Iceland's Networked Society

Tara Carter, Ph.D. (2010), University of California, San Diego is an archaeologist and recent postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University.

• ContentsAcknowledgements ixList of Figures xiiList of Tables xv1 Examining the Process of Secondary State Development in Iceland 11.1 Defining a Secondary State 11.2 Only by Looking Far Will Things Become Clear: Situating theIcelandic Case within a Broader Viking Age Perspective 101.3 The Norse in Iceland 162 Environmental Constraints and the Development of an AutonomousSecondary State 282.1 Insular Communities and Island Environments: AutonomousSecondary State Formation 302.2 The Physical Landscape 382.3 Land Degradation and the Norse Colonization of Iceland 402.4 Land Productivity in Skagafjörður 532.5 Discussion 632.6 Conclusions on Iceland as an Autonomous Secondary State 663 The Norwegian World System: Hegemonic Colonial Secondary StateFormation 693.1 Out on the Frontier: Models of Secondary State Formation inColonial Settings 713.2 The Icelandic Sagas: Sources of Evidence, Sources of Contention 763.3 Is the Spade Mightier Than the Pen? 813.4 The Ability of Text to Reflect Reality 843.5 The Power of the Oral Tradition 873.6 The Social Reality of Medieval Iceland Represented in Text andArchaeological Remains 903.7 Conclusions on Iceland as a Hegemonic Colonial Secondary State 1024 Examining the Economic Dimensions of Early Icelandic Society:A Proposed Methodology for Multiregional Settlement PatternAnalysis 1044.1 Settlement Pattern Research in Iceland and Regional NetworkAnalysis 1074.2 Environmental Setting of Skagafjörður 1124.3 Research Methodology 1144.4 Intensive Survey of Hjaltadalur and Viðvíkursveit 1224.5 Conclusion 1285 The Archaeological Survey of Hjaltadalur and Viðvíkursveit 1295.1 Environmental Setting of the Research Area: Hjaltadalur andViðvíkursveit 1305.2 Research Design of the Hjaltadalur and Viðvíkursveit Survey 1315.3 The Ás Territory 1385.4 The Hof Territory 1455.5 The Viðvík Territory 1805.7 General Settlement Trends for Hjaltadalur and Viðvíkursveit 2356 From Independent Traders to Dependent Tenants: Reflections of anEconomic Landscape in Skagafjörður 2396.1 Models for Understanding the Medieval Economy in Iceland 2406.2 Results of the Skagafjörður Landscape Project 2486.3 Organizing the Landscape: Evaluation of the Three ProposedEconomic Models 2586.4 Phase I: A Viking Age Economy, 870–1000/50 A.D. 2596.5 Phase II: A Medieval Economy, 1050–1300 A.D. 2696.6 Phases III and IV: A Secondary State Operating under an EcclesiasticalEconomy 2926.7 Conclusion 3017 The Formation of a Synergistic Secondary State in the NorseEconomic Territory 3047.1 Synergistic Secondary State Formation 3057.2 Archaeological Correlates and Application of the SynergisticSecondary State Model 3117.3 The Social Structure of Scandinavia 3157.4 Social Structure and Ecology of Pre-State Iceland 3197.5 Social Structure and Ecology of Sturlunga Age Iceland and theEmergence of a State Society 3227.6 Rethinking State Formation in Iceland 327Bibliography 331Index 363