This dissertation improvement grant project will test hypotheses regarding the effects of the Little Ice Age cold period on Icelandic settlements using archaeological data, animal and fish bones, as well as marine molluscs. A baseline study will be made of stable carbon and oxygen isotopes and cadmium/calcium ratios in shells reflective of changes in local water temperatures and salinity in the North Atlantic. These studies are expected to provide climatic data of direct relevance to questions of economic change on Iceland and contribute to current research on global climate change.
