Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures, Maps, Photos, Plates and Tables
- Acknowledgments
- I Introduction
- II Reviewing Viking Studies and North Atlantic Realm Archaeological Research
- III Interdisciplinarity and Environmental History: Setting the Methodology
- IV Sagas and Archives
- V Modelling the Exploitation of Aquatic Resources and the Emergence of Commercial Fishing in Iceland and the Faeroes
- VI Geoarchaeology of the Emergence of Commercial Fishing: Testing Historical and Environmental Reconstructions of the Emergence of Commercial Fishing
- VII Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
II - Reviewing Viking Studies and North Atlantic Realm Archaeological Research
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 February 2021
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures, Maps, Photos, Plates and Tables
- Acknowledgments
- I Introduction
- II Reviewing Viking Studies and North Atlantic Realm Archaeological Research
- III Interdisciplinarity and Environmental History: Setting the Methodology
- IV Sagas and Archives
- V Modelling the Exploitation of Aquatic Resources and the Emergence of Commercial Fishing in Iceland and the Faeroes
- VI Geoarchaeology of the Emergence of Commercial Fishing: Testing Historical and Environmental Reconstructions of the Emergence of Commercial Fishing
- VII Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Since the 1980s, the history of the North Atlantic World has been the focus of interdisciplinary studies. Amongst these studies, the most significant works in respect of environmental, historical, and archaeological studies concerned with the emergence of fishing and its subsequent socio-economic role in Iceland and the Faeroes are presented below. Although the ‘Viking’ world is an appealing topic, the number of historical publications dealing with that subject is nonetheless modest; the bulk of publications can be attributed to non-historian researchers, as will be discussed below. In fact, the authors cited in this chapter remain the landmarks of the field, even if their publications are not recent. Amongst them, Gwyn Jones and his History of the Vikings (1973) remains a major work. This was the first general history of the Vikings to be published since the 1930s and it offers a re-assessment of the northern peoples’ achievements in colonisation, trade and warfare. The work of Johannes Brønsted is also of primary importance. As a prehistorian and archaeologist, his analysis of the religion, social organisation and way of life of the Vikings has considerably enlarged the scope of knowledge. A good description of the typical Scandinavian's life style can be found in Anderson's Viking Enterprise (1966). Overall, this monograph reiterates the same line of reasoning as the one expressed by Jones and Bronsted; all are general histories from the pre-Viking period to the eleventh century. Their works constitute a major background resource regarding the migrations, kingdoms and politico-economic expansion of the Vikings. More recently, R. Boyer and T.K Derry have extended Jones and Bronsted's work. However, although they put more emphasis on primary sources regarding Iceland and the Vikings’ world, they have not developed any new theories. In contrast, in Les Vikings et leur Civilisation, Problèmes Actuels, Regis Boyer gathered a collection of essays, which has widened knowledge about Viking settlements, commerce and navigation. This was shortly followed by T.K Derry's History of Scandinavia (1979), which offers a broad overview of the Scandinavian world during the medieval era. In this, the author has mainly explored the commercial side of those people, giving a comprehensive image of their trading activities in the North Atlantic, the Irish Sea and the Baltic Sea.
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- Fish Trade in Medieval North Atlantic SocietiesAn Interdisciplinary Approach to Human Ecodynamics, pp. 19 - 48Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2018