Viking Archaeology in Iceland: Mosfell Archaeological Project

Description

The Viking North Atlantic differs significantly from the popular image of violent raids and destruction characterizing the Viking Age in Northern Europe. In Iceland, Scandinavian seafarers discovered and settled a large uninhabited island. In order to survive and succeed, they adapted lifestyles and social strategies to a new environment. The result was a new society: the Icelandic Free State. This volume examines the Viking Age in Iceland through the discoveries and excavations of the Mosfell Archaeological Project (MAP) in Iceland’s Mosfell Valley. Directed by Professor Jesse Byock with Field Director Davide Zori, MAP brings together scholars and researchers from Iceland, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, and the United States. The Project incorporates the disciplines of archaeology, history, saga studies, osteology, zoology, paleobotany, genetics, isotope studies, place-names studies, environmental science, and historical architecture. The decade-long research of MAP has led to the discovery of an exceptionally well-preserved Viking chieftain’s farmstead, including a longhouse, a pagan cremation site, a conversion-era stave church, and a Christian graveyard. The research results presented here tell the story of how the Mosfell Valley developed from a ninth-century settlement of Norse seafarers into a powerful Icelandic chieftaincy of the Viking Age. Front Matter ("Editorial Board", "Title Page", "Copyright Page", "Dedication", "Table of Contents", "Illustrations"), p. i Free Access Colour Plates, p. xvii Free Access Acknowledgements, p. xxv Free Access Introduction to Viking Age Archaeology in Iceland’s Mosfell Valley, p. 1 Jesse Byock, Davide Zori https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.1.102208 Governmental Partnership with the Mosfell Archaeological Project: Past, Present, and Future, p. 19 Björn Thráinn Thórðarson https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.1.102209 The Mosfell Archaeological Project: Archaeology, Sagas, and History, p. 27 Jesse Byock https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.1.102210 Egill’s Grave? Archaeology and Egils Saga at Kirkjuhóll, Hrísbrú, p. 45 Jon M. Erlandson, Jesse Byock, Davide Zori https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.1.102211 Interdisciplinary Modelling of Viking Age and Medieval Settlement in the Mosfell Valley, p. 55 Davide Zori https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.1.102212 Infectious Disease in Viking Age Iceland, p. 81 Per Holck https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.1.102213 Bioarchaeological Evidence of Stress and Activity in the Medieval Hrísbrú Cemetery in the Mosfell Valley, Iceland, p. 87 Jacqueline T. Eng https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.1.102214 Reconstructing Diets and Origins of Vikings at Hrísbrú, Mosfell Valley, Iceland: The Carbon, Nitrogen, and Strontium Isotope Evidence, p. 105 Vaughan Grimes, Benjamin T. Fuller, Eric J. Guiry https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.1.102215 Artefacts from the Viking Age Longhouse at Hrísbrú, p. 117 Sigrid Cecilie Juel Hansen, Davide Zori, Jesse Byock https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.1.102216 Beads from Hrísbrú and their Wider Icelandic Context, p. 135 Elín Hreiðarsdóttir https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.1.102217 Interpreting Social Space and Social Status in the Viking Age House at Hrísbrú Using Integrated Geoarchaeological and Microrefuse Analyses, p. 143 Karen Milek, Davide Zori, Colin Connors, Waltraud Baier, Kate Baker, Jesse Byock https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.1.102218 Viking Age Foodways at the Hrísbrú Farmstead, p. 163 Davide Zori, Thomas Wake, Jon Erlandson, Rúnar Leifsson https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.1.102219 Landscape Change, Land Use, and Occupation Patterns Inferred from Two Palaeoenvironmental Datasets from the Mosfell Valley, SW Iceland, p. 181 Egill Erlendsson, Kevin J. Edwards, Guðrún Gísladóttir https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.1.102220 The Recovery and Analysis of Macrobotanical Remains from Hrísbrú, p. 193 Steve L. Martin https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.1.102221 Viking Age Routes, Landscape, and Power in the Mosfell Region, p. 207 Colin Gioia Connors https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.1.102222 Viking Age Hedeby and Its Relations with Iceland and the North Atlantic: Communication, Long-distance Trade, and Production, p. 221 Volker Hilberg, Sven Kalmring https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.1.102223 Back Matter ("Index", "Titles in Series"), p. 247 Free Access