article
Stratification without a state: the collapse of the Icelandic Commonwealth
Ethnos • 3-4 • Published In 1988 • Pages: 239-265
By: Durrenberger, E. Paul.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
From the ninth century, when the first settlers came, until 1262 when it ceased to exist, the Icelandic Commonwealth was a stratified society without a state. There developed a class of independent householders who appropriated the production of a class of landless people. The householders gained access to land by supporting a class of chieftains who guaranteed their access by force. Each chieftain had to attempt to muster overwhelming force by expansion. This led to a period of conflict that ended when one chieftain was successful in gaining control of the island in the context of Norwegian royal hegemony. The collapse of the Commonwealth was not due to the introduction of Christianity, cultural changes, or Norwegian manipulation, but to the internal contradictions of a stratified society without a state (p. 239).
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- External migration
- Traditional history
- Real property
- Inheritance
- External trade
- Verbal arts
- Status, role, and prestige
- Classes
- Slavery
- Social relationships and groups
- Ingroup antagonisms
- Districts
- Legal norms
- Judicial authority
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Early Icelanders
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2004
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Europe
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Scandinavia
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- John Beierle ; 2002
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- no date
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- Icelandic Commonwealth Period (ninth-thirteenth centuries)
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- general Iceland
- NotesAdditional notes
- E. Paul Durrenberger
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 264-265)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 45053696
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Icelanders