ARCH 1870 Environmental Archaeology, Fall 2015 Tuesday and Thursday 1:00-2:20 pm, Location: Rhode Island Hall 108 Instructor: Brett Kaufman [email protected] ARCH 1870 Environmental Archaeology

Brett Kaufman Office Hours: Tuesday, 2:30-4:30 pm Rhode Island Hall 007

This presentation and the images within are for educational purposes only, and are not to be distributed. Cultural Ecology and Political Economy of the North Atlantic Viking Islands (Iceland and Greenland) Cultural Background Political Economy and Cultural Ecology of Viking Iceland, and Review of Byock 2001 Paleoenvironment and Subsistence Practices Foundation and Decline of Viking Age Greenland, and Review of Dugmore et al. 2012

Cultural Background

Chronology Settlement Period Phase, 870-930 AD Development of the Icelandic Free State Phase, 930-1150 AD Big Chieftain Phase, 1150-1262 AD End of Free State, 1262-1944 AD

Kellogg and Smiley 2001 In 860 AD, Harald Fairhair became the first king of Norway. Until this point, autonomous Norse landowning chieftains vied for property and followers and settled their disputes at local legal assemblies (things). In the process of King Harald’s formation of a monarchic state, several landowners and holders of noble titles found themselves at odds with the new king. Instead of capitulating or standing up to an army, they took their chances with their households and migrated to Iceland and several other islands such as the Faroes, Hebrides, Shetlands, and Orkneys.

Norse maritime routes and settlement (Byock 2001) The Viking Age is dated from around 800-1100 AD. Viking society converted in waves from the Norse religion (Odin, Thor, Freyja, elves), to Christianity (King (St.) Olaf in Norway began this process), however many Norse religious traditions persist today such as diverting infrastructure construction away from places believed to be elf habitat. After conversion, the writing system of the Norse shifted from runes to sheepskin parchment (vellum) text. The descendants of early Vikings in Iceland began writing down family histories (sagas).

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/M%C3%B6%C3%B0ruvallab%C3%B3k_f13r.jpg Historical evidence comes from dozens of sagas, but despite comprising one of the largest corpora of Medieval Europe these were largely ignored until recently due to the fact that they were written in Old Icelandic, an uncommon language of scholarship. From the Norwegian side of things, we have the Heimskringla, or the History of the Kings of Norway (however, this was written by Icelander Snorri Sturluson). But to a certain extent, we have both what can be considered insider ethnohistorical documents outlining contemporary and related chieftain and state level societies.

Knörr Viking Age merchant vessel (left, Byock 2001); warships in naval battle formation (right, Hollander 1991 ) Data bias: What does this leave us in the way of reliable historical data? In essence, the sagas are family histories written in the 13th century about their 10th century ancestors, and were at times likely used to bolster 13th century property claims or other ways to improve the standing of the lineage. That being said, much of the data regarding subsistence patterns, available resources, and sociopolitical organization can be gleaned “between the lines.” Furthermore, until recently Icelandic archaeologists largely ignored the historical texts even though many characters are listed in land registry sources such as the landnamabok. It was foreign scholars who fostered a shift toward including the data. Have we seen anything like this before?

Land titles as recounted by the Book of Settlements in Iceland (Byock 2001) Political Economy and Cultural Ecology of Viking Age Iceland and Greenland, and Review of Byock 2001 Byock mentions that Iceland “is a fascinating social laboratory.” This is because it is seen as a prime example for the “chiefdom” level of sociopolitical organization. Viking Iceland was characterized by a lack of a centralized top- down approach, and society was held together instead by respect for law and social consensus. It is a rare instance of colonization that does not involve cultural interaction between two previously unfamiliar groups.

Viking chieftain longhouse and conversion-era church, Mosfell, Iceland (Byock and Zori 2013) Iceland is also an excellent ecological laboratory, because it involved the transplantation of the European Iron Age basket of animal husbandry and limited cereal agriculture to the environmental fringe of where these economic practices could thrive. As we read about, Greenland was the extreme endpoint of this fringe; the Norse agro-technological bundle was eventually unable to withstand climatic fluctuation.

