The Norse settlement of the Faroe Islands

• Main Author: Dahl, Sverri
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Archaeology Data Service 2008
• Subjects: Faroe Islands; Norway; Faroes
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5284/1071511; https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/library/browse/details.xhtml?recordId=3188503

Medieval Archaeology, 14, 60-73 : Archaeology supports what we learn from Dicuil and the Sagas about the early settlement of the Faroes. Place-names and cross-slabs of ?8th century tend to confirm the presence of Irish priests, and the Norse settlers of c 800 have been revealed by chance finds and by excavations at farmsteads, typical long, sub-rectangular houses with curving turf-and-stone walls. Their economy was based on farming with fishing and fowling also important. Gravegoods are generally rare but one cemetery yielded a ?10th century Celtic ring-headed pin and a few other metal objects. Trade contacts with the British Isles and Norway are evident from coin-finds. Some shielings have been identified, one of which produced Viking-style pottery.