EAGER: Archaeological Investigation of Site Form and Function during the Settlement Period

冰岛是人类最后探索的陆地之一，最早在世纪晚期定居。考古学家通常认为早期的定居点采取了大型集中农场的形式，但越来越多的小型短命遗址的发现挑战了这一模式。这个EAGER项目通过取芯和考古发掘调查了冰岛北部最古老和最早的小遗址之一。其目的是确定人类活动的性质在网站和网站的居民是否生活在富裕的农场独立，并追求替代的生存策略。在早期定居时期发现的小型永久性居住地将改变对最初景观殖民化过程的理解，迫使考古学家重新思考他们对landnám时期社会组织，生存和定居模式的性质的假设。这个早期定居时期遗址的考古研究涉及系统的取芯，以建立文化沉积物的保存，范围和特征。露天挖掘之后进行测试挖沟，以暴露在初始测试期间确定的建筑物，并确定其形式，大小和年龄。对文物、动植物遗骸和土壤样本的收集和综合分析补充了对结构的研究，并提供了对日常活动、生存和居住时间的深入了解。该项目将与当地博物馆合作，让社区成员了解自己的过去。该项目还将为美国大学生提供国际实地考察经验，让他们熟悉测试和挖掘方法以及考古研究中使用的STEM领域。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Iceland, one of the last land masses explored by humans, was first settled in the late ninth century. Archaeologists have generally assumed that early settlement took the form of large, centralized farms, yet discovery of an increasing number of small, short-lived sites challenges this model. This EAGER project investigates one of the oldest and earliest small sites in North Iceland through coring and archaeological excavation. The objective is to determine the nature of human activity at the site and whether site inhabitants lived independent of wealthy farmsteads and pursued alternative subsistence strategies. The discovery of small, permanent habitations during the early settlement period would transform understanding of the process of initial landscape colonization, forcing archaeologists to rethink their assumptions about the nature of social organization, subsistence, and settlement patterns during landnám.Archaeological study of this early settlement-period site involves systematic coring to establish the preservation, extent and character of the cultural deposits. Open-air excavation follows with test trenching to expose the building identified during initial testing and to determine its form, size, and age. Collection and comprehensive analysis of artifacts, plant and animal remains, and soil samples complement study of the structure and provide insight into daily activities, subsistence, and length of habitation. This project will be conducted in association with a local museum, engaging community members in their own past. The project will also provide international fieldwork experience to U.S. university students and familiarize them with testing and excavation methods and with the STEM fields employed in archaeological research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.