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"Society for Medieval Archaeology Student Colloquium 2013 CALL FOR PAPERS The first call fo... more "Society for Medieval Archaeology Student Colloquium 2013

CALL FOR PAPERS

The first call for papers is now open for the Society of Medieval Archaeology Student Colloquium, to be held at the University of Aberdeen, 7-8th November 2013. The event aims to provide a platform for postgraduates and early career professionals to present and discuss their current research. This year’s event will also incorporate a fieldtrip and keynote lectures by Professor Neil Price and Professor Stefan Brink.

Papers from across the medieval period (5th-16th centuries AD) from all geographical areas are welcomed. Papers from subjects other than archaeology but which have a broader medieval significance will also be considered.

Abstracts of no more than 250 words should be sent to medieval.archaeology@googlemail.co.uk. The deadline for all paper abstract and poster submissions is Friday 6th September.

Please see the attached flyer or visit http://www.medievalarchaeology.co.uk/index.php/events/conferences/sma-pg-colloquium-leaflet/ for more details."

Transhumance played a particularly important role in the subsistence economics of small farms in ... more Transhumance played a particularly important role in the subsistence economics of small farms in Scandinavia and the regions colonized by the Norsemen in the Viking Age (for example, the Hebrides, Iceland, Greenland and Faroe Islands). The seasonal
movement of people and milking animals to upland pastures (shielings) influenced the way in which the marginal landscapes were perceived and conceptualized. Living away from the socialized world of the farm and close to the chaotic wilderness could challenge the traditional human-domestic animal dynamics. At shielings, which transcended the boundary between the social and unsocial, humans and their animals were threatened by various supernatural beings and unusual occurrences, which
emphasized their clear separation from ordinary farms. Since one of the main activities undertaken at shielings was milking and processing dairy products, summer farms were strictly the province of women, with the strong taboo against men engaging in these activities in both Scandinavian homelands of the Norsemen and their colonies. Developing one’s identity is closely interwoven with developing gender roles, and women-livestock interdependencies at summer farms must have played an important role in shaping female identity. This paper will draw on a range of evidence: archaeological, historical, ethnographic, and folkloristic to explore the the importance of Viking seasonal human-animal interactions at summer pastures.

Understanding how past societies may have perceived and attached meanings to places and landscape... more Understanding how past societies may have perceived and attached meanings to places and landscapes remains a daunting challenge. Meaning is attached through memory, and memories are often created by movement through, bodily immersion in, and inhabitation of place – by repeated practices that we can gain a sense of from the archaeological record, or by sensual experiences that we can try to understand using phenomenological approaches to the study of places. However, memories are also created through the experience of events, conversations, and emotions – moments of heightened synesthetic awareness that may leave no material traces and which phenomenological approaches provide no access to. Moreover, since new memories are always being created, meanings are in constant flux, and monuments and landscapes will be reinterpreted by each generation. Recent archaeological studies of Viking Age farmsteads and shielings in Iceland incorporated studies of the Icelandic saga literature and folklore material – originally to explore the possibility that these oral/literary sources might incorporate useful information about how pit houses and the buildings at shielings had been used. Instead, we discovered a complex, layered source of ideas about past emotional events and memories connected to these places, which, over generations of oral tradition, became increasingly entangled with the supernatural. Using shielings and pit houses as case studies, this paper explores the connections between saga and folklore material and the potentials and problems of using this material for understanding past meanings of place

Transhumance of livestock away from the home farms during the summer months played an important r... more Transhumance of livestock away from the home farms during the summer months played an important role in the subsistence economics of small farms in Iceland since the settlement in the ninth century. However, the role of summer pastures (shielings) went beyond being an important feature of the farming economy. Shielings were also places which transcended the boundary between the social world of the farm and unknown world of the wilderness, and as such they played an important role in shaping (and breaking of) traditional social relationships. The ambiguity of shielings was reinforced by their association with women whose place was traditionally in the safe and socialized space of innangarðs (‘within the enclosure/inside the fence’) and not in the uncontrolled and dangerous útangarðs (‘outside the fence/enclosure’). At shieling sites women enjoyed immense social freedom, away from the watchful eyes of their male relatives, but at the same time they were also removed from the protection of their families, and according to Íslendingasögur and later folktales they were under constant threat of attack by feuding men, outlaws, and supernatural beings that were believed to have frequented these remote locations. The unclear status of shieling sites and their role in shaping female identity in the Viking and Medieval Iceland will be the main focus of this paper. By examining artefactual assemblages at Viking and Medieval shieling sites and high-resolution sedimentary histories of shieling occupation contextualised against a review of saga and folk literature I will explore the nature of gendered activities at shieling sites and the role of Icelandic women as shieling keepers.

