Stora Seyla: a study in settlement archaeology and historical anthropology

• Main Author: Rehberger, Linda H.
• Other Authors: Gilman, Antonio, Marti, Judith, Steinberg, John
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: California State University, Northridge 2006
• Subjects: Dissertations; Academic > CSUN > Anthropology; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/160498

This thesis document shifts in settlement patterns, economics and production that led to differential access to wealth and power in medieval Iceland. Archaeological evidence and historical documents are used to gain a picture of Stora Seyla; the case study that is this thesis. Excavations at the farm Stora Seyla have revealed a shift in settlement that may help to explain the social changes underway in Iceland in the thirteenth century. The oldest structures at the site were found in the lower elevations of the farmstead, clustering at the bottom of the fjord valley. These structures were abandoned before AD. 1104, and new farms, with a change in household structure were situated in the nearby higher elevations of the farmstead. Correlated with a shift in settlement pattern is a shift in economy and the ability to intensify grass production leading to differential access to wealth and, therefore, increased power. Prior work indicates that soil deposition from the Highlands enriched the soil in the Lowlands. Therefore, the household structures at Stora Seyla, were abandoned in the lower elevations and reestablished in the upper elevations so that the abandoned area could be devoted to the enrichment of fields in order to increase the production of grass. Before the primary household moved uphill, their vassals were given nearby tenant farms. The move uphill increased arable land and also served to advertise land ownership, challenging any incoming settlers, whether from Scandinavia or from farms abandoned in the Highlands, to make any attempt at occupying these lands. The case study of the farm at Stora Seyla exemplifies the social changes underway in medieval Iceland in the eleventh century. California State University, Northridge. Department of Anthropology. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 33-34)