Preliminary Report: Evaluating the Potential of Archaeogeophysical Surveying on Viking Age and Medieval Sites in Greenland, 2 – 16 August, 2010

The primary goal of this research is to begin to overcome biases in the Greenlandic Norse archaeological record. Assessing the establishment dates and organization of Norse sites in Greenland is difficult because substantial cultural deposits can be hidden under deep windblown sand deposits as well as later occupations. Shallow geophysical methods were used to help recover information on the nature, extent and depth of subsurface cultural deposits. Assessing these site characteristics is a first step in overcoming the bias towards the later, the larger, and the more visible sites in the archaeological record. Norse Greenland presents a relatively visible medieval landscape with many ruins preserved on the surface. Survey archaeologists have taken advantage of these conditions to do comprehensive surveys of Norse settlements producing inventories of farm buildings and settlements (Guldager, et al. 2002; Keller 1990). Coring surveys and excavation at known sites have demonstrated that some sites are buried under significant aeolian deposits and that areas within many other sites can be deep and contain ruins that are not visible on the surface. In many cases Viking Age deposits cannot be accessed by archaeological excavation, as this would damage later occupational phases. In these cases, application of archeogeophysics may be the only way to assess this unique cultural history. The identification, characterization, and dating of these subsurface architectural remains are critical to systematic survey programs and to the production of regional settlement patterns and chronologies that can help explain the ecological and political dynamics of Norse colonization, land use, and the eventual demise of Norse Greenland. Over the past 10 years the Skagafjörður Archaeological Settlement Survey (SASS) has developed an intensive subsurface survey protocol to systematically recover, date, and characterize Viking Age landscapes in Iceland. While we believe the SASS subsurface protocol can be effective in Greenland there are many questions that must be resolved before any wide-scale application of the methods can be developed. The project set out to address two basic questions: (1) what is the actual subsurface record at Norse sites, and (2) which methods work best and how are they most effectively employed? In this initial investigation, we tested and adapted this protocol to conditions in Greenland. We hope that the preliminary test of these methods will significantly expand the range of sites and periods accessible to researchers working in Greenland and allow for new questions regarding the long-term political and environmental histories of the region. The successful integration of archaeogeophysics with archaeological survey and excavation will result in a more holistic approach to the preservation of Norse archaeological sites in Greenland. These sites suffer from increased modern impacts resulting from mineral exploitation, sheep farming, and tourism. Additionally, there is now total summer sub-surface thaw and conditions that were once ideal for preserving organic remains are now deteriorating, especially in well-drained areas. In the coming years the Greenland National Museum will begin a program of scheduling and protecting some of these sites. We believe that the application of archaeogeophysics could be a great asset in determining which sites are in danger and worthy of preservation

Beyond the farmstead: the role of dispersed dwellings in the settlement of Iceland

Norse farms of the Viking Age were organised in diverse ways, and adaptable to the variety of geographic, social, and ecological circumstances throughout Scandinavia and the Norse diaspora. Scandinavian farms show a range of dispersed infrastructure, including outfields, shielings, and specialised sites. Early settlers in Iceland also exploited the hinterland; however, settlement archaeology in Iceland has focused primarily on farmhouses, and few targeted investigations have taken place beyond the farmstead. Recent archaeological work has revealed numerous small, continuously occupied dwellings beyond core farmstead areas. These sites were part of the earliest settlement and included a wide range of productive activity but do not appear to be specialised, seasonal camps or standalone farms. These sites do not fit into existing categories of habitation, seasonality, or land use derived from analogies to later history. The settlement of Iceland was therefore characterised by different patterns of land use and farm organisation than later periods, including a distributed network of farm and non-farm dwellings. These sites appear to have played a transient but critical role in the settlement process.publishedVersio

Keflavík on Hegranes: Cemetery Excavation—Interim Report2015

The summer of 2015 was the first of three planned years of excavations at the early Christian cemetery at farm Keflavík on Hegranes in the region of Skagafjörður, North Iceland. The excavation is the third phase of Skagfirska kirkjurannsóknin (Skagafjörður Church Project) and is a collective effort of the Skagafjörður Heritage Museum and the Fiske Center of the University of MassachusettsBoston. The collective project goes by the name Skagafjörður Church and Settlement Survey (SCASS). The excavation season started on the 6thof July and finished on the 14thof August. The first two weeks were spent cleaning the surface and removing a 20thcentury rubbish heap overlying the western part of the cemetery, the actual cemetery excavation extended over four weeks

Hegranesþing on Hegranes: Geophysical Prospection Interim Report 2013 – 2015

Geophysical surveys were conducted at Hegranesþing on Hegranes in North Icelad during the summers of 2013 and 2015

Reviews

Bankrupt Education: The decline of liberal education in Canada by Peter C. Emberley and W.R. Newell, reviewed by L.M. Findlay. International Education and the University edited by Jessica Kingsley and James Callej, reviewed by Wayne Ingalls. Higher Education: The lessons of experience by The World Bank, reviewed by Wayne Ingalls. First Nations Education in Canada: The Circle Unfolds edited by Marie Battiste and Jean Barman, reviwed by Douglas Smith. Heritage Languages and Education edited by Marcel Danesi, Keith McLeod and Sonia Morris, reviewed by Jo-anne Lee. Aboriginal Languages and Education: The Canadian Experience edited by Sonia Morris, Keith McLeod, and Marcel Danesi, reviewed by Marie Battiste. Educational Management and Leadership: World, Spirit, and Deed for a Just Society by D.J. Thom, reviewed by Merla Bolender. Literacy and Power: The Latin American Battleground by David Archer and Patrick Costello, reviewed by Susan E. Smith. The Future of Literacy in a Changing World edited by Daniel Wagner, reviewed by J. Kachur. New Directions for Equity in Mathematics Education edited by W.G. Secada, E. Fennema, and L.B. Adajian, reviewed by B.S. Randhawa