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Project Details: Skútustaðir Excavation


Project Description

Parent ProjectMývatn Landscapes Project
Title: Skútustaðir Excavation
Description Skútustaðir is an active farm and hotel center on the south side of Lake Myvatn. It figures in sagas as the home of "Killer Skuta", an early chieftain, and historically was one of two parish church centers in the Myvatn area and has remained one of the most prosperous farms down to modern times. In 2007 Dr. Arni Einarsson of the nearby Myvatn Science Center noticed animal bones and charcoal eroding from previously unsuspected midden deposits south of the present farm dwellings. Follow up work by collaborating FSI and NABO teams (led by Orri Vesteinsson, Agusta Edwald, Tom McGovern, George Hambrecht, Ian Simpson and Astrid Ogilive) in 2007 and 2008 has revealed a deeply stratified set of midden deposits with excellent organic preservation. Test trenches in 2008 have allowed for collection of ecofacts and artefacts datable by a combination of tephra and AMS C14 from first settlement (cultural deposits are directly upon the AD 871+/-2 Landnám tephra) down to the late 19th c. Analysis is still in preliminary stages and a much larger excavation is planned for 2009-10, but initial results suggest some significant changes in economy through time, including a surprisingly substantial amount of seal bones deposited post-1477 (Skútustaðir is about 60 km from the sea).
Keywords:Skutustadir
Iceland
Zooarchaeology
Sponsors/Funders US National Science Foundation (both Arctic Social Sciences and HSD), RANNIS, CUNY
Country Iceland
Region Mývatnssveit
Project Start Year 2007
Project End Year Ongoing

Project Contact

Contact: Megan Hicks
Address Hunter College Anthropology,695 Park Ave, NYC NY
Postcode 10065
Telephone 9177444795
Email meganthicks@gmail.com

Project Content

Photo of profile of Unit D at Skutustadir
Photo of profile of Unit D at Skutustadir, two tephra horizons (1717 and 1477) are present in this section. Photo Agusta Edwald 2008.
Öskuhaugsrannsóknir á Skútustöðum í Mývatnssveit 2008 - Framvinduskýrsla I
A part of a midden in Skútustaðir was excavated. Two trenches were opened up and in addition an open profile which had been cleaned previously was moved back and an area behind it excavated. The midden proved to be extensive, up to 1,5 m deep and contains cultural layers from modern times back to the settlement period. It is well stratified, thanks to several tephra layers . Bones are well preserved and have already provided an interesting insight into the development of the Skútustaðir farm throughout the centuries. Excavations will continue over the next summers.
Excavations at Skútustaðir, Mývatn Northern Iceland: Preliminary Field Report After the Excavation Season June – July 2010
In 2007 a joint FSÍ/CUNY NABO team, conducting a coring and test trenching survey, visited Skútustaðir following the discovery of a patch of eroding midden, noted by Árni Einarsson ( of the Mývatn Research Station). Investigations in 2008, lead by Agusta Edwald and Thomas H. McGovern, followed up on the 2007 results with a set of test trenches. The three 2008 test units (D, E1&2, and F) located midden deposits with excellent organic preservation and multiple tephra horizons. Artifacts recovered and tephra observed in area D indicate that the deposits sampled date from ca....
Midden Excavations at Skútustaðir N. Iceland, 2011
Excavations have been ongoing at the N. Icelandic farm, Skútustaðir, since 2008 as an outgrowth of the Landscapes of Settlement project. The major objective of the 2011 excavation season at Skútustaðir was to complete the excavation of an already begun, large Trench, Area H (measuring 8.36 x 4 meters) by continuing the excavation down to the natural bedrock surface. This was completed by a four person team from CUNY and FSI directed by Adolf Friðrikson, with Francis Feeley, George Hambrecht and Megan T. Hicks (of CUNY, Ph.D. Program in Archaeology). The archaeological deposits...
Archaeoentomological investigations at Skútustaðir, Mývatnssveit, N-Iceland
This describes the sampling methodology that was used for the collection of bulk samples for archaeoentomology during the summer of 2008, and discusses the results of the preliminary analysis undertaken in 2009-2010. King G. & Forbes V. (2010) Archaeoentomological investigations at Skútustaðir, Mývatnssveit, N-Iceland. Université Laval.
Working register October 2008
This is a working register which we are using both as a digital backup/ equivalent for the paper site files and a way to share C14 and phasing information as the analysis progresses. The C14 and matrix data here supplement and update some of the statements made in the preliminary report. We will update this file as the analysis progresses. Contact Tom McGovern thomas.h.mcgovern@gmail.com for updates.
Working spreadsheet with digital versions of the site - December 2008
This is a working spreadsheet with digital versions of the site registers and annotated profiles with the dating evidence and the working Harris matrix for the excavation areas. This will be updated regularly. Comments and suggestions on format very welcome. Contact Tom McGovern thomas.h.mcgovern@gmail.com
Excavations at Skútustaðir, N. Iceland 2013 Preliminary Report
The purpose of the 2013 excavation was to recover additional animal bone, artifacts and botanical samples - from the Middle Ages, roughly AD 1000-1500. To accomplish this, an excavation area E4, a 5 x 5 m trench, was opened adjacent to a previous area E3, investigated in 2010. It was hoped that the new area E4 would contain a continuation of the same deposits of previously found material dating to the Middle Ages. Midden material including animal bone, hearth sweepings, discarded household objects, and discarded turf from this phase were indeed identified and samples revocered. Density of...
Initial Field Report: Skútustaðir Midden Investigations , Mývatn, Northern Iceland 2008
This is the initial post-season report, it will be updated (we now have tephra and C14 dating and some initial bones analysis done). Contact Tom McGovern nabo@voicenet.com
Walking on eggshells? Millennial-scale sustainable community management
A new article on the www.futureearth.org website discuss the NABO communities research into over 1000 years of sustainable natural resource management of waterfowl around lake Mývatn, Iceland. Written by Árni Einarsson, Megan Hicks, Kesara Anamthawat–Jónsson and Tom McGovern. Archaeological excavations of a midden at Skútustaðir has revealed large numbers of egg shell fragments in contact with the well dated Landnám (871±2 CE) tephra layer. This demonstrates that sustainable egg collection and water fowl began as soon as the first settlers colonised this area.
Initial Field Report for the 2009 Skútustaðir Midden Investigations
Initial Field Report for the 2009 Skútustaðir Midden Investigations, Mývatn, Northern Iceland.
Skútustaðir: An Interim Zooarchaeological Report following the 2009 Field Season.
This NORSEC report presents the initial findings of zooarchaeological work carried out since the 2009 field season at Skútustaðir, Mývatn, Iceland.


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