“The Cottage,” a Small Viking Age Dwelling in North Iceland

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Small Dwellings on the Viking Frontier: New Research from Kotið, North Iceland" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This poster serves as an introduction and overview to a poster session on the archaeology of Kotið (“The Cottage”), a small dwelling established during the initial Viking Age settlement of Iceland in the late ninth century. Kotið represents a previously unknown and uninvestigated site type in the early Viking Age settlement of Iceland: a small dwelling that was located on marginal land despite the widespread availability of fertile farmland in the immediate region. The mix of agrarian and marine foraging resources point to a blend of ecological strategies and participation in supra-household production activities. The combined size, location, and integration of the household at Kotið raise the question of inequality and social control among larger and smaller households in the early settlement landscape of Iceland. Although domestic habitation at Kotið ceased in the mid-tenth century, the site had multiple phases of use and reuse through the medieval period, which points to the continued but evolving importance of marginal sites in the long-term sustainability of farming.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Small Dwellings on the Viking Frontier: New Research from Kotið, North Iceland   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39068.0