Life on the Edge of the Arctic: The Bioarchaeology of the Keldudalur Cemetery in Skagafjörður, Iceland
Abstract Burials were examined from the late Viking Age early medieval Christian cemetery at the farm of Keldudalur in the Skagafjörður region, Northern Iceland. The cemetery likely served a single household for about 100–120 years, from the beginning of the 11th century AD to the turn of the 12th c...
Published in: | International Journal of Osteoarchaeology |
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crwiley:10.1002/oa.2446 2024-06-02T08:02:39+00:00 Life on the Edge of the Arctic: The Bioarchaeology of the Keldudalur Cemetery in Skagafjörður, Iceland Zoëga, G. Murphy, K. A. National Science Foundation 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/oa.2446 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Foa.2446 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/oa.2446 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor International Journal of Osteoarchaeology volume 26, issue 4, page 574-584 ISSN 1047-482X 1099-1212 journal-article 2015 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2446 2024-05-03T12:06:24Z Abstract Burials were examined from the late Viking Age early medieval Christian cemetery at the farm of Keldudalur in the Skagafjörður region, Northern Iceland. The cemetery likely served a single household for about 100–120 years, from the beginning of the 11th century AD to the turn of the 12th century. Cemetery inhabitants represent a population that lived through the transitional period when Christianity was established in Iceland. The changes are visible in the mortuary record with the changeover from outlying pagan graves to enclosed Christian cemeteries situated on the farmsteads. Keldudalur is one of the numerous early Christian family cemeteries that littered the 11th century Skagafjörður landscape. The burials included 53 well‐preserved skeletons of 27 adults and 26 subadults. Various factors such as fluctuating climate and environmental conditions, and seasonal or periodical availability of resources have the potential for impacting human diet and health over time. To assess the health status of the burials, data were collected for a number of health status indicators such as stature estimation, developmental enamel defects, porotic hyperostosis, infectious disease, trauma, degenerative joint diseases, dental caries, calculus and tooth loss. Results suggest that inhabitants of Keldudalur experienced periodic stress and rigorous living conditions. Infant mortality was great, although if individuals survived childhood, the age expectancy was fairly high. There was no obvious evidence for interpersonal violence or endemic infectious disease. However, the common occurrence of growth disturbances, generalised periostitis, trauma and degenerative joint disease all point to a number of stressors in the lives of the people at Keldudalur, which is suggestive of a resilient people living and adapting to a harsh and periodically resource scarce subarctic environment. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Iceland Subarctic Wiley Online Library Arctic Skagafjörður ENVELOPE(-19.561,-19.561,65.875,65.875) International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 26 4 574 584 |
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Open Polar |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Burials were examined from the late Viking Age early medieval Christian cemetery at the farm of Keldudalur in the Skagafjörður region, Northern Iceland. The cemetery likely served a single household for about 100–120 years, from the beginning of the 11th century AD to the turn of the 12th century. Cemetery inhabitants represent a population that lived through the transitional period when Christianity was established in Iceland. The changes are visible in the mortuary record with the changeover from outlying pagan graves to enclosed Christian cemeteries situated on the farmsteads. Keldudalur is one of the numerous early Christian family cemeteries that littered the 11th century Skagafjörður landscape. The burials included 53 well‐preserved skeletons of 27 adults and 26 subadults. Various factors such as fluctuating climate and environmental conditions, and seasonal or periodical availability of resources have the potential for impacting human diet and health over time. To assess the health status of the burials, data were collected for a number of health status indicators such as stature estimation, developmental enamel defects, porotic hyperostosis, infectious disease, trauma, degenerative joint diseases, dental caries, calculus and tooth loss. Results suggest that inhabitants of Keldudalur experienced periodic stress and rigorous living conditions. Infant mortality was great, although if individuals survived childhood, the age expectancy was fairly high. There was no obvious evidence for interpersonal violence or endemic infectious disease. However, the common occurrence of growth disturbances, generalised periostitis, trauma and degenerative joint disease all point to a number of stressors in the lives of the people at Keldudalur, which is suggestive of a resilient people living and adapting to a harsh and periodically resource scarce subarctic environment. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
author2 |
National Science Foundation |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Zoëga, G. Murphy, K. A. |
spellingShingle |
Zoëga, G. Murphy, K. A. Life on the Edge of the Arctic: The Bioarchaeology of the Keldudalur Cemetery in Skagafjörður, Iceland |
author_facet |
Zoëga, G. Murphy, K. A. |
author_sort |
Zoëga, G. |
title |
Life on the Edge of the Arctic: The Bioarchaeology of the Keldudalur Cemetery in Skagafjörður, Iceland |
title_short |
Life on the Edge of the Arctic: The Bioarchaeology of the Keldudalur Cemetery in Skagafjörður, Iceland |
title_full |
Life on the Edge of the Arctic: The Bioarchaeology of the Keldudalur Cemetery in Skagafjörður, Iceland |
title_fullStr |
Life on the Edge of the Arctic: The Bioarchaeology of the Keldudalur Cemetery in Skagafjörður, Iceland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Life on the Edge of the Arctic: The Bioarchaeology of the Keldudalur Cemetery in Skagafjörður, Iceland |
title_sort |
life on the edge of the arctic: the bioarchaeology of the keldudalur cemetery in skagafjörður, iceland |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/oa.2446 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Foa.2446 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/oa.2446 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-19.561,-19.561,65.875,65.875) |
geographic |
Arctic Skagafjörður |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Skagafjörður |
genre |
Arctic Iceland Subarctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic Iceland Subarctic |
op_source |
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology volume 26, issue 4, page 574-584 ISSN 1047-482X 1099-1212 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2446 |
container_title |
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology |
container_volume |
26 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
574 |
op_container_end_page |
584 |
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1800747124674002944 |