Doctoral Dissertation Research: Maritime Adaptations and Early North Atlantic Fisheries at Gufusk?lar Iceland

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This award supports a Dissertation Improvement Grant for doctoral student Frank Feeley. Researcher Feeley will be working closely with PI Tom McGovern to explore the site of Gufuskálar in western Iceland. This dissertation improvement grant will support two seasons of archaeological investigation of the site in order to better understand its role in the early "global" economy of Icleand, as well as the origins of the modern world economic system. The site of Gufuskálar is important as it's one of the few surviving examples of the handful of large medieval fishing stations. These stations marked Iceland's introduction into the growing world system of medieval trade, which is the basis for our modern world economic system. The investigation will use a unique methodology of examinining fish crania to determine the movement from subsistence to commodity fisheries in Iceland during the Viking period. In addition, both sea and wind are quickly eroding the site, which is one of the largest medieval fishing stations in Iceland. This project will contribute to the preservation of information in danger of being lost and will contribute to the preservation of this important site itself.