Reconstruction of Mosfell longhouse (Byock and Zori 2013) Byock calls the shift from Norwegian statehood to Icelandic chiefdom a “devolution,” and if we follow Service’s model strictly it is, but in light of what we have learned about “reversions” or “Dark Ages” it may be classified anthropologically more accurately as a culturally-driven adaptation. Elites that had been disenfranchised by a new ideological system (kingship) were forced to renegotiate their standing in the hierarchy and opted for migration.

Excavations of the chiefly longhouse at Mosfell (Byock and Zori 2013) Adapting the Norwegian system of Things (assemblies) but without an executive power, the Althing of Iceland became Europe’s earliest parliament. It had a well-defined body of law, and was divided into four regions. The highest official position was that of Lawspeaker, who tended to be the most respected judicial authority and who could recount the finer points of law for cases brought to the Althing.

http://www.thingsites.com/assets/images/enlargeable/thing-sites/iceland/Thingvellir%2011.jpg Law Rock of the Althing Individual chieftains (godi) and their free farmer allies (thingmenn) had to choose between compromise and violence. The sagas consistently relate that if a contentious legal claim would be brought to the Althing, both sides would try to convince as many thingmenn as possible to ride with them, thereby increasing their odds of forcing a compromise due to the threat of violence.

Man in his mid-40s buried at Mosfell, died from axe or sword wound to the head, radiocarbon dated to saga age, ~950-1025 AD (Byock and Zori 2013) If a verdict was deemed to be unfair, the loser could preemptively or later appeal through a challenging the opponent to a duel, winner take all. From a resource acquisition perspective, this served as a levelling mechanism to greed or abuse of legal precedent, but also shows that those who could not muster allies had diminished access to justice in the eyes of society. After conversion to Christianity, the function of the chieftains remained much the same, with priestly as well as political responsibilities.

(Byock and Zori 2013) Failure to follow the law could result in outlaw status, at which point the outlaw could be killed with impunity. Looking at it another way, the enforcement of the law was left to civilians, without any institutional police or military force.

http://blog.parrikar.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/hlidarendi-1.jpg Gunnar Hámundarson’s homestead at Hlíðarendi with modern church For those of you wanting to work in Iceland… Paleoenvironment and Subsistence Practices Iceland is a volcanic island. The environment is subarctic, with much less timber than Norway meaning most wood had to be imported, in addition to most metal (aside from low grade bog iron ore) and other durable goods. The only habitable zones were the coast and immediate interior, although ritual sacrifice activity is recorded in mountain caves. Caught between the warm North Atlantic Drift and the East Greenland polar current, temperature and weather are often unstable.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Sn%C3%A6fellsj%C3%B6kull_in_the_Morning_(7622876302).jpg Snæfellskjökull volcano There are 200 volcanoes in Iceland, and the soil surface cover sits on top of basaltic bedrock. Abundant moss and lichen lent itself to the construction of turf housing, which served as a water-resistant insulator and also provided sheep the ability to graze on the https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Glaumbaer.jpg roof. Well-built turf houses could last for several generations, and are partially in use today.

https://guidetoiceland.is/image/194997/x/0/bustarfell-turf-house-in-east-iceland-1.jpg The rough winters forced Icelanders to live inside for more than half of the year, which is one of the reasons why they developed such a rich literary tradition (time to write). The volcanic ecology provided more than 250 hot springs, which allowed people to wash themselves and their clothes, boil and steam foods, and also to socialize outdoors in what at times was an otherwise inhospitable environment.

https://thetragiclifeoffrank.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/bluelagoon2.jpg Field mice, arctic foxes, and the occasional stray polar bear were the indigenous mammal life before Norse settlement. The settlers brought dogs, cats, pigs, goats, sheep, cattle, horses (northern variety breed versus later Arabian horses on European mainland), as well as lice, fleas, and dung beetles. The lack of natural predators was a boon to animal husbandry, but within a hundred years of unchecked herd expansion goats and pigs destroyed the grasslands and by 1000 only sheep and cattle were husbanded. It is likely that walrus went extinct soon following Norse settlement.

http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-100415-iceland-volcano/ss-100417-iceland-07.ss_full.jpg Following a severe reduction in island biomass concomitant with Norse settlement, productive decline was compounded as the climate began to become cooler in the 13th century. By the 16th century cereal agriculture became impossible (Dugmore et al. 2012), and lasted this way through the Little Ice Age into the early 18th century.

