Palynological and Geoarchaeological Evidence for Homefield Formation and Management at a High-Status Norse Farmstead, Vatnsfjörður, NW Iceland

Abstract

Organic-rich soils, developed in-situ over extended time periods, provide an important record of the relationship between societal and environmental change. Here, a palaeoenvironmental record from Vatnsfjörður farm, NW Iceland, one of Iceland’s richest by the late Middle Ages, offers new perspectives on land management adaptations as Norse settlers colonised the pristine Icelandic landscape. Integration of field data, soil micromorphology, and pollen analyses, chronologically constrained using tephrochronology and AMS radiocarbon dating, supported by documentary records, provides insights into the management of wet meadows in Iceland. Such meadows were an essential source of sustained fodder production for over-wintering livestock in an environment with a short growing season and limited soil fertility. The wetland at Vatnsfjörður is unusual in that it formed only after settlement and required significant efforts to maintain productivity capable of withstanding climatic and socio-economic downturns that may have supported the settlement’s wealth and high status. These findings have wider implications for understanding the emergence of resilient and sustainable communities in agriculturally marginal environments.