Analysis of bones and objects from the Viking Age site of Hrísbrú, Iceland

Summary

At the Hrísbrú site, located in the Mosfell valley just a few kilometers outside Iceland’s capital Reykjavik, the Mosfell Archaeological Project has excavated a 10th-11th century farmstead including a traditional Viking Age longhouse, a farm church with an associated cemetery, and a pagan cremation site. At the cemetery and the cremation site human remains in varying degrees of preservation have been unearthed, while in the longhouse a rich material record has been uncovered consisting of e.g. lithic tools, glass beads, animal bones, and occasional metal items such as knives, nails, and keys. In my doctoral research I am using bioarchaeological, archaeometallurgical, and conservation science techniques to analyze this material, in order to better understand the history, living conditions, level of technology, and trade interactions of the inhabitants of the Hrísbrú farmstead. Some comparisons with historic written documents are made. This paper presents a first round of results from the ongoing research.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17043