Land: Its Organisation and Management at Norse Hofstaðir

• Main Authors: Simpson, Ian, Adderley, W Paul, Thomson, Amanda M, Gudmundsson, Gardar, Vésteinsson, Orri, Friđriksson, Adolf, McGovern, Thomas H
• Other Authors: Lucas, Gavin, Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, Institute of Archaeology, Iceland, City University of New York, orcid:0000-0003-2447-7877, orcid:0000-0001-5552-1696
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Institute of Archaeology, Iceland 2009
• Subjects: Soil; Iceland; Land; Micromorphology; Modelling; Evaluation; Geoarchaeology; Land settlement patterns Iceland; Archaelogical geology; Hofstaðir
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1893/2368; http://www.instarch.is/instarch/english/publication/monograph_series/hofstadir/; http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/2368/1/Hof_volume_chapter7.pdf

Land, its organisation and management as well as its intrinsic quality are little understood aspects of the settlement process in Iceland. Yet an understanding of the concept and significance of land is vital if we are to recognise the way in which environmental resources were used to create and maintain social structures, the role of management decisions in setting new directions of environmental change, and the adoption and adaptation of land management strategies to sustain food production. Organisation of land was needed to ensure the requirements of grazing domestic livestock (dominantly sheep, cattle and cows) and access to fuel resources were met in order to provide foundations for subsistence and local economies.