Davide Zori

A Viking-age Valley in Iceland: The Mosfell Archaeological Project

Abstract THIS is an account of both the history and the recent findings of the Mosfell Archaeological Project. Excavation is part of an interdisciplinary research approach that uses archaeology, history, anthropology, forensics, environmental sciences and saga studies to construct a picture of human habitation, power relationships, religious and mortuary practices, and environmental change in the region of Mosfellssveit in south-western Iceland. The valley system with surrounding highlands and lowland coastal areas has interlocking natural and cultural components which developed from the 9th-century settlement of Iceland into a Viking Age chieftaincy dominated by the family at Mosfell/Hrísbrú. Excavations of both pagan and Christian sites are providing significant information on the changing periods of occupation, with implications for the larger study of Viking North Atlantic. During the Viking Age, Mosfell was a self-contained social and economic unit connected to the rest of Iceland through a network of roads, including a major E.–W. route to the nearby assembly place for the yearly Althing. With its ships landing or port at Leirvogur, in the bay at the valleys mouth, the region was in commercial and cultural contact with the larger Scandinavian and European worlds.

Feasting in Viking Age Iceland: sustaining a chiefly political economy in a marginal environment

The authors show that the principal correlates of feasting in Viking Age Iceland were beef and barley, while feasting itself is here the primary instrument of social action. Documentary references, ethnographic analogies, archaeological excavation and biological analyses are woven together to present an exemplary procedure for the recognition of feasting more widely.

Cereal cultivation as a correlate of high social status in medieval Iceland

Utilising a multi-profile palynological approach and a rapid scanning technique, this paper examines whether or not cereal cultivation is representative of a medieval Icelandic farmstead’s social status; first as a correlate by confirming that cereals were grown in association with the archaeological features characteristic of high status and second, as an indicator in its own right through comparison with other datasets from inferred lower status farms in the same valley. The results suggest that medieval cereal cultivation in Mosfellsdalur was confined to the landholding of the Mosfell Estate. This is probably a direct consequence of the locale being settled early during Iceland’s colonisation and thereby allowing settlers there to secure the prime location in the valley for agriculture. The later abandonment of cereal cultivation on the Estate also appears to be linked to social circumstances in Mosfellsdalur c. ad 1200. An evaluation of other pollen studies and historical sources intimates a transition in cereal cultivation from inland toward coastal (and perhaps geothermal) sites in the mid-13th century, probably as a consequence of the onset of the Little Ice Age. These sites may also be linked with high status institutions. Despite this effort to adapt to altered climate conditions, cereal cultivation in Iceland is believed to have been completely abandoned by ad 1500. Overall, the temporal and spatial dynamics of cereal cultivation are shown to be complex, subject to both societal and environmental changes.

A Bayesian approach to linking archaeological, paleoenvironmental and documentary datasets relating to the settlement of Iceland (Landnám):

Icelandic settlement (Landnám) period farmsteads offer opportunities to explore the nature and timing of anthropogenic activities and environmental impacts of the first Holocene farming communities. We employ Bayesian statistical modelling of archaeological, paleoenvironmental and documentary datasets to present a framework for improving chronological robustness of archaeological events. Specifically, we discuss events relevant to the farm Hrísbrú, an initial and complex settlement site in southwest Iceland. We demonstrate that tephra layers are key in constraining reliable chronologies, especially when combined with related datasets and treated in a Bayesian framework. The work presented here confirms earlier interpretations of the chronology of the site while providing increased confidence in the robustness of the chronology. Most importantly, integrated modelling of AMS radiocarbon dates on Hordeum vulgare grains, palynological data, documented evidence from textual records and typologically diagnostic artefacts yield increased dating reliability. The analysis has also shown that AMS radiocarbon dates on bone collagen need further scrutiny. Specifically for the Hrísbrú farm, first anthropogenic footprint palynomorph taxa are estimated to around AD 830–881 (at 95.4% confidence level), most likely before the tephra fall out of AD 877 ± 1 (the Landnám tephra layer), demonstrating the use of arable fields before the first known structures were built at Hrísbrú (AD 874–951) and prior to the conventionally accepted date of the settlement of Iceland. Finally, we highlight the importance of considering multidisciplinary factors for other archaeological and paleoecological studies of early farming communities of previously uninhabited island areas.

From Etruscan urban centre to medieval fortified village: San Giuliano Archaeological Research Project

Ongoing excavations at San Giuliano in central Italy are providing detailed evidence for testing explanatory models of cyclical shifts in settlements and socio-economic organisation from the Etruscan to medieval periods (c. 800 BC–AD 1300).

Gift Exchange with Saints in Medieval Icelandic Miracle Stories

Employing anthropological perspectives on gift giving, I analyze exchanges between Icelandic saints and their devotees in the miracle stories of Saints Jon and Þorlakr. Norms of reciprocal gift giving offered a framework for seeking saintly assistance that involved predictable stages, including vows, counter-pledges, and pledge-confirmations, followed by gifts and counter-gifts. I highlight the need for equity in gift exchange and the negotiations between devotees and saints seeking materially and/or symbolically balanced exchange. The examples discussed underscore the role of reciprocal exchange in structuring the miracle stories, the consequences of failed saintly gift transactions, and the Church’s role in promoting a reciprocal understanding of saintly worship. Counter-gifting of material goods by the devotee to the saints’ cathedrals directed wealth towards the Church, but I contend that the pivotal outcome of saintly gift exchange conducted according to traditional norms was the cementation of socio...