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The Viking Age settlement pattern of Langholt, North Iceland: Results of the Skagafjörður Archaeological Settlement Survey

Authors :
John M. Steinberg
Brian N. Damiata
Douglas J. Bolender
Source :
Journal of Field Archaeology. 41:389-412
Publication Year :
2016
Publisher :
Informa UK Limited, 2016.

Abstract

An archaeological survey of the Viking Age settlement pattern in the Langholt region of North Iceland suggests that being early in this sequence conferred tremendous advantages to the settlers of this previously uninhabited landscape. Many of the farms established during the settlement of Iceland (which began about a.d. 870) are in use today. However, accessing the Viking Age landscape is difficult. In Langholt the earliest layers of most farmsteads are buried under a thousand years of occupational debris, while the abandoned sites have been covered by extensive soil deposition. Here we report on our coring and test excavation results that outline Viking Age farmstead location, establishment date, and maximum size by the end of the Viking Age. There is a strong correlation between farmstead size and establishment date. This correlation suggests that during the rapid settlement of Iceland, the farmsteads established by earlier settlers were wealthier and that wealth endured.

Details

ISSN :
20424582 and 00934690
Volume :
41
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Journal of Field Archaeology
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........41f5ecad2a117f5ecec607d3dcff2aac
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1080/00934690.2016.1203210