Expensive Errors or Rational Choices: the Pioneer Fringe in Late Viking Age Iceland

Authors

Orri Vesteinsson, University of Iceland
Mike Church, University of Durham
Andrew Dugmore, University of Edinburgh
Thomas McGovern, CUNY Hunter CollegeFollow
Anthony Newton, University of Edinburgh

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2014

Abstract

Just as the colonies established on the North Atlantic islands in the Viking Age were peripheral to Europe, so these islands had their own peripheral areas. In Iceland the highland margins have long been a focus of archaeological research and the prevailing view has been that highland settlement failed because people had made unrealistic assessments of carrying capacity. This paper presents a case study of the northern highland valley of Krókdalur and argues that the dating and pattern of settlement in that valley indicates that its settlers were keenly aware of its limitations. It also suggests explanatory frameworks that can make sense of this marginal settlement without resorting to environmental determinism.

Comments

This work was originally published in the European Journal of Post-Classical Archaeologies.