8. The Old and The Young in Early Medieval Iceland: The Evidence for Three-generational Families in the Household Cemeteries of Skagafjorður, Northern Iceland

Guðný Zoega

doi:10.31265/ams-skrifter.v0i26.213

Abstract

In recent years, a number of early Christian cemeteries have been excavated in the region of Skagafjörður, North Iceland. They belonged to, and were managed by, occupants of individual farms and were in use from around AD 1000-1120. These household cemeteries differ from the sparse pagan burial record in that they are ‘all inclusive’, i.e. they include individuals of both sexes and all ages, and essentially represent all inhabitants of a household. An interesting feature of the cemeteries is the large number of interred infants and relatively large number of ‘older’ individuals. By looking at the osteological data in conjunction with the placement of burials within cemeteries a more detailed picture of the Medieval household emerges, including the perception of the young and the aged and the possible role of three-generation families in the transference of knowledge and life experience. This paper discusses how this unique material can add to the predominantly philological and historical discussions on the nature, composition and social interactions of the Medieval Icelandic household.

Highlights

Iceland officially adopted Christianity around AD 1000 leading to profound cultural, political and societal changes in the following century
In recent years archaeological excavations of early Christian cemeteries have provided a wealth of data on the Medieval households of eleventh-century Iceland
In this paper I want to give a short overview of how this research adds to our understanding of the Medieval Icelandic household, especially in relation to its oldest and youngest household members

Summary

Introduction

Iceland officially adopted Christianity around AD 1000 leading to profound cultural, political and societal changes in the following century. The well-preserved skeletal collections from the cemeteries offer unique opportunities for the study of early Medieval society as all age groups and both sexes are represented, resulting in a near-complete representation of a household population This is very different from the preceding pagan burial record, where women and children are underrepresented (Zoëga 2015, 120). Different burial locations for various age categories of children have been noted in some Scandinavian cemeteries and have, tentatively, been associated with the roles and function of the particular age groups (Jonsson 2009, 62-3) Another indication of differential treatment at Keldudalur was the lack of coffins in the graves of older children, whereas most infants under one year of age were interred in coffins. The same has been noted for early Icelandic cemeteries at Hofstaðir and Skeljastaðir (Gestsdóttir 2014, 158) as well as in Norwegian material (Hamre 2011, 211)

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