Greenland ice core temperature history as measured through thermally equilibrated borehole – relative current temperature of ice is used to reconstruct paleotemperature (Dahl-Jensen et al. 1998) The 13th century was also contemporary with the rise of big chieftains. This follows a pattern we have witnessed elsewhere, such as at Tell Leilan and the Maya during which periods of climate change occur coevally with a consolidation of control over surplus production.

(Dahl-Jensen et al. 1998) Deforestation: Hardwood native birch was cleared for charcoal-making, hearths, and the smelting of iron bog. Within one or two generations after settlement only small stands of timber remained, too small for shipbuilding or longhouse construction, and ownership of these stands was contested through violent feuding. Icelanders had to acquire ships through importing wood or defeating other Viking fleets in the summertime. Although the remaining, degraded timber was effectively managed, rangeland degradation following colonization led to some 20,000 square kilometers of eroded soil (Arnalds 1987). A repeated trope in the sagas is Icelanders serving in the Norwegian king’s guard and being paid in enough timber to build a longhouse.

Landnam tephra

After two generations

End of Free State Byock 2001 Icelandic society was rural, without villages or towns. Chiefs would lease out their property to other free people and would collect a percentage of the yield. Sheep and cattle husbandry was the major economic basis on the island. Milked sheep grow inferior wool, so cattle were kept for dairy products.

http://evworld.com/images/icelandic_sheep.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/05/14/article-2628288-1DD6FEF400000578-166_964x625.jpg Hunting-gathering supplemented the agropastoral subsistence base, namely through seals, the abundant bird life with their eggs, and fishing (cod and salmon). Beach ownership conferred rights for drift resources such as wood or beached whales. This mixed agropastoral/hunter-gatherer way of life persisted until the early 19th century. Many farms retain their names and locations through today.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Black-sand-beach-iceland.png One reason that Icelandic sociopolitical organization can be described as “decentralized but hierarchical” is that Icelandic chieftains were environmentally limited in amassing enough surplus that would have enabled them to consolidate enough capital to manipulate labor as other contemporary Scandinavian leaders were able to do at the time, such as Harald Fairhair and later Norwegian kings. From an environmental standpoint, the productive potential of Iceland was too limited for this. From a cultural standpoint, escape from tyranny and individual freedom were part of the societal ethos. Therefore, both environmental and cultural factors operated as prohibitive mechanisms for the development of state-level society. Ranked Icelandic Society Ranked Norwegian society

King

Chieftains Title holders

Free men and women Free men and women

slaves slaves Summertime Viking raids in the British Isles, Russia, or other Scandinavian countries was the means to inject new capital into the economic system. One of the reasons that the Vikings have such a brutal legacy is that before they could write, monks who had their monasteries raided by Vikings would recount the stories and these formed a much more common canon than the later (1200 AD) Old Icelandic texts. The Norwegian Heimskringla and Icelandic sagas often mention Icelanders joining the Norwegian king’s personal bodyguard. The famed Varangian Guard – the personal guard of the Byzantine Emperor in the Grave in Silstadir, Iceland: skeleton Mediterranean – was comprised of of a man with axe, sword, shield Vikings. boss (placed over his head), knife, weights, spear, and skeletons of two horses (Jones 1986). Rise and Collapse of Viking Age Greenland, and Review of Dugmore et al. 2012 According to the Vinland Sagas, In the late 10th century, an Icelander named Eirik the Red sought refuge from blood feuds and explored a recently discovered island that he dubbed Greenland. Recently Iceland had experienced the worst famine since its settlement, and he was able to bring 25 ships with people eager to start a new life (only 14 arrived; Jones 1987).

Dugmore, Kelly, McGovern 2012 Viking Greenland, lasting from around 986-~1450, is usually considered a classic example of failure to adapt to climate change. Dugmore et al. challenge this premise, preferring to conceptualize the Greenland Norse as adapting flexibly for a number of centuries, expanding their traditional ecological knowledge, but ultimately being unable to predict the severity of climate change in the Little Ice Age that resulted in societal extinction. Collapse often has a connotation of what we have been calling acute environmental stresses. The authors instead prefer decline, which more properly aligns with long-term failures to adapt to variable conditions. For the Norse in Greenland, what were their adaptations?

