The centrality of small islands in Arctic Norway from the Iron Age to the recent historic period

Summary

The definition of island marginality in northern Norway was radically altered by the advent of motorized fishing vessels in the early 20th century. Prior to this development, small offshore islands were of central importance for settlement and marine related activity due to their proximity to fishing grounds. In this paper I discuss three settlements on small and ‘marginal’ islands in Arctic Norway from 68°19’ to 71°05’ N latitude that illustrate the centrality of such locations since the Early Iron Age (ca. 500 BC). From south to north, these include Borgvær (1.8 x 1 km) in the Lofoten Islands, Grimsholmen (1.4 x .7 km) in northern Troms, and coastal settlement on the larger island of Ingøy (18.6 sq km) near Norway’s northernmost point. Although these islands are inhospitable, barren and exposed to the open ocean, they were the focus of intensive fishing related settlement by the Viking Age (AD 800-1000) with substantial settlement mounds from the medieval period (AD 1200-1500). The significance of these specialized island settlements viewed in relation to larger networks of interaction and exchange is critically examined and assessed.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Life in the Diminutive Realm: Human Adaptations to Smaller Island Environments

Keywords

Spatial Coverage