Dr. McGovern and his colleagues will continue to conduct archaeological excavations at the large and deeply stratified farm midden site of Svalbard and other related sites in Iceland. Adopting a broad scale approach, he will uncover the outlines of homestead buildings and through the recovery of faunal, floral, and other artifactual remains, study the subsistence adaptation of Norse inhabitants of Iceland. He will supplement these data with ethnographic and documentary research and employ paleoenvironmental data to reconstruct adaptation against a backdrop of changing environmental conditions. Between 800.1000 AD, Viking.age Scandinavian populations spread into the islands of the North Atlantic taking with them a well developed seafaring tradition and a subsistence economy based upon domestic animals and some cereals. As they moved into new regions they adapted this to include wild resources which were readily available. Archaeology in Iceland can shed light on this adaptive process and is especially interesting because it provides insight into how human populations cope in marginal environments. Beginning ca. 1250 AD a significant climatic cooling known as the "Little Ice Age" began. This affected the Viking colonies and placed great stress on local populations. The Svalbard site is particularly interesting because it documents this period and the data which Dr. McGovern recovers will provide insight into how human populations adapt to severe climatic stress. Because faunal and floral material is so well preserved, detailed subsistence reconstruction will be possible.