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS583US583&biw=1600&bih=755&noj=1&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=greenland+fjord&oq=greenland+fjord&gs_l=img.3..0j0i8i30j0i24.15 105.15680.0.15805.6.6.0.0.0.0.114.581.4j2.6.0....0...1c.1.64.img..0.6.579.DJX1Mtxjpa8#imgrc=CUGtKBT6-_BKYM%3A Adaptation: In addition to the yields of primary (meat) and secondary (wool, milk) products of sheep and cattle husbandry kept through foddering practices in the winter, Greenland Norse buffered against climatic variability through hunting and gathering caribou, seal, small whales, fish, birds and bird eggs. This is known from archaeological evidence and stable isotope analysis. The shift from terrestrial to marine food over the period 1000-1400 was documented through radiocarbon and stable carbon isotope analysis of 27 human skeletons from Norse Greenland (Arneborg et al. 1999).

Reasons for decline: An early abrupt shift was from fish to seal consumption as measured through archaeology. However, the Greenlanders continued the familiar Norse labor-intensive technique of hunting harbor and harp seals. Contemporary Inuit populations on Greenland ambushed and clubbed bearded and ringing seals through air holes in the ice, but this was not adopted by Greenlanders. This was established through zooarchaeological analysis of seal types (those that use ice holes and those that do not) at various sites. Still, due to the richness in numbers of migratory seals, this method allowed Norse to fill in subsistence gaps for several centuries.

http://www.noraregiontrends.org/uploads/pics/8289884569_de65f45d99_c_02.jpg Symptoms of stress: Both Icelanders and Greenlanders maintained close ties to the Scandinavian mainland, but Greenlanders had an added ability to trade exotic commodities such as walrus tusk and hide, narwhal http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E1b-jlbYGoM/UNC9sBdr-0I/AAAAAAAAIuo/1F4GUaV7CS8/s1600/hvalsey2.png teeth, and even live polar bears. However, an inability to compete through bulk commoditization and trade of dried cod or wool led to an increasing economic marginalization of Greenland. Wealth inequality is also characteristic of Greenland society starting in the 12th century. Iceland sent a bishop to live in Greenland in exchange for a live polar bear, and small, early turf churches eventually led to large, labor- intensive stone churches in the mid-1300s with the church controlling around 2/3 of the best Hvalsey Church (top); Inequality index through land. structure size (bottom, McGovern 1991) The Greenlanders had even less access to construct buildings in the Norse style than the Icelanders. Timber was difficult to acquire, and the Viking settlement in Canada (L’Anse aux Meadows) was all turf. Turf construction in Greenland provided radiocarbon dates for abandonment episodes around the mid-14th century AD.

Radiocarbon dating of abandoned turf roofs from Medieval Greenland, showing mean of mid-14th century for final abandonment. Turf continued to grow after Norse collapse, skewing dates (Buckland et al. 1995) Reasons for decline: Earlier in class The Chimney Effect in traditional Inuit fur we learned of the Inuit clothing as clothing being an effective cultural adaptation to the arctic climate, but there is no evidence showing any type of long- term cooperation between them and the Norse. Historical accounts in Caribou fur 1379 recount violent conflict between microclimate Greenlanders and the Inuit, showing that cultural conflict was the norm, as opposed to hybridity, although one account does show friendship.

►many vented openings through which air constantly flows in and out, which can be released or closed by drawstrings for a variety of conditions ► numerous layers that trap and warm air and act as insulation Arctic hare fur ► stockings windproof, impermeable outside Sealskin boots layer, holding heat in and keeps cold moisture out As fraught with subjectivity as osteological and ancient DNA evidence can be (as we have learned about craniometry), there is no evidence for intermarriage between Greenlanders and Inuit which would have been considered an adaptive strategy due to the socioeconomic ties this would have fostered. Dugmore et al. 2012 consider the fact that the strong group identity amongst the medieval Norse helped them maintain group cohesion to survive. But it also may have ironically precluded intermarriage with non-Christian Inuit. In other words, the ideological basis for cohesion and internal (defined as Norse) subsistence distribution was in this case a prohibitive factor to cultural (and technological) exchange. Decline: Despite several 1500 1000 centuries of the development Organic and of a specific Greenland Norse inorganic output from the GISP2 traditional ecological core as measured knowledge, estimates of through the PCI livestock caloric output (Polar Circulation through modeling byres, Index) provides a barns, and pens with known measure of the medieval stock productivity intensity of polar show that a heavy reliance on atmospheric cell wild resources persisted circulation in throughout the entirety of normalized units. The most Norse settlement. But culling dramatic climate of stock during bad winters fluctuations in the led to an increase in the power past 8000 years of large farmers, as well as was in the 15th triggering a negative feedback century AD cycle back to environmental (Buckland et al. equilibrium (i.e., no sheep or 1995) cattle). This left the entire population susceptible to climatic fluctuations.

