Kirken i Søndre gate 7-11 og nasjonalmonumentet Klemenskirken

Abstract

The aim of this article is to illustrate how the remains of the church excavated in Søndregate 7–11 in Trondheim in 2016–2017 became a national monument: the «Church of St. Clement»; the site where St. Olav allegedly was canonized. By analyzing how different participations, both humans and non-humans, and mechanisms constituted the process of formation, this national monument is appreciated as a heterogenous contextual phenomenon, and not a homogenous object resting within itself. It is demonstrated how non-archaeological participations such as media, the Catholic church, the Norwegian church, the Norwegian parliament, the developer, and the government formed elements in the network behind the national monument. In this way, archaeological elements of the project became marginalized. In my opinion this – the exhibition process of the church established on the site included – was decisive for why, from an academic point of view, premature conclusions were drawn. The conclusion of this article is that there is not a 1:1 relationship between the archaeological material excavated and the national monument the «Church of St. Clement». This phenomenon was enacted, i.e., national-monumentalized, not discovered.