Research into exchange in the Viking Age has traditionally focused on economic, technological, so... more Research into exchange in the Viking Age has traditionally focused on economic, technological, social, and political aspects of this process, with not much attention paid to the role of exchange as an integral part of a seasonal round of activities. This paper approaches exchange in Viking Age Iceland from a temporal perspective, focusing on seasonal patterns of exchange at trading posts and other seasonally occupied sites. I will examine the potential of microscopic analysis of floor surfaces to aid the detection of seasonally occupied sites and to improve our understanding of their role in the everyday exchanges. I will also argue that since these places were útangarðs (‘outside the fence’) their classification was ambiguous, at the boundary between wild and social. This, according to Íslendingasögur, resulted in frequent conflicts and violent exchanges at these liminal places.

Transhumance is believed to have been a common economic practice from at least the Iron Age in pa... more Transhumance is believed to have been a common economic practice from at least the Iron Age in parts of the British Isles, Ireland, and Scandinavia with significant upland pastures, and the seasonal movement of livestock to pastures some distance from the main farm played a particularly important role in the subsistence economics of small farms during the Viking Age/Early Medieval and High Medieval Periods. Historical sources, saga literature and place name evidence strongly suggest that transhumance of livestock away from the home farms during the summer months had been practised in Iceland since the settlement period in the late ninth century, and that it formed an important part of a decentralized farming economy. However, since only three shieling sites dating from the Viking Age have so far been identified and excavated in Iceland, little is known about the size and character of these sites, or the full range of activities that took place in them. This paper examines the potential of microscopic analysis of floor surfaces to aid the detection of seasonally occupied sites and to improve our understanding of livestock management in the Viking Age. For this research, six micromorphological samples were taken from a putative Viking Age shieling site at Pálstóftir in eastern Iceland. The analysis of the samples showed that the floor deposits at Pálstóftir exhibited a pattern of thin, short-term, periodic occupation surfaces, separated by thicker and less compacted accumulations of aeolian sand. This pattern reflects the periods of intermittent occupation of the site, separated by the periods of abandonment, and therefore it is consistent with the interpretation of the site as a periodically occupied shieling. By comparing Pálstóftir with other Norse shielings, the authors place the site in the context of research into Viking Age transhumance economics in Scandinavia and the North Atlantic region, and discuss the potential of micromorphological analysis of occupation surfaces to aid future research on transhumance and other seasonal economic practices in northern, coastal, and desert regions where aeolian sedimentation is commonplace.

Papers by Patrycja Kupiec

Viking Worlds: Things, Spaces and Movement (edited by Marianne Hem Eriksen; Unn Pedersen; Bernt Rundberget; Irmelin Axelsen; Heidi Lund Berg)

This paper examines archaeological and written sources for the shieling activities, the extent to... more This paper examines archaeological and written sources for the shieling activities, the extent to which these may have had a role in the enactment of different genders, and possible attitudes towards shielings in Viking Age and medieval Iceland. By comparing the archaeological, legal, and saga evidence for the separation of infield from outfield, the distances between shielings and farms, and gendered activities, a new picture of summer pasture sites emerges. Archaeological investigations of boundary walls and medieval laws support the notion of the homefield as a demarcated social space separated from the outfield. However, the estimates for average distances between shielings and farms suggest that contact could have been maintained between the two, which stands in contrast to the saga narratives that tend to depict shielings as secluded and dangerous. While the sagas portray shielings as predominantly female domains, the archaeological evidence suggests that some shieling sites were associated with a wide range of activities and genders. The paper concludes with a suggestion that the ambiguous status of shielings may have been only partly due to their physical isolation; even more important may have been the shifting roles and gender identities of the people who used them.

