Icelandic Paleoeconomy Project

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Dr. McGovern and his colleagues will conduct archaeological excavation at the large and deeply stratified farm midden site of Svalbard, Iceland. Preliminary work in 1987 indicated that organic preservation is excellent and the skeletal remains from a number of species (food remains) are present. In the summer of 1988, the team will conduct extensive stratigraphic excavation at Svalbard to establish the chronology of the main deposit using artifacts, tephera and radiocarbon dating. They will collect animal bone, artifacts, pollen macrofloral and micorfaunal remains with two goals in mind: to reconstruct changing environment over time and to document the inhabitant's response to it. Between 800 - 1000 AD Viking-age Scandinavian populations spread into the islands of the North Atlantic taking with them a well- developed seafaring tradition and a subsistence economy based upon domestic animals and some cereals. As they moved into new regions they adapted this to include wild resources which were readily available. Archaeology in Iceland can shed light on this adaptive process and is especially interesting because it provides insight into how human populations cope in marginal environments. Beginning ca. 1250 AD a significant climatic cooling known as the "Little Ice Age" (LIA) began. This affected the Viking colonies and placed great stress on local populations. The Svalbard site is particularly interesting because it documents this period and the data which Dr. McGovern recovers will provide insight into how human populations adapt to severe climatic stress. Because faunal and floral material is so well preserved detailed subsistence reconstruction will be possible.