Colonization and Christianity: the development of Viking Age and medieval hierarchies in Skagafjordur, North Iceland

中世纪基督教的制度化是早期欧洲历史上最根本的转变之一。本研究旨在了解公元870年至1300年间冰岛采用基督教实践与政治权力发展之间的联系。大约在公元870年，以异教徒为主的挪威人开始在这个以前无人居住的火山岛上殖民。公元1000年，基督教开始取代广泛传播的异教信仰。到1300年，冰岛被中央集权的宗教和政治机构所统治。冰岛是中世纪文献收藏最丰富的国家之一，维京时代的农庄、教堂和墓地的考古保存也非常完好。这使得这里的研究成为理解早期欧洲历史的核心，并有可能让我们深入了解基督教在当代背景下的全球影响。该项目采用了地球物理测量技术，该技术已经在之前的国家科学基金会奖（PLR-1242829）中进行了测试，“EAGER：评估冰岛北部早期基督教教堂墓地和墓葬的地球物理识别的可靠性”。本项目在发展地球物理调查协议方面所作的进一步改进，包括探地雷达和电磁导电性，提供了一种比传统挖掘更具成本效益的替代方案，因此，该项目在考古科学、法医学、历史保护和文化资源管理方面有更广泛的应用。新出现的证据表明，冰岛的基督教化经历了两个主要阶段：在缺乏中央宗教权威的情况下，人们普遍接受基督教，随后是教会社区和等级制度的制度化。皈依基督教后不久，许多农民在自己的农场上建立了家庭教堂和墓地。在12世纪，许多家庭教堂和墓地似乎已经关闭，取而代之的是新的公共或教区教堂。研究人员希望了解教区教堂是否位于殖民序列早期建立的著名农场上，或者这些教堂农场是否在基督教皈依后才成为重要的政治和经济中心。该项目将调查位于北极圈以南低地Skagafjordur Hegranes地区的13个农场的定居历史和基督教习俗之间的关系。被掩埋的农场和基督教墓地将使用考古和地球物理调查协议进行系统调查。在400年的研究期间，将收集有关农场位置、建立顺序以及其规模或组织变化的数据。该项目还将系统地调查这些农场上基督教活动的证据，包括墓地或教堂的存在和位置、埋葬日期、墓地和教堂的废弃情况，包括在葬礼停止后继续使用教堂的情况。通过将农场的建立日期和规模与基督教墓地的地理位置进行比较，研究小组将确定早期殖民时期形成的等级制度与后来基督教制度化过程中形成的等级制度之间的关系。

The institutionalization of Christianity in the Middle Ages is one of the fundamental transformations in early European history. This research seeks to understand the connections between the adoption of Christian practices and the development of political power in Iceland between AD 870 and 1300. In about AD 870 the predominately pagan Norse started colonizing the previously uninhabited volcanic island. In AD 1000 Christianity began to replace the widespread pagan beliefs. By 1300, Iceland was dominated by centralized religious and political institutions. Iceland has one of the richest collections of medieval texts and excellent archaeological preservation of Viking Age farmsteads, churches, and cemeteries. This makes research here central to understanding early European history and has the potential to give us insights into the global effects of Christianization in its contemporary context. The project employs geophysical surveying techniques already tested under a previous NSF award, PLR-1242829, "EAGER: Assessing the Reliability of the Geophysical identification of Early Christian Churchyards and Burials in Northern Iceland." The further improvements this project makes in developing geophysical survey protocols, including ground penetrating radar and electromagnetic conductivity, provide for a more cost-effective alternative to traditional excavation and thus, the project has broader applications to archaeological science, forensics, historic preservation, and cultural resource management.Emerging evidence indicates that the Christianization of Iceland took place in two major phases: a popular adoption in the absence of central religious authority, followed by an institutionalization of church communities and hierarchies. Soon after the Christian conversion many individual farmers established household churches and accompanying cemeteries on their own farmsteads. In the 12th century, many of the household churches and cemeteries appear to have been shut down and replaced with new communal or parish churches. The researchers wish to understand if the parish churches were located on prominent farms that were established early in the colonization sequence or whether these church farms became important political and economic centers only after the Christian conversion. The project will investigate the relationship between the settlement history and Christian practices at 13 farms in the Hegranes region of lowland Skagafjordur, just south of the Arctic Circle. Buried farmsteads and Christian cemeteries will be systematically surveyed using archaeological and geophysical survey protocols. Data will be collected on farmstead location, order of establishment, and changes in their size or organization throughout the 400-year period of study. The project will also systematically investigate evidence of Christian practices on these farms, including the presence and location of cemeteries or churches, dates of burials, and abandonment of the cemeteries and churches, including the use of churches after burials ceased. By comparing the farmstead establishment date and size to the geography of the Christian cemeteries, the team will determine the relationship between hierarchies that developed during the early colonization and hierarchies that developed later during the institutionalization of Christianity.