Hard times at Hofstadir Iceland: Medieval Climate Impact and Cultural Responses

Summary

In 1257 a major volcanic eruption in modern Indonesia produced rapid cooling in the North Atlantic region, and multiple climate proxies indicate onset of summer sea ice in Danmark Strait and N Iceland followed ca. 1260-1300. Zooarchaeological and paleoclimate research has documented the impacts of summer sea ice onset in the Norse Greenlandic settlements (Ogilvie et al. 2009), and documentary sources from Iceland report weather-related famine in the 1270’s. An archaeofauna excavated in 2011 from the site of Hofstaðir in N Iceland dated to ca. 1275-1300 by artifacts, AMS C14, and volcanic tephra may reflect a "hard times" signature in the unusually complete processing of bone fragments and apparent slaughter of the farm’s dog pack and cat. Despite its location 60 km inland, the same deposit showed a concentration of harp seal probably taken on the newly arrived sea ice. During later centuries, communal harp seal hunting on the sea ice in N Iceland provided a major supplement to farming and fishing, representing an adaptive response to climate impact. The Hofstaðir late 13th century archaeofauna may thus document both climate impact and ultimately successful human adaptive response to the onset of the LIA.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Resilience, Sustainability and Collapse in the North Atlantic

Keywords

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