Understanding the Origins and Institutionalization of Social and Economic Hierarchies through Archaeological Settlement Survey

Few regions in the Arctic experienced the development of social inequalities prior to the modern era. Yet such inequalities emerged in Iceland soon after its initial colonization. This archaeological project explores how and why Hólar in Hjaltadalur, North Iceland, became a powerful social, economic, and religious center during the medieval period.

Rather than studying individual sites in isolation, the proposed regional analysis tracks the sequence of site establishment, habitation and abandonment throughout Hjaltadalur. These broad socioeconomic processes are considered within the local geographic and environmental context of the Hólar site to advance understanding of the factors favoring the development of social hierarchies and centralized power.

This project employs coring, geophysical investigation, and test excavations to develop a settlement sequence for the Hólar area, determining when farms and churches were established, inhabited, and abandoned. Twenty-one farm sites in Hjaltadalur will be tested by coring. The tephrochronology that exists for the valley will facilitate dating, and cores with evidence for human activity will delineate farm perimeters.

Test excavations of middens (trash pits) will establish stratigraphy and provide faunal and floral samples. Historical study of property documents and measures of agricultural productivity will complement archaeological fieldwork. Work at Hólar will provide American students with international field experience and thesis datasets; work with Icelandic faculty and students will foster international collaboration and exchange.

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.