High Risk Exploratory Research: Political Economy of Free State Iceland - Regional Archaeology in the Mosfell Valley

高风险探索性研究：冰岛自由邦的政治经济 - 莫斯菲尔山谷的区域考古学

• 批准号: 9908836
• 负责人: John Steinberg
• 金额: $ 2万
• 依托单位: University of California-Los Angeles
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1999
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1999-08-01 至 2001-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9908836&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Risk; Exploratory; Research; Political; Economy

With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. John Steinberg and his colleagues will conduct one season of archaeological testing in the Mosfell Valley in Southwestern Iceland. The proximate goal of the study is to test techniques for locating human habitations, burials, iron smelting and livestock penning areas. While the potential for significant archaeological research in Iceland is high, because of recent soil deposition sites are extremely difficult to locate and standard surface survey techniques do not work well. Phosphates from animal excrement often are well preserved in the soil and Dr. Steinberg and his colleagues will collect systematic samples and test for elevated levels. They will use these data to select promising areas and then conduct both remote conductivity (electromagnetic) survey and magnetic survey to locate anomalies characteristic of human behavior. Limited excavation will be carried out to determine whether relevant features are, in fact present. This high risk preliminary work, if successful, will provide a basis for designing a larger research project.Iceland was first settled by Vikings between 870 and 930 AD. During this relatively warm period population expanded rapidly as inhabitants developed a lifestyle based largely on fishing and sheep herding. Particularly interesting is the existence of a rich locally produced literature which provides insight into the culture and social and political organization. While not all documents agree, the picture which emerges is one of a stratified society headed by chiefs to which individuals owed their allegiance. However "chiefdoms" were not geographically based and local level groups could choose whom to pledge their allegiance. It is an extremely rare situation in which chiefdoms lack a regional power base and do not control contiguous territories. If such were in fact the case it would increase understanding of how technological simple hierarchical societies were organized. Scholars however have noted that most historical documents are not eyewitness accounts which described contemporary institutions but rather were written hundreds of years after the fact. Archaeological data would prove very valuable to determine on the ground reality and this is the ultimate goal of Dr. Steinberg's research.

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，约翰·斯坦伯格博士和他的同事将在冰岛西南部的莫斯费尔山谷进行一个季节的考古测试。这项研究的近期目标是测试确定人类居住地、墓葬、铁冶炼和牲畜圈区的技术。虽然冰岛进行重大考古研究的潜力很大，但由于最近的土壤沉积，很难找到地点，标准的表面调查技术也不好用。动物排泄物中的磷酸盐通常在土壤中保存得很好，斯坦伯格博士和他的同事们将收集系统的样本，并测试其含量是否升高。他们将利用这些数据来选择有希望的地区，然后进行远程电导率（电磁）调查和磁力调查，以定位人类行为特征的异常。将进行有限的挖掘，以确定相关特征是否确实存在。这项高风险的前期工作，如果成功的话，将为设计更大的研究项目提供基础。冰岛最早在公元870年至930年之间由维京人定居。在这个相对温暖的时期，人口迅速增长，居民发展了主要以捕鱼和牧羊为基础的生活方式。特别有趣的是，当地有丰富的文学作品，可以深入了解文化以及社会和政治组织。虽然并非所有文件都同意，但出现的情况是一个以酋长为首的分层社会，个人效忠于酋长。然而，“酋长”并不以地域为基础，地方一级的群体可以选择向谁宣誓效忠。这是一种极为罕见的情况，酋长缺乏区域权力基础，不控制毗连的领土。如果事实确实如此，那么它将增加人们对技术简单的等级社会是如何组织起来的理解。然而，学者们注意到，大多数历史文献并不是描述当代制度的目击者描述，而是在事实发生数百年后写的。考古数据将被证明是非常有价值的，以确定在地面上的现实，这是博士斯坦伯格的研究的最终目标。