Atlantic Connections and Adaptations: Economies, Environments and Subsistence in Land Bordering the North Atlantic

Maritime communications have played a vital role in shaping both human cultures and the biogeography of the North Atlantic Realm, a region containing discrete groups of islands separated by deep water. The aim of this volume is to explore the diversity of human environments and cultural adaptations present within the eastern part of the North Atlantic Realm, from Scotland and Norway in the East to Iceland in the West. The papers explore a number of key themes, including: the origins of flora and fauna of the North Atlantic Realm and the introduction of non-indigenous species in post-glacial periods; the various stages of human colonisation, from the explorations of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in the Hebridean islands to the Norse settlement of the Faroes, Iceland and Greenland during the 8th to 10th centuries AD, and how each stage of colonisation has had its own ecological characteristics and consequences for indigenous flora and fauna; the influence of climatic variability and extreme episodic events on local environments and human settlement patterns; and the establishment and development of human exchange and trade networks and how they have affected the range of resources available for human exploitation, from agricultural domesticates to the development of the Flemish sea fishery. These papers were presented at the first joint meeting of the Association for Environmental Archaeology (AEA) and the North Atlantic Bio-cultural Organisation (NABO), which was held at Glasgow University in March 2001.

Table of Contents

Atlantic Mainland Scotland
1. Holocene Climactic Variability and Human Settlement in the Scottish Highlands: Fragility and Robustness (Althea L. Davies, Eileen Tisdall and Richard Tipping)
2. A high-resolution study of human impact and land use around the first millenium AD royal centre at Dunadd, Argyll (Rupert A. Housley, Ewan N. Campbell, Jennifer J. Miller and Susan Ramsay)

The Scottish Western Isles
3. The Archaeological Landscape of South Uist (Niall Sharples, Mike Parker Pearson and Jim Symonds)
4. Resource Management in the Outer Hebrides: an assessment of the faunal and floral evidence from archaeological investigations (Helen Smith and Jacqui Mulville)
5. Charred food residues from Hebridean Iron Age pottery: analysis and dating (Ewan N. Campbell, Rupert A. Housley and Marcia Taylor)
6. Application of Mineral Magnetism in Atlantic Scotland Archaeology 1: Techniques, Magnetic Enhancement and the Identification of Fuel Sources (Clare Peters, Mike J. Church and Catherine M. Batt)
7. Applications of Mineral Magnetism in Atlandtic Scotland Archaeology 2: Magnetic Susceptibility and Archaeobotanical Taphonomy in West Lewis, Scotland (Mike J. Church and Clare Peters)

The Scottish Northern Isles
8. The Origin of the Orkney Vole Microtus arvalis orcadensis: a proxy for constructing human movements (Susan Thaw(nee Haynes), Jeremy B. Searle, Maarit Jaarola and Keith M. Dobney)
9. Form and function in Shetland prehistoric field systems(Val E. Turner, Fiona Chrystall, Ian A. Simpson and Erika Guttmann)
10. Power Over Time: an overview of the Old Scatness Broch excavations (Stephen J. Dockrill and Catherine M. Batt)
11. Bringing in the Sheaves: Farming Intensification in the Post-Broch Iron Age (Julie M. Bond, Erika Guttmann and Ian A. Simpson)
12. Exploring Links: Preliminary Investigations into Marine Resources and Ceramics from Old Scatness, Shetland (Louise D. Brown and Carl Heron)
13. Iron-Age Fishing in the Northern Isles: the Evolution of a Stored Product? (Rebecca A. Nicholson)
14. Butter as an Economic Resource in the Northern Isles (Carl Challinor)
15. Set in Stone: experimental construction of a wheelhouse (Laurence B. Malcomson, Helen S. Bowstead Stallybrass and Stephen J. Dockrill)

Iceland
16. The Holocene Development of the Icleandic Biota and its Palaeoclimatic Significance (Chris Caseldine, Mark Dinnin, Dawn Hendon and Pete Langdon)
17. Recent Investigations at Hofstaðir, northern Iceland (Adolf Friðriksson, Orri Vesteinsson and Thomas H. McGovern)
18. Farming and Maritime Resources at Miðbaer on Flatey in Breiðafjordur, NW Iceland (Colin P. Amundsen)
19. The Viking Settlement of Northern Iceland: A Preliminary Zooarchaeological Analysis (Clayton M. Tinsley)

North Atlantic Networks
20. North Atlantic Networks; Preliminary Research into the Trade of Steatite in the Viking and Norse Periods (Amanda K. Forster and Julie M. Bond)
21. How the North Was Won (and Lost Again). Historical and Archaeological Data on the Exploitation of the North Atlandtic by the Flemish Fishery (Anton Ervynck, Wim Van Neer and Marnix Pieters)
22. Cod and Ships: Scottish Merchant Activity in Southern Shetland in the 17th Century (Nigel D. Melton)

Looking Fore and Aft
23. North Atlantic Biocultural Organization (NABO) 10 Years On: Science, Education and Community (Thomas H. McGovern)
24. Landscapes circum-Landnam: Viking settlement in the North Atlantic and its human and ecological consequences - a major new research programme (Kevin J. Edwards, Paul C. Buckland, Andrew J. Dugmore, Thomas M. McGovern, Ian A. Simpson and Guðrun Sveinbjarnardottir)

Rupert Housley is Lecturer in Archaeological Science at the Department of Archaeology, University of Glasgow.Geraint Coles is Senior Lecturer in Environmental Archaeology at the Department of Archaeology, University of Edinburgh.