Midden Investigations at Holt, S Iceland July 2003

During July 14th-17th the CUNY Northern Science & Education Center (NORSEC) collaborated with the National Museum of Iceland and the Leverhulme Trust Project "Landscape Circum Landám" in the investigation of possible midden deposits around the farm of Holt in S Iceland. The investigations were supervised by Dr. Guðrun Sveinbjarnardóttir for the National Museum of Iceland and by Drs. Sophia Perdikaris and Thomas McGovern of the City University of New York (CUNY) and Drs. Andrew Dugmore and Mike Church for the University of Edinburgh. The project was greatly aided by the work of the CUNY students participating in the 2003 Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program supported by a major grant (US National Science Foundation, Arctic Social Sciences Program) to Dr. Perdikaris. All artifacts, finds, photos and site records are archived at the Icelandic National Museum, and a CD with a full digital archive accompanies this report.

The objectives of the 2003 investigations were to:

Relocate geological sections taken along drainage ditches near the farm of Holt first excavated in 1980 by teams led by Dr. Paul Buckland.
Determine relationship of possible midden materials lo in 1980’s to the farm site nearby.
Locate midden deposits with intact stratification and conditions of organic preservation.
Sample midden deposits for artifacts, animal bone, wood, and soil micromorphology.
Train students in stratigraphic excavation and recording of complex midden deposits.

Holt Iceland Landscapes Circum Landnám midden

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