Land in Landscapes circum Landnám: an Integrated Study of Settlements in Reykholtsdalur, Iceland
The initial settlement of Iceland in the ninth and tenth centuries AD was based on animal husbandry, with an emphasis on dairy cattle and sheep. For this activity, land resources that offered a range of grazing and fodder production opportunities were required to sustain farmsteads. In this paper th...
Published in: | Journal of the North Atlantic |
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Language: | English |
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Humboldt Field Research Institute, Eagle Hill Foundation
2008
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1893/522 https://doi.org/10.3721/070420 http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-archive&issn=1935-1933 http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/522/1/Sveinbjar-J0NA.pdf |
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ftunivstirling:oai:dspace.stir.ac.uk:1893/522 2024-06-02T08:08:33+00:00 Land in Landscapes circum Landnám: an Integrated Study of Settlements in Reykholtsdalur, Iceland Sveinbjarnardottir, Gudrun Simpson, Ian Thomson, Amanda M University College London Biological and Environmental Sciences University of Stirling orcid:0000-0003-2447-7877 2008 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1893/522 https://doi.org/10.3721/070420 http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-archive&issn=1935-1933 http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/522/1/Sveinbjar-J0NA.pdf en eng Humboldt Field Research Institute, Eagle Hill Foundation Sveinbjarnardottir G, Simpson I & Thomson AM (2008) Land in Landscapes circum Landnám: an Integrated Study of Settlements in Reykholtsdalur, Iceland. Journal of the North Atlantic, 1 (1), pp. 1-15. http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-archive&issn=1935-1933; https://doi.org/10.3721/070420 http://hdl.handle.net/1893/522 doi:10.3721/070420 http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-archive&issn=1935-1933 833746 http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/522/1/Sveinbjar-J0NA.pdf Made available in the repository by kind permission of the publisher: Humboldt Field Research Institute, Eagle Hill Foundation Journal Article AM - Accepted Manuscript 2008 ftunivstirling https://doi.org/10.3721/070420 2024-05-07T04:30:11Z The initial settlement of Iceland in the ninth and tenth centuries AD was based on animal husbandry, with an emphasis on dairy cattle and sheep. For this activity, land resources that offered a range of grazing and fodder production opportunities were required to sustain farmsteads. In this paper the nature of land within the boundaries of settlements in an area of Western Iceland centred on Reykholt, which became the estate of the writer and chieftain Snorri Sturluson in the thirteenth century, is analysed with a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) approach. The results, combining historical, archaeological and environmental data with the GIS-based topographic analysis suggests that although inherent land qualities seem to have played a part in shaping the initial hierarchy of settlement in the area, it was the acquisition of additional property and of access to resources outside the valley that ultimately pushed Reykholt to the forefront in the hierarchal order. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland University of Stirling: Stirling Digital Research Repository Reykholt ENVELOPE(-19.832,-19.832,64.152,64.152) Journal of the North Atlantic 1 1 15 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Stirling: Stirling Digital Research Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivstirling |
language |
English |
description |
The initial settlement of Iceland in the ninth and tenth centuries AD was based on animal husbandry, with an emphasis on dairy cattle and sheep. For this activity, land resources that offered a range of grazing and fodder production opportunities were required to sustain farmsteads. In this paper the nature of land within the boundaries of settlements in an area of Western Iceland centred on Reykholt, which became the estate of the writer and chieftain Snorri Sturluson in the thirteenth century, is analysed with a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) approach. The results, combining historical, archaeological and environmental data with the GIS-based topographic analysis suggests that although inherent land qualities seem to have played a part in shaping the initial hierarchy of settlement in the area, it was the acquisition of additional property and of access to resources outside the valley that ultimately pushed Reykholt to the forefront in the hierarchal order. |
author2 |
University College London Biological and Environmental Sciences University of Stirling orcid:0000-0003-2447-7877 |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sveinbjarnardottir, Gudrun Simpson, Ian Thomson, Amanda M |
spellingShingle |
Sveinbjarnardottir, Gudrun Simpson, Ian Thomson, Amanda M Land in Landscapes circum Landnám: an Integrated Study of Settlements in Reykholtsdalur, Iceland |
author_facet |
Sveinbjarnardottir, Gudrun Simpson, Ian Thomson, Amanda M |
author_sort |
Sveinbjarnardottir, Gudrun |
title |
Land in Landscapes circum Landnám: an Integrated Study of Settlements in Reykholtsdalur, Iceland |
title_short |
Land in Landscapes circum Landnám: an Integrated Study of Settlements in Reykholtsdalur, Iceland |
title_full |
Land in Landscapes circum Landnám: an Integrated Study of Settlements in Reykholtsdalur, Iceland |
title_fullStr |
Land in Landscapes circum Landnám: an Integrated Study of Settlements in Reykholtsdalur, Iceland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Land in Landscapes circum Landnám: an Integrated Study of Settlements in Reykholtsdalur, Iceland |
title_sort |
land in landscapes circum landnám: an integrated study of settlements in reykholtsdalur, iceland |
publisher |
Humboldt Field Research Institute, Eagle Hill Foundation |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1893/522 https://doi.org/10.3721/070420 http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-archive&issn=1935-1933 http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/522/1/Sveinbjar-J0NA.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-19.832,-19.832,64.152,64.152) |
geographic |
Reykholt |
geographic_facet |
Reykholt |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_relation |
Sveinbjarnardottir G, Simpson I & Thomson AM (2008) Land in Landscapes circum Landnám: an Integrated Study of Settlements in Reykholtsdalur, Iceland. Journal of the North Atlantic, 1 (1), pp. 1-15. http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-archive&issn=1935-1933; https://doi.org/10.3721/070420 http://hdl.handle.net/1893/522 doi:10.3721/070420 http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-archive&issn=1935-1933 833746 http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/522/1/Sveinbjar-J0NA.pdf |
op_rights |
Made available in the repository by kind permission of the publisher: Humboldt Field Research Institute, Eagle Hill Foundation |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3721/070420 |
container_title |
Journal of the North Atlantic |
container_volume |
1 |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
15 |
_version_ |
1800753851009073152 |