Icelandic Paleoeconomy Project

麦戈文博士和他的同事们将继续在冰岛的斯瓦尔巴特群岛和其他相关地点进行考古发掘。他将采用广泛的方法，揭示宅基地建筑的轮廓，并通过恢复动物、花卉和其他人工遗迹，研究冰岛北欧居民的生存适应。他将用人种学和文献研究来补充这些数据，并利用古环境数据来重建环境条件不断变化的背景下的适应。在公元800.1000年间，维京时代的斯堪的纳维亚人扩散到北大西洋的岛屿，带来了发达的航海传统和以家畜和一些谷物为基础的自给自足的经济。随着他们进入新的地区，他们对此进行了调整，以包括随时可以获得的野生资源。冰岛的考古学可以揭示这种适应过程，尤其有趣，因为它提供了对人类如何应对边缘环境的洞察。大约从公元1250年开始，一个被称为“小冰期”的重大气候降温开始了。这影响了北欧海盗殖民地，并给当地居民带来了巨大的压力。斯瓦尔巴群岛遗址特别有趣，因为它记录了这一时期，麦戈文博士恢复的数据将为人类如何适应严重的气候压力提供洞察。由于动植物材料保存得很好，详细的生存重建将是可能的。

Dr. McGovern and his colleagues will continue to conduct archaeological excavations at the large and deeply stratified farm midden site of Svalbard and other related sites in Iceland. Adopting a broad scale approach, he will uncover the outlines of homestead buildings and through the recovery of faunal, floral, and other artifactual remains, study the subsistence adaptation of Norse inhabitants of Iceland. He will supplement these data with ethnographic and documentary research and employ paleoenvironmental data to reconstruct adaptation against a backdrop of changing environmental conditions. 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" 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.