essay
Regional archaeological research in Iceland: potentials and possibilities
Anthropology of Iceland • Iowa City • Published In 1989 • Pages: 179-202
By: Smith, Kevin P., Parsons, Jeffrey R..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this essay the authors discuss the role of regional archaeological studies as a means of investigating patterns of cultural change in Medieval Iceland during the period of 875-1550 A.D. Much of the ethnohistorical data in this work related to change is obtained primarily from the analysis of Icelandic political structure (e.g., the relationship between chieftains and their supporters and tenants), as derived from the various sagas written during this period. This document attempts to develop a framework for a simple model of cultural change focusing '…on relationships between household wealth, economic rank, and economic hierarchies that could be used to study patterning in the regional distribution of wealth and economic or political power. We [the authors] apply this preliminary model to agricultural census data from the eighteenth century rather than archaeological data in order to demonstrate the strengths of such an approach when applied to a known data base and to discuss implications for archaeoloigcal research' (p. 187).
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Theoretical orientation in research and its results
- Archaeological survey methods
- Verbal arts
- Status, role, and prestige
- Social relationships and groups
- Districts
- 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
- essay
- 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 PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- general Iceland
- NotesAdditional notes
- Kevin P. Smith and Jeffrey R. Parsons
- Papers from a conference held in Iowa City, in May 1987
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 199-202)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 89004657
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Icelanders