson
Northern Scholars Visiting Research Fellow, July 2021 - January 2023 (part-time)
Home Institution: Wolfson College, Oxford
Dr Kristján Ahronson's work is interdisciplinary, integrating archaeological, Celtic and palaeoenvironmental materials. Previous to his Visiting Research Fellowship at IASH, Kristján was Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at Prifysgol Bangor University. Kristján is a graduate of St Michael's College at the University of Toronto, was awarded his PhD from the University of Edinburgh, and is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. He has held fellowships and appointments at the universities of Edinburgh, Oxford and Toronto and at the national museums of Canada, Scotland and Iceland. Kristján held a Visiting Professorship in Celtic Archaeology at the University of Toronto, and was awarded a major Canadian government grant for his research. As a field archaeologist, Kristján has worked professionally in Canada, Iceland and across the UK.
Project Title: Scotland, tephrochronology and the problem of Iceland’s Viking‐Age artificial caves: a case for interdisciplinary reflection
In Iceland's caves, we discovered sculpture with persuasive connections to Scotland's early medieval monastic sites. Building on my Into the Ocean monograph, the project (fieldwork 2017-present) uses photogrammetry: making new discoveries and innovating using volcanic airfall (tephra) to reveal tantalising insights into life and ecologies at Iceland's apparently earliest settlement.