Landscape Recreation of Viking-Age Iceland ... : Exploring Uncharted Lands: Recreating Iceland’s Lost Forests ...

• Main Author: Maily, Maria Anna
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The University of Edinburgh 2023
• Subjects: Iceland, settlement, landscape recreation, land cover model, forest; Iceland
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.7488/era/3924; https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/41188

As Norse sailors settled in Iceland, they were faced with a land of ice, fire and forests. Yet Iceland’s landscape is now well-known for lacking trees, a situation which only amplifies the negative effects of climate change and soil erosion. To reverse this situation, efforts are made to plant and grow new forests, but a drop in funding has slowed the progress considerably. To stimulate public engagement, this work therefore proposes to develop a land cover model of Iceland’s past landscape, visualising its natural forests to promote afforestation efforts. This paper first reviews the previous attempts at recreating the pre-Landnám landscape (land take phase of the settlement). Using literature describing the factors contributing to the landscape changes in Iceland, these attempts are discussed to highlight their strength and understand their limitations. Then, using a novel methodology that incorporates soil, wetness and vegetation, a model of the potential current-day land cover of the wider Thingvellir ...