The creation of a propertied landscape: Land tenure and agricultural investment in medieval Iceland

Iceland was first settled in the late 9th century by Norse colonists who established independent farmsteads. By the 17th century, 95% of Icelandic households were lived on tenant properties. Thus, Iceland provides an ideal opportunity for exploring the emergence of social complexity, from uninhabited island to class stratification. This work takes advantage of unique aspects of the Icelandic landscape to explore this transformation and the relationship between property status and agricultural intensification. In Iceland farmstead location was dispersed and highly stable; most of the farmsteads remained in the same place over their 1000 years of occupation. In addition, periodic volcanic eruptions resulted in ash layers which allow archaeological deposits and relict field systems to be dated. These features were used to reconstruct the history of changing intensification practices at individual farmsteads through excavation, extensive soil sampling and geochemical analysis. These archaeological histories can be related to medieval documentation on property status to examine how land investment at individual farmsteads changed based on the status of the farming household.; The research was conducted in the Langholt region of northern Iceland. The environment of Langholt is fairly uniform. Productive differences among farmsteads were largely based on property boundaries and the intensification of agricultural lands. The history of agricultural intensification was investigated at a dozen farms of different statuses, comprising large and small, landowning and tenant properties. Traditional homefield areas were systematically cored and soil samples were collected from different stratigraphic levels. Approximately 3000 soil samples were collected. Soil phosphate content was used as a proxy for previous organic enrichment using the Mehlich II extraction method. While farmstead properties and agricultural technology remained largely unchanged in Iceland until the early 20th century, the results show clear trends in agricultural investment. The research reveals the role tenancy played in emerging political economies as an elite strategy to transcend the limitations of single household-farmstead production. It also provides insights into dynamics agro-pastoralism in marginal environments and the interaction between environmental degradation, property, and intensification.