Resources, Mobility, and Cultural Identity in Norse Greenland, Vatnahverfi Project – Report from The Field Work 2008 (field report)

Author(s): Jette Arneborg; Martin Hebsgaard; Niels Lynnerup; Christian Koch Madsen; Caroline Polke Paulsen; Konrad Śmiarowski

Editor(s): Caroline Polke Paulsen

Year: 2008

Summary

The summer of 2008 was the fourth season with archaeological field work in the Vatnahverfi region in the Norse Eastern Settlement. The main purpose of the project is to investigate and discuss cultural, social and economic strategies of the Norse Greenland settlement from landnam in the late 980´ties to depopulation in the later part of the 15th Century with Vatnahverfi as case study area.

Knowledge of the culture landscape are prerequisite for the project and high resolution and GPS surveys of ruins and ruin groups were initiated already in 2005 and have continued ever since. In 2005 and 2006 Niels Algreen Møller and Christian Koch Madsen surveyed parts of the large area measuring ruin groups with GPS (Møller & Madsen 2006 and Møller & Madsen 2007), and in 2007 Møller and Madsen headed continued surveys and GPS measurements in Vatnahverfi along with archaeological investigations at the small churches at the ruin groups E64 and E78. Konrad Smiarowski joined the fieldwork in 2007 especially focusing on economy, middens and midden excavations. (Møller et al. 2007; Smiarowski 2009).

In 2008 the strategy was to focus on single sites in Vatnahverfi and the ruin groups E64 and E66 were selected for archaeological excavations. Both ruin groups are situated in Kujalleq, an eastern branch of Igaliku fjord. Both sites had churches connected. The church at E64 was apparently built at landnam and abolished after some centuries whereas the church at E66 seems to have been in use up to depopulation. We do not know when the first church at E66 was established. As churches connected to farms are used as indicators of wealth the objective of the excavations was to make comparisons between the two sites.

At E64 both the church, church yard and the midden in front of the dwelling were the target for excavations. At E66 the midden was chosen for investigations. The conditions here were however more complicated than foreseen, and the excavations at E66 therefore had to be postponed. Midden excavations were carried out at E68 instead.

Cite this Record

Resources, Mobility, and Cultural Identity in Norse Greenland, Vatnahverfi Project – Report from The Field Work 2008 (field report). Jette Arneborg, Martin Hebsgaard, Niels Lynnerup, Christian Koch Madsen, Caroline Polke Paulsen, Konrad Śmiarowski, Caroline Polke Paulsen. 2008 ( tDAR id: 3254) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8988623

Keywords

Material
Chipped Stone • Fauna • Ground Stone • Human Remains • Metal • Mineral • Wood

Site Name
0801 • 0802 • 0803 • 0804 • 0805 • 0806 • 0807 • 0808 • 0809 • 0810 • 0811 • 0812 • 0813 • 0814 • 0815 • 0816 • 0817 • 0818 • 0819 • 0820 • 0821 • 0822 • 0823 • 0824 • 0825 • 0826 • 0827 • E64 • E66 (Igaliku Kujalle) • E68 (Timerlit) • Ø168 Zucerip Tasia • Ø169 Amikitap Tasia • Ø66 Igaliku Kujalleq • Ø67 Quorlortukasik • Ø69 Timerlit • Ø70 the Mountain Farm • Ø72 • Ø75 Taseq Ammalortoq Show More

Site Type
Agricultural or Herding • Church / Religious Structure • Churchyard • Domestic Structures • Funerary and Burial Structures or Features • Hamlet / Village • Hunting / Trapping • Midden

Investigation Types
Data Recovery / Excavation • Site Evaluation / Testing • Systematic Survey

Geographic Keywords
Vatnahverfi region, South Greenland

Spatial Coverage

min long: -46.5; min lat: 60 ; max long: -44; max lat: 61.3 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Thomas McGovern

Contributor(s): Jette Arneborg; Martin Hebsgaard; Niels Lynnerup; Christian Koch Madsen; Konrad Smiarowski; Caroline Polke Paulsen

File Information

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vatnahverfi2008rapport.pdf 4.09mb Oct 16, 2010 10:43:14 AM Public