Tracing the Evolving Cultural Landscapes of Northern Iceland

"In February 2026, I travelled to Reykjavik, Iceland, to support project work with researchers at the University of Iceland and Fornleifastofnun Islands (FSÍ). The purpose of this research visit was to support collaborative research taking place in Myvatnsveit, Northern Iceland, and Fljotsdalur, Southern Iceland, and to support academic networks and partnerships between researchers in Scotland and Iceland. Travel and accommodation were supported by the Scottish Arctic Network (ScAN) Travel and Partnerships Fund. 

At the University of Edinburgh, I am an early career researcher and lecturer working on human ecodynamics in the North Atlantic. Together with colleagues across the North Atlantic, the North Atlantic Biocultural Organisation (NABO) has worked since the 1980s to connect researchers reconstructing long-term environmental change in this region. The ScAN Travel and Partnerships Fund provided the opportunity to connect with researchers at the University of Iceland and FSÍ to identify new research opportunities throughout Iceland and to collect land use, community archaeology, and yield and taxation data for Myvatnsveit and Fljotsdalur in Late Medieval (c. 1300 – 1500 AD) and Early Modern (c. 1500 – 1800 AD) Periods. 

In my first meeting, I met with Dr Árni Daníel Júlíusson, a research specialist at the School of Humanities at the University of Iceland, to discuss his work on transhumance and land management in the Myvatnsveit area of Northern Iceland. In our discussion, Arni Daniel introduced his analysis of the Diplomatarium Islandicum and Jaðarbók, two accounts of occupied farms, land use and livestock data, surveys of land ownership, and hay yield data throughout Iceland. Working with Arni Daniel, our aim is to triangulate his historical analysis between the Late Medieval and Early Modern Periods together with volcanic tephra (ash) and archaeological data for the same region. 

This meeting provided important data and an opportunity for collaboration for our research group in Edinburgh, including the work of my doctoral student, Emily Topness (also supervised by Dr Anthony Newton and Prof. Andrew Dugmore). Over the last two years, Emily has dated past landscape evolution using volcanic ash layers in Iceland through a method known as ‘Tephrochronology’. By observing the relative thickness of tephra and soil, Emily has been able to reconstruct the evolution of soil accumulation and erosion over the last 2000 years – including before and after the settlement of Iceland (Topness, 2026). Each layer of tephra provides a time marker that can be sampled and analysed in a lab. This provides a sequence across the landscape that allows the reconstruction of erosion through space and time. 

The combination of tephra data with historical information on changing grazing pressures by sheep and goats, records of trade in wool, and further information about influences of climate and disease provide important context on why the landscape has changed as it has in Myvatnsveit. 

My second meeting with Elín Ósk Hreiðarsdóttir, Managing Director and Head of Survey Archaeology, at FSÍ, provides important context on archaeological surveys in Myvatnsveit, recorded in the 1990s and 2000s. This allowed me to identify archaeological sites, including farms and shielings across the district that provide further context on livestock management and population levels over time. Elín also provided advice on the use of archived agricultural college data for Fljotsdalur, South Iceland, to support summer fieldwork—planned for June 2026—examining changing farm occupation and land use following eruptions between 1918 and 2010.   

In my final meeting, with Viðar Hreinsson, explored the cultural history of the Myvatnsveit area. Viðar’s expertise in translation and interpretation of the Sagas of the Icelanders added a further layer of cultural context to the region, with stories reflecting how people perceived and lived in these environments between settlement and the High Medieval Period. 

Each meeting offered a further layer in the sequence of environmental and human history in Northern (and Southern) Iceland. I am very greatful for the support from ScAN to maintain each of these connections and to continue research and collaboration with international partners."

References:

Topness, E., 2026. Dating past landscape evolution with volcanic ash layers. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, pp.1-1.

This article was originally published on the Scottish Arctic Network (ScAN) website. ScAN also operates as a UArctic Regional Centre. Link to original article