Stavanger domkirke – en arkeologisk utgravning under koret

Stavanger Cathedral was built in Romanesque style around 1100. The choir was 11.5 m long, 8 m wide and straight ended. After a fire in 1272, the choir was extended to the east in Gothic style around 1300. Stavanger museum carried out an archaeological excavation in multiple rooms in 1967. In the eastern part of the excavation area more than 30 skeletons were found. The skeletons sent to the Department of Anatomy in Oslo for analysis were mixed at the Institute, and in the boxes returned to Stavanger, there were also bones from other parts of the country. It is discussed whether the main room has been a crypt or a tomb. In the author´s opinion, it has been a tomb. Carbon 14 datings show that there was a cemetery before the church was built. Thus it is likely that there was a wooden church at the location prior to the Romanesque church.