Multi-scalar paleoethnobotany: farmstead variation and regional trends in Viking and Medieval North Iceland

Summary

This is a poster submission presented at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

This poster compares the multi-scalar (individual sites and whole regions) macrobotanical data of over 700,000 seeds from 41 Viking Age farmsteads in the Skagafjörður region of North Iceland to examine the benefits and challenges of using multi-scalar data for paleoethnobotanical analysis. During the Viking Age, the Norse settled Iceland, a sub-arctic volcanic island at the climatic margin of agricultural production. These settlers brought with them a distinctive Scandinavian subsistence economy involving animal husbandry and cereal production. Analysis of systematically collected macrobotanical samples from the Skagafjörður Church and Settlement Survey (SCASS) at farmsteads suggests significant variation in agropastoral strategies at the regional level. Conversely, the basic paleoethnobotanical assemblage at individual farmsteads is remarkably similar. More specifically, animal forage practices and cereal production differ only slightly between farmsteads and over time, but the broad and significant trends imply a profound human adaptability within this restrictive environment.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020   •
• 2020 SHA Poster Submissions

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 805