Authors
Ramona Harrison, R Maher
Publication date
2014/10/8
Journal
Long-term Human Ecodynamics in the North Atlantic: An Archaeological Study. Lexington Publishers, Lanham, Maryland
Pages
117-136
Description
The relationship between landscape change and demographic changes is a major aspect of the study of human ecodynamics; another question is the response of humans to changing climatic conditions (eg, Crumley 1994; Walker and Salt 2006; Dugmore et al. 2012; Streeter et al. 2012). Discussing results from recent archaeological excavations in North Iceland, this chapter examines the inter-relationship of the coastal medieval seasonal trading center Gásir and the surrounding landscape. Settlement history and economic evidence are provided for the Eyjafjörður-Hörgárdalur valley systems from Viking Age to early Modern periods, with special focus upon the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries. Making use of multi-site investigations within a clearly defined landscape, this largely zooarchaeological and environmental history-based research seeks to provide better insight into the complex interactions of local and regional climate on regional economic and social changes between the Viking Age and the High Middle Ages. By understanding the sea as a connecting entity, the potential links between local sites and economic processes to the wider North Atlantic economy of the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries’“proto-world system” are argued by proposing a set of factors potentially indicative of the impact that international trade may have had on the Eyjafjörður-Hörgárdalur landscape and farmers as part of the Gásir community (Abu-Lughod 1989; Harrison et al. 2008; Harrison 2013). Despite the constant need in the field of archaeology for more work in the future to fill gaps in the research, the current results available provide excellent conditions for …
Total citations
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Scholar articles
R Harrison, R Maher - Long-term Human Ecodynamics in the North Atlantic …, 2014