"Society for Medieval Archaeology Student Colloquium 2013 CALL FOR PAPERS The first call fo... more "Society for Medieval Archaeology Student Colloquium 2013

CALL FOR PAPERS

The first call for papers is now open for the Society of Medieval Archaeology Student Colloquium, to be held at the University of Aberdeen, 7-8th November 2013. The event aims to provide a platform for postgraduates and early career professionals to present and discuss their current research. This year’s event will also incorporate a fieldtrip and keynote lectures by Professor Neil Price and Professor Stefan Brink.

Papers from across the medieval period (5th-16th centuries AD) from all geographical areas are welcomed. Papers from subjects other than archaeology but which have a broader medieval significance will also be considered.

Abstracts of no more than 250 words should be sent to medieval.archaeology@googlemail.co.uk. The deadline for all paper abstract and poster submissions is Friday 6th September.

Please see the attached flyer or visit http://www.medievalarchaeology.co.uk/index.php/events/conferences/sma-pg-colloquium-leaflet/ for more details."

Transhumance played a particularly important role in the subsistence economics of small farms in ... more Transhumance played a particularly important role in the subsistence economics of small farms in Scandinavia and the regions colonized by the Norsemen in the Viking Age (for example, the Hebrides, Iceland, Greenland and Faroe Islands). The seasonal
movement of people and milking animals to upland pastures (shielings) influenced the way in which the marginal landscapes were perceived and conceptualized. Living away from the socialized world of the farm and close to the chaotic wilderness could challenge the traditional human-domestic animal dynamics. At shielings, which transcended the boundary between the social and unsocial, humans and their animals were threatened by various supernatural beings and unusual occurrences, which
emphasized their clear separation from ordinary farms. Since one of the main activities undertaken at shielings was milking and processing dairy products, summer farms were strictly the province of women, with the strong taboo against men engaging in these activities in both Scandinavian homelands of the Norsemen and their colonies. Developing one’s identity is closely interwoven with developing gender roles, and women-livestock interdependencies at summer farms must have played an important role in shaping female identity. This paper will draw on a range of evidence: archaeological, historical, ethnographic, and folkloristic to explore the the importance of Viking seasonal human-animal interactions at summer pastures.

Understanding how past societies may have perceived and attached meanings to places and landscape... more Understanding how past societies may have perceived and attached meanings to places and landscapes remains a daunting challenge. Meaning is attached through memory, and memories are often created by movement through, bodily immersion in, and inhabitation of place – by repeated practices that we can gain a sense of from the archaeological record, or by sensual experiences that we can try to understand using phenomenological approaches to the study of places. However, memories are also created through the experience of events, conversations, and emotions – moments of heightened synesthetic awareness that may leave no material traces and which phenomenological approaches provide no access to. Moreover, since new memories are always being created, meanings are in constant flux, and monuments and landscapes will be reinterpreted by each generation. Recent archaeological studies of Viking Age farmsteads and shielings in Iceland incorporated studies of the Icelandic saga literature and folklore material – originally to explore the possibility that these oral/literary sources might incorporate useful information about how pit houses and the buildings at shielings had been used. Instead, we discovered a complex, layered source of ideas about past emotional events and memories connected to these places, which, over generations of oral tradition, became increasingly entangled with the supernatural. Using shielings and pit houses as case studies, this paper explores the connections between saga and folklore material and the potentials and problems of using this material for understanding past meanings of place

Transhumance of livestock away from the home farms during the summer months played an important r... more Transhumance of livestock away from the home farms during the summer months played an important role in the subsistence economics of small farms in Iceland since the settlement in the ninth century. However, the role of summer pastures (shielings) went beyond being an important feature of the farming economy. Shielings were also places which transcended the boundary between the social world of the farm and unknown world of the wilderness, and as such they played an important role in shaping (and breaking of) traditional social relationships. The ambiguity of shielings was reinforced by their association with women whose place was traditionally in the safe and socialized space of innangarðs (‘within the enclosure/inside the fence’) and not in the uncontrolled and dangerous útangarðs (‘outside the fence/enclosure’). At shieling sites women enjoyed immense social freedom, away from the watchful eyes of their male relatives, but at the same time they were also removed from the protection of their families, and according to Íslendingasögur and later folktales they were under constant threat of attack by feuding men, outlaws, and supernatural beings that were believed to have frequented these remote locations. The unclear status of shieling sites and their role in shaping female identity in the Viking and Medieval Iceland will be the main focus of this paper. By examining artefactual assemblages at Viking and Medieval shieling sites and high-resolution sedimentary histories of shieling occupation contextualised against a review of saga and folk literature I will explore the nature of gendered activities at shieling sites and the role of Icelandic women as shieling keepers.