These fluctuations were seen on annual or decadal scales, meaning that climatic variability was already high before the Little Ice Age. In the 13th century, cooling meant that the ocean in summertime had ice, limiting navigation greatly (Streeter, Dugmore, Vésteinsson 2012). Even during the warmer settlement era, some historical estimates put transoceanic shipwrecks at upwards of half an outgoing fleet (Griffith 1995). By the late 14th century, the smaller Eastern Settlement had failed meaning the population was contracting. Annual and decadal variability as measured through oxygen and hydrogen isotopes from GISP2 from 1270-1986 AD, showing that 14th century was coldest in Greenland over last 700 years (Barlow et al. 1997) Historical and archaeological accounts give a relatively high level of resolution to specific events relating to the collapse of the settlement. In the early 15th century, scattered historical accounts of travelers mention the difficulty to sail through the ice. In 1410 some trapped Icelanders sailed away and this was the last time anyone saw a Greenland Norse person alive. In the 1480s a papal decree mentioned Greenland and how pitiful its people were although there is no evidence that anyone had been there since 1410, and in 1540 an English voyager was blown off course to Greenland, saw empty houses and one dead person. Danish excavations in the 1950 found everyone buried, except one man in a hallway who may have been the last person alive (Jones 1986).

http://www.mining.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/greenland-embraces-mining-rush-but-wont-favour-one-country-alone.jpg Life in the arctic continues to be affected by climate change. Decadal studies conducted in the mid-20th century on modern Greenland Inuit show that from the warm 1950s to the cooler 1960s, the seal harvest was highly variable. The settlement of Kangek was abandoned in 1973 following a decade of decline.

(McGovern 1991) Corroborates cold streak from 1940-1995 (Dahl-Jensen et al. 1998) In summation, information from the Viking Age North Atlantic is diverse: archaeological, ethnohistorical, and paleoenvironmental. The major components of the economy were pastoralism and maritime commerce.

Pastoralism allowed for the storage of surplus meat and dairy provisions as well as the surplus trade commodity of wool, and maritime commerce permitted trade and cultural contact, as well as the means for acquisition of capital through violence.

Adaptation to island life was achieved through a mixed economy based on herds and hunting-gathering, facilitated through an environmentally sound cultural aversion of intensified surplus production, contrasted with the Norwegian state that did adopt such a surplus system. In other words, sociopolitical tastes converged with environmental determinants to enable Iceland to weather the variability of subarctic conditions through less- exploitative chiefdom economics.

On the other hand, the Greenland Norse, although achieving a type of resilience through relative shifts in subsistence (from pastoralism to hunting- gathering wild resources), failed to alter their range of adaptive behaviors to include cultural exchange with Inuit. This ultimately led to their extinction. Recommended sagas:

Njal’s Saga (legal) Egil’s Saga (violence) Laxdaelar Saga (love triangle)

Egil Skallagrimson? (Byock 1995) Discussion Questions

Jackie

1. “Our own global society uses hugely greater resources than medieval arctic farmers but has yet to show greater resilience or more willingness to expand sources of TEK or the ability to resolve conflicts between climate change and core social ideology." Do you agree with this statement? Is today's society so unwilling to adapt to climate change that it is doomed to extinction?

2. How do you think the events of Norse Icelandic settlement would have changed if indigenous tribes were already inhabiting the island upon their arrival? Do you think their interactions would be similar to those that occurred between the Inuit and Norse colonists in Greenland?

Discussion Questions

Will

1. Dunmore implies that a greater understanding of and willingness to use TEK would enhance modern civilization’s ability to respond to climate change. Can you imagine ways in which this might be true? If not, why?

2. In immigrating to a previously uninhabited island, the Vikings pioneered life on Iceland. How did the Vikings benefit from this blank slate? In the modern world without many of these blank slates, what is the value of studying the Viking culture?