VIPICE · Viking Iron Production in Iceland: a new model of Norse iron supply and circulation in the North Atlantic
Horizon Europe — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2024-10-01 → 2026-09-30
- EU contribution
- €230,774
- Participants
- 2
- Scheme
- HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Viking Iron Production in Iceland: a new model of Norse iron supply and circulation in the North Atlantic
Iron was massively exploited during the Viking Age, and it played a major role in the Norse expansion in northern Europe and across North Atlantic. Based on the countless metallurgical remains in Scandinavia, the current model of ironmaking in the Viking Age assumes that iron was almost exclusively produced in the modern-day Norway and Sweden, then traded to other Norse communities or carried through migrations. However, only a limited number of studies have investigated the provenance of Norse iron discovered outside Scandinavia, and the current model does not take into account the numerous remains of iron production uncovered in Iceland, where more than a hundred sites have been identified. Using a geochemical approach to metal provenancing, the VIPICE project investigates iron production in Iceland during the Viking Age and its circulation across the North Atlantic region, testing the hypothesis that surplus Icelandic iron supported substantial trade with other Norse communities. Trace element analyses of Norse iron artefacts discovered in Iceland, combined with isotopic analyses of Sr, Hf, and Nd, allow the determination of the specific geochemical signature of iron produced in Iceland. Moreover, analyses performed on artefacts from Norse settlements across the North Atlantic region are used to detect the potential presence of Icelandic iron. Our results reveal the coexistence of intensive iron production in Iceland alongside iron imports from Scandinavia. However, no evidence has so far been found for the export of iron from Iceland to Norse communities in Greenland, although the limited number of artefacts analysed calls for further studies on Norse iron provenancing. Overall, this project has laid the foundation for iron provenancing in the North Atlantic and suggests a complex pattern of iron production and trade during the Viking period in this region.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Iron was a strategic resource in ancient societies and is still of great importance today. This metal was notably mass produced during the Viking age and traded over long distances between the different Norse settlements. This project aims to investigate the provenance of Viking iron artefacts and to develop a new model of the dynamics of iron movement in the North Atlantic region during the Viking age. In Norse society, iron was used to produce everyday tools, as well as weapons and boat rivets. This metal is thus intrinsically linked to the formidable Viking expansion. The numerous remains of iron production in the Scandinavian homelands led most historians to consider that Viking iron was almost exclusively produced in Norway and Sweden. However, this hypothesis fails to explain the growing number of archaeological evidence attesting to intensive iron production in Iceland, exceeding the local needs. To investigate the fate of this Icelandic iron production in the network of Viking iron circulation, we propose a novel multi-proxy tracing approach. Combined Sr, Fe, Hf, and Nd isotopes, and trace element analyses will be performed on metallurgical remains from iron smelting sites (i.e. technological sources) and archaeological artefacts. We will determine a specific multi-isotopic and elemental signature for each region of iron production, against which the composition of the objects will be compared. Strontium isotopes are highly likely to fingerprint iron from Iceland because of its geological singularity. To complement this, Hf, Nd, Fe isotopes, and trace elements will be used to refine source distinctions. These results will be compiled to produce a multi-tracer object-source matching map and propose new iron flows patterns during the Viking age. Finally, this model will be used to address the question of a possible spatially specialised Norse iron industry and improve our understanding of the Viking diaspora that first connected Europe to North America.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
Links
- View on CORDIS
- DOI: 10.3030/101151461
- https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/documents/downloadPublic?documentIds=080166e522ae6b96&appId=PPGMS
- https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/documents/downloadPublic?documentIds=080166e52b7f7827&appId=PPGMS
Data: CORDIS, © European Union