Research into exchange in the Viking Age has traditionally focused on economic, technological, so... more Research into exchange in the Viking Age has traditionally focused on economic, technological, social, and political aspects of this process, with not much attention paid to the role of exchange as an integral part of a seasonal round of activities. This paper approaches exchange in Viking Age Iceland from a temporal perspective, focusing on seasonal patterns of exchange at trading posts and other seasonally occupied sites. I will examine the potential of microscopic analysis of floor surfaces to aid the detection of seasonally occupied sites and to improve our understanding of their role in the everyday exchanges. I will also argue that since these places were útangarðs (‘outside the fence’) their classification was ambiguous, at the boundary between wild and social. This, according to Íslendingasögur, resulted in frequent conflicts and violent exchanges at these liminal places.

Transhumance is believed to have been a common economic practice from at least the Iron Age in pa... more Transhumance is believed to have been a common economic practice from at least the Iron Age in parts of the British Isles, Ireland, and Scandinavia with significant upland pastures, and the seasonal movement of livestock to pastures some distance from the main farm played a particularly important role in the subsistence economics of small farms during the Viking Age/Early Medieval and High Medieval Periods. Historical sources, saga literature and place name evidence strongly suggest that transhumance of livestock away from the home farms during the summer months had been practised in Iceland since the settlement period in the late ninth century, and that it formed an important part of a decentralized farming economy. However, since only three shieling sites dating from the Viking Age have so far been identified and excavated in Iceland, little is known about the size and character of these sites, or the full range of activities that took place in them. This paper examines the potential of microscopic analysis of floor surfaces to aid the detection of seasonally occupied sites and to improve our understanding of livestock management in the Viking Age. For this research, six micromorphological samples were taken from a putative Viking Age shieling site at Pálstóftir in eastern Iceland. The analysis of the samples showed that the floor deposits at Pálstóftir exhibited a pattern of thin, short-term, periodic occupation surfaces, separated by thicker and less compacted accumulations of aeolian sand. This pattern reflects the periods of intermittent occupation of the site, separated by the periods of abandonment, and therefore it is consistent with the interpretation of the site as a periodically occupied shieling. By comparing Pálstóftir with other Norse shielings, the authors place the site in the context of research into Viking Age transhumance economics in Scandinavia and the North Atlantic region, and discuss the potential of micromorphological analysis of occupation surfaces to aid future research on transhumance and other seasonal economic practices in northern, coastal, and desert regions where aeolian sedimentation is commonplace.

Viking Worlds: Things, Spaces and Movement (edited by Marianne Hem Eriksen; Unn Pedersen; Bernt Rundberget; Irmelin Axelsen; Heidi Lund Berg)

This paper examines archaeological and written sources for the shieling activities, the extent to... more This paper examines archaeological and written sources for the shieling activities, the extent to which these may have had a role in the enactment of different genders, and possible attitudes towards shielings in Viking Age and medieval Iceland. By comparing the archaeological, legal, and saga evidence for the separation of infield from outfield, the distances between shielings and farms, and gendered activities, a new picture of summer pasture sites emerges. Archaeological investigations of boundary walls and medieval laws support the notion of the homefield as a demarcated social space separated from the outfield. However, the estimates for average distances between shielings and farms suggest that contact could have been maintained between the two, which stands in contrast to the saga narratives that tend to depict shielings as secluded and dangerous. While the sagas portray shielings as predominantly female domains, the archaeological evidence suggests that some shieling sites were associated with a wide range of activities and genders. The paper concludes with a suggestion that the ambiguous status of shielings may have been only partly due to their physical isolation; even more important may have been the shifting roles and gender identities of the people who used them.