# Jesse Byock > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jesse_Byock > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jesse_Byock.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Byock > Source revision: 1357295644 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) American historian This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. Find sources: "Jesse Byock" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) **Jesse L. Byock** (born 1945) is Professor of [Old Norse](/source/Old_Norse) and [Medieval Scandinavian Studies](/source/Medieval_Scandinavian_architecture) in the Scandinavian Section at the [University of California, Los Angeles](/source/University_of_California%2C_Los_Angeles) (UCLA).[1][2] ## Career He received his Ph.D. from [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University).[3] An [archaeologist](/source/Archaeology) and specialist in the archaeology, history and language of the [Viking Age](/source/Viking_Age), he is professor at UCLA’s Cotsen Institute of Archaeology. In [Iceland](/source/Iceland), Prof. Byock is the Head Archaeologist and Director of the [Mosfell Archaeological Project](/source/Jon_M._Erlandson#Mosfell_Archaeological_Project),[4][2] excavating a Viking Age [valley](/source/Valley) described in the medieval [sagas](/source/Saga) and written sources. The Mosfell [excavations](/source/Excavation_(archaeology)) include a large well-preserved [chieftain](/source/Tribal_chief)’s hall, Christian and [pagan](/source/Paganism) [burial sites](/source/Burial), a conversion-age [stave church](/source/Stave_church), and a harbor from the first centuries of Iceland’s settlement during the Viking Age. Jesse Byock is also affiliated Professor at the [University of Iceland](/source/University_of_Iceland) (Háskóli Íslands) in the Department of History and the Programs in Medieval Icelandic and Viking Studies, where he teaches courses in Old Norse and the history, archaeology, sagas and sources of Viking Age and Medieval Iceland. ## Archaeological Field Project Byock has worked at the Mosfell Archaeological Project, an archaeologically rich environment, including the excavation of a viking long house, chieftain's hall, and pagan and Christian burial yards. The Long House of the Mosfell Chieftains, the first building phase ca. 900. The Mosfell Valley and [Mosfellsbær](/source/Mosfellsb%C3%A6r) lie within the greater [Reykjavik](/source/Reykjav%C3%ADk) area. ## Notable Books - *Viking archaeology in Iceland : Mosfell archaeological project*. Turnhout, Belgium: [Brepols](/source/Brepols). 2014. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-2-503-54400-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-2-503-54400-7). - *Viking Language 1, 2nd Edition: Learn Old Norse, Runes, and Icelandic Sagas*[5] - *Viking Language 2: The Old Norse Reader* - *Viking Age Iceland* - (in French) *L’Islande des Vikings* - (in Italian) *La stirpe di Odino: La civiltà vichinga in Islanda* ## Documentary Film and Multimedia - Ari Trausti and Jesse Byock. *Fornleirfar Tala: Höfðingjar í Mosfellsdal* (‘Archaeologists Talk: Chieftains in the Mosfells Valley’) Icelandic TV documentary, 2015 - Byock, Jesse. “The Lore of the Ring” (2005). BBC Radio 3 and BBC World Service. Radio essay to accompany the New York Metropolitan Opera’s rendition of Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle. Repeatedly aired 2005 – 2013 - Byock, Jesse and Stephen Ross. *A Viking Landscape*. (2004). Ross Films, Documentary about the Mosfell Archaeological Project. - “The Vikings: Fury From the North.” (2001). Jesse Byock, Historical consultant on the Vikings for the History Channel. - “Leif Eiriksson – The Man Who Almost Changed History.” (2000). Jesse Byock, Specialist narrator for documentary film for Public Television, Ward Television, Smithsonian Institution for the Year 2000 Viking Exhibition. - “Vikings: The Saga.” (2000). Jesse Byock, Specialist narrator for documentary film for Smithsonian Institution. Year 2000 Viking Exhibition. - “Leif Eriksson.” (1995). Jesse Byock, Specialist narrator for documentary film, Arts and Entertainment series, *Biography*. - “Vikings in America.” (1995). Jesse Byock, Specialist narrator for documentary film, The History Channel. - Ulin, D., and Byock, J. “Medicine and Viking Disease.” (1995). An episode in the series, *A Moment of Science* for National Public Radio. - “Evidence of the Vikings.” (1995). BBC film for the historical documentary series, *Timewatch* on British Television. Jesse Byock, Principal historical consultant, heading the research and involved in the script writing, shooting, narrating, and clipping. ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Ekki hægt að fullyrða að um brunakuml sé að ræða"](https://www.mbl.is/greinasafn/grein/683734/). *www.mbl.is* (in Icelandic). Retrieved 2021-03-28. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_2-1) ["Fornleifauppgröftur í Mosfellsdal - Myndasafn mbl.is"](https://www.mbl.is/myndasafn/mynd/205422/). *www.mbl.is*. Retrieved 2021-03-28. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Jesse Byock - Scandinavian Section"](http://scandinavian.ucla.edu/person/jesse-byock/). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Byock, Jesse (2014). ["The Mosfell Archaeological Project: Archaeology, Sagas, and History"](https://www.academia.edu/14712690). *Viking Archaeology in Iceland*. Cursor Mundi. Vol. 20. pp. 27–44. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.1.102210](https://doi.org/10.1484%2FM.CURSOR-EB.1.102210). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-2-503-54400-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-2-503-54400-7). Retrieved 3 October 2017. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["The Viking Language Series"](https://oldnorse.org/the-viking-language-series/). *Old Norse .org*. Retrieved 11 June 2022. ## External links - [Official website](http://vikinglanguage.com) Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND WorldCat National United States France BnF data Japan Czech Republic Netherlands Norway Latvia Poland Israel People Archaeology Data Service Deutsche Biographie Other IdRef Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jesse Byock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Byock) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Byock?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.