Urbanization in Reykjavík: Post-Medieval Archaeofauna from the Downtown Area

Harrison, Ramona; Snæsdóttir, Mjöll

doi:10.3721/037.004.m501

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Mobbs and Dvorak 2007;Shepard et al 2015;Geber and Hammer 2018), although numerous other factors may lead to its pathological change. The higher prevalence observed in the 17 th -19 th century assemblages (43%) than in the 13 th -16 th century (22%) and 11 th -12 th century (16%) assemblages may reflect a combination of factors including the richer, more varied diet that the upper class consumed (see Jónsson 1998), genetic drift (see Ebenesersdóttir et al 2018), the diversification of occupations occurring during the urbanization of Reykjavík (see Harrison and Snaesdóttir 2013;Hayeur-Smith et al 2018) and environmental fluoride contamination from the Skaftáreldar fires (Lakí) of 1783-1784 AD (see Steingrímsson 1998;Halldórsson 2013). Ossification of the ligamentum flavum was observed in 23.6% of male and 15.6% of female thoracic vertebrae in a medieval sample (900-1000 AD) from Poland (Swedborg 1974).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hidden dangers? Investigating the impact of volcanic eruptions and skeletal fluorosis in medieval Iceland

Walser

Gowland

Desnica

et al. 2020

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Volcanic emissions are known to be a serious source of pollution to humans and animals. This study aimed to examine the possible health burden of fluoride (F) exposure from volcanic eruptions in the past. Osteological analyses were performed on 186 skeletons from seven sites across Iceland with the aim of identifying skeletal changes potentially associated with osteofluorosis. Additionally, ion selective electrode (ISE) was used to investigate possible correlations between skeletal lesions and bone fluoride concentrations in a subset of skeletons (n=50) from two of these sites, Skriðuklaustur in Fljótsdalur and Skeljastaðir in Þjórsárdalur. The results showed that pathological markers or skeletal changes increased according to age across all investigated time periods and geographical regions but likely not due to significant fluoride exposure. The fluoride concentration range was 223-4370 ppm (mean= 2324±1067 ppm) at Skriðuklaustur (n=36) while at Skeljastaðir (n=14) the range was 223-3030 ppm (mean= 1366±937 ppm). The pathological changes noted in this study are thus more likely to relate to the environment, population dynamics, culturally mediated behaviours and increasing urbanisation than serious fluoride contamination. Therefore, volcanic emissions appear to have only substantially affected those living within the closest vicinity of actual eruption events. It may be vital to not only consider the severity of the immediate effects of volcanic pollution but also to reinforce socioeconomic circumstances and disaster preparation in regions with environmental hazards.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hidden dangers? Investigating the impact of volcanic eruptions and skeletal fluorosis in medieval Iceland

Walser

Gowland

Desnica

et al. 2020

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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“…Previous research has argued that these sites in the developing center of early Reykjavík had two processes at work producing their assemblages: production and provisioning/consumption. As these two sites are located in the first urban center in Iceland, they were both located in a context that involved both large-scale fish processing and a level of consumer population density around early weaving mills that required more extensive provisioning of workers (Harrison and Snaesdóttir, 2013).…”

Section: Butchery Patterns: Household Provisioning Versus Export Prod...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In part, this is due to the fact that since the nineteenth century, the Settlement (ca. AD 870–930) and the Commonwealth (AD 930–1262) periods have dominated the archaeology of Iceland (Friðriksson, 1994; Hambrecht, 2012; Harrison and Snæsdóttir, 2013). Paralleling this, the community of researchers interested in the archaeology of the North Atlantic cod trade has tended to focus on the origins of the trade and its spread throughout Europe in the medieval period (Perdikaris, 1999; Enghoff, 2000; Barrett et al, 2004a, 2004b, 2011; Dobney and Ervynck, 2007; Orton et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A millennium of Icelandic archaeological fish data examined against marine climate records

et al. 2019

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This article combines new marine fish faunal data from medieval and early modern Icelandic archaeological sites with previously published data that focused primarily on the Settlement and Commonwealth periods. This synthesis places these new data into the larger scale of Icelandic history and marine conditions (sea-surface temperature and sea ice) to identify patterns and trends across the last 1000 years of the relationship between humans and Icelandic cod populations. We find no direct correlation between zooarchaeological patterns and sea ice or storminess in the medieval period and a possible correlation in the early modern period. We argue that this suggests a nuanced relationship between changing climates and fishing patterns in Icelandic history. While changes in sea temperature and periods of increased storminess might have made fishing productivity more variable and at times more dangerous, it is only in the early modern period that we see change in the marine zooarchaeological record that might indicate a correlation. Instead, we contend that the impacts of the changing climate relative to marine resources were mediated by social, political, economic, and even technological variables.

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“…For the Late Medieval and Early Modern Periods, this process is well illustrated by the archaeofauna still under analysis from the site of Gufuskalar in Iceland (Feeley, in process). Finally, for analyses of this process in the Early Modern Period the sites of Gufuskálar, Finnbogastaðir (Edvardsson et al 2004), Skutastaðir (Hicks and Harrison 2008;Hicks 2011;Sayle et al 2013), and Tjarnagata 3c (Perdikaris et al 2002;Harrison and Snaesdóttir 2012) in Iceland are especially relevant (for more general discussion on commoditization in early modern Iceland see Hambrecht 2012).…”

Section: Heads Versus Tailsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical Archaeologies of Capitalism

2015

Contributions to Global Historical Archaeology

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Urbanization in Reykjavík: Post-Medieval Archaeofauna from the Downtown Area

Cited by 6 publications

References 6 publications

Hidden dangers? Investigating the impact of volcanic eruptions and skeletal fluorosis in medieval Iceland

Hidden dangers? Investigating the impact of volcanic eruptions and skeletal fluorosis in medieval Iceland

A millennium of Icelandic archaeological fish data examined against marine climate records

Historical Archaeologies of Capitalism

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