The Barn and the Åg

2008 Vike Täckarting


Folder: Travel Stuff
Installing a Bronze Age grass roof on a barn at Vike, Gotland, August 2, 2008.

Vidjor

02 Aug 2008 123
One of the vidjor braids in place, wrapped around one of the poles with its free ends in the sawgrass.

Lunch

02 Aug 2008 106
Lining up for the free lunch.

Progress

02 Aug 2008 89
By the time we stopped for lunch, the work level had almost reached the point where the poles crossed. But we weren't done yet -- we still had another three feet of grass to go above that...

Progress

02 Aug 2008 97
By the time we stopped for lunch, the work level had almost reached the point where the poles crossed. But we weren't done yet -- we still had another three feet of grass to go above that...

Progress?

02 Aug 2008 83
From this angle, it looks more like we're making a huge mess than installing a new roof.

Now That's a Braid

02 Aug 2008 93
A well-formed and extra-long vidjor .

Trimming the Poles

02 Aug 2008 69
Breaking out the chainsaw to trim the tops of the roof poles. I hadn't been worried about heights until this point, since I'd had the pole ends to hold onto. After the ends were cut off, though, it started to seem just a little dangerous to be standing atop a layer of grass strewn on flimsy pine poles some forty feet in the air...

"Umm..."

02 Aug 2008 78
"...why's that guy with the chainsaw cutting off my handholds?"

Work in Process

Tossing a Cutoff

02 Aug 2008 69
One of the pole ends goes flying.

Waiting for the Chainsaw Guy

Trimming the Pole Ends

Waiting for the Chainsaw Guy

Trimming the Poles

02 Aug 2008 97
Notice the handy fire extinguisher.

Building a Bundle

Work Continues

02 Aug 2008 80
I swear I'm not doing the 'Captain Morgan' pose...I think I was probably catching a beer being tossed up from the ground.

Trimming the Poles


106 items in total