This award supports the rapid-response coring and sampling of an archaeological site in imminent danger of loss due to climate-driven coastal erosion. Hafnarbúdir is a large, early specialized marine fishing or whaling site with the potential to rewrite understanding of Viking Age economies in Iceland. The site consists of numerous small structures, features, and bone deposits perched precariously on an eroding sea bank. Much of the archaeology of Viking Age Iceland centers on farms and farmsteads, though archaeologists and historians recognize that many key economic activities occurred beyond the farmstead. This site therefore has the potential to shift conventional narratives of Viking Age life to more accurately reflect its social and economic complexity, while advancing understanding of North Atlantic marine and coastal adaptations more generally. Working collaboratively with Icelandic researchers and students, the team will determine site boundaries, date deposits and recover material for preliminary analysis. Site documentation includes profiling, mapping, photography, and an intensive coring regime to bound site limits, locate concentrated anthropogenic deposits, and recover tephras in stratigraphic context. Flotation samples will be collected for identification, dating, and location of activity areas. Whalebone recovered from the site will be subjected to collagen fingerprinting and ancient DNA analysis to identify represented species. Finally, the research team will conduct a systematic review of historical documents related to the site and nearby farms. Broader impacts of the work include engagement with local Icelandic communities, experiential learning by student participants, and dissemination of project updates and findings through social media, public lectures, conference presentations, and peer-reviewed journal publications.

The main thrust of this RAPID project will be to document the structures and activity areas that are being eroded. This intense and difficult archaeology will involve profiling, mapping, and photography— centering around side-in and top-down excavation of the threatened deposits. Guðmundsdóttir, in consultation with Zoëga, will oversee a team of experienced Icelandic archaeologists and archaeology students doing this difficult work during the summer of 2024. Guðmundsdóttir, directing a small and highly experienced team, has done the preliminary work on the site. Guðmundsdóttir will hold the Icelandic government permits for the sites. During the summer of 2023 a field team of 4 will conduct archaeological excavations at Hafnarbúðir (The Harbor Booths), a concentration of specialized Viking Age and medieval buildings located along the North Iceland shoreline. Due to crew scheduling conflicts, along with eiderdown collection season, critical portions of the proposed survey, excavations, and research during the 2023 summer period were not completed. A NCE was granted to extend the fieldwork into the summer of 2024. A subaward has also been awarded to Hólar University. Hólar personnel are essential to the research, because Hólar is located in the research area, and Hólar faculty and staff have relationships with many of the farms.

All logistics will be organized by the researchers and paid through the grant.