Kevin P. Smith
I am an archaeologist interested in complex societies, state formation, and the integration of domestic and political economies. My research has focused, for the past 37 years, on Iceland and the North Atlantic, where I am interested in understanding the processes by which the North Atlantic region was settled, how its societies formed, how the challenges of settling new lands changed those societies' worldviews, and understanding the dynamic processes that eventually led to the creation of a short-lived independent Icelandic state and its rapid absorption into the expanding Norwegian state. In recent years, this has taken me – unexpectedly – deep into caves and into elemental archaeology using pXRF.
At various points in the past, I've also worked on, continue to work on, and have published on, Paleoindians and the settlement of the Americas, complex hunter-gatherer societies, ritual, the archaeology of law, and issues of scale and perception in the archaeological record.
I was deputy director of Brown University's Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology from 2002-2021 and was head of the Buffalo Museum of Science's Anthropology Division from 1991-2002, overseeing daily operations, coordinating staff, mentoring students, coordinating collections management and research, planning and overseeing exhibitions, and more.
Supervisors: Henry T. Wright, Jeffrey Parsons, John M. O'Shea, and William I. Miller
Phone: +401-863-5701 (office)
Address: Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, Brown University
300 Tower Street
Bristol, RI 02809
USA
At various points in the past, I've also worked on, continue to work on, and have published on, Paleoindians and the settlement of the Americas, complex hunter-gatherer societies, ritual, the archaeology of law, and issues of scale and perception in the archaeological record.
I was deputy director of Brown University's Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology from 2002-2021 and was head of the Buffalo Museum of Science's Anthropology Division from 1991-2002, overseeing daily operations, coordinating staff, mentoring students, coordinating collections management and research, planning and overseeing exhibitions, and more.
Supervisors: Henry T. Wright, Jeffrey Parsons, John M. O'Shea, and William I. Miller
Phone: +401-863-5701 (office)
Address: Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, Brown University
300 Tower Street
Bristol, RI 02809
USA
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Papers by Kevin P. Smith
This is the pre-print of a paper published on 1 December 2022, accessible until Jan 1, 2023, without cost at https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1gAq6_,5MKXACN3
Link to download through April 21, 2021: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1cg9k15SlTogqR
NOTE: The PDF "Preprint DRAFT" attached to this entry is a pre-print version that preceded peer-review and revisions and therefore differs in some important ways from the final published version. It is provided here only for comparison with the published version, under agreement with Elsevier's copyright agreements. The published version is available from the Journal of Archaeological Science through the link above or the DOI.
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Medieval Archaeology on June 18, 2019, available at
https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/85KSUjTRteGNwPAUjc7z/full?target=10.1080/00766097.2019.1589816
Green shades of jasper, opal, and chalcedony are among the least common color variants at geological sources in Iceland; green-colored lithic artifacts are, consequently, rarely present in more than trace levels (9.6%) within other analyzed Icelandic archaeological lithic assemblages. However, in the deposits associated with Reykholt's churches green and blue-green shades account for 91% of the lithics recovered. Proximity to green jasper and opal sources cannot explain this preference, which extends only to deposits within the space occupied by the church's consecrated ground and not even to deposits associated with the adjacent, contemporary, residential complex of Reykholt's chieftains and priests, where red jasper, black obsidian, and white chalcedony objects were used and discarded.
An explanation for this color preference within Reykholt's churches is found in medieval lapidary texts and in the color symbolism associated in medieval sources with this church's patron saint. This interpretation suggests not only that trans-European perspectives on medieval science were current in medieval Iceland but also that they may were expressed here through a localized form of veneration, communication, or propitiation with the saint in which gifts of stones associated with him and with the color of penitent belief were carried to the church, left there, and, at times, shattered to reveal the colors at their core.
An additional group of scraped and ground green opal objects within the assemblage are identified as pigment stones, and provisionally associated with manuscript illumination. If this interpretation is accurate, their temporal distribution suggests that manuscript production and illumination was most intense at Reykholt during the time it was Snorri Sturluson's home, and that manuscript illumination continued there until the Reformation. These humble objects, if accurately identified, also provide the first archaeologically recovered material cultural evidence for manuscript production in the North Atlantic and suggest a form of material culture that can be used to document manuscript production at other sites in Iceland and, potentially, beyond.
DOI:10.1080/21662282.2016.1151615
This is the pre-print of a paper published on 1 December 2022, accessible until Jan 1, 2023, without cost at https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1gAq6_,5MKXACN3
Link to download through April 21, 2021: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1cg9k15SlTogqR
NOTE: The PDF "Preprint DRAFT" attached to this entry is a pre-print version that preceded peer-review and revisions and therefore differs in some important ways from the final published version. It is provided here only for comparison with the published version, under agreement with Elsevier's copyright agreements. The published version is available from the Journal of Archaeological Science through the link above or the DOI.
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Medieval Archaeology on June 18, 2019, available at
https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/85KSUjTRteGNwPAUjc7z/full?target=10.1080/00766097.2019.1589816
Green shades of jasper, opal, and chalcedony are among the least common color variants at geological sources in Iceland; green-colored lithic artifacts are, consequently, rarely present in more than trace levels (9.6%) within other analyzed Icelandic archaeological lithic assemblages. However, in the deposits associated with Reykholt's churches green and blue-green shades account for 91% of the lithics recovered. Proximity to green jasper and opal sources cannot explain this preference, which extends only to deposits within the space occupied by the church's consecrated ground and not even to deposits associated with the adjacent, contemporary, residential complex of Reykholt's chieftains and priests, where red jasper, black obsidian, and white chalcedony objects were used and discarded.
An explanation for this color preference within Reykholt's churches is found in medieval lapidary texts and in the color symbolism associated in medieval sources with this church's patron saint. This interpretation suggests not only that trans-European perspectives on medieval science were current in medieval Iceland but also that they may were expressed here through a localized form of veneration, communication, or propitiation with the saint in which gifts of stones associated with him and with the color of penitent belief were carried to the church, left there, and, at times, shattered to reveal the colors at their core.
An additional group of scraped and ground green opal objects within the assemblage are identified as pigment stones, and provisionally associated with manuscript illumination. If this interpretation is accurate, their temporal distribution suggests that manuscript production and illumination was most intense at Reykholt during the time it was Snorri Sturluson's home, and that manuscript illumination continued there until the Reformation. These humble objects, if accurately identified, also provide the first archaeologically recovered material cultural evidence for manuscript production in the North Atlantic and suggest a form of material culture that can be used to document manuscript production at other sites in Iceland and, potentially, beyond.
DOI:10.1080/21662282.2016.1151615
Gestsson’s report, published in 1960, was the only archaeological documentation of this important site before our visit. In the absence of radiocarbon dates or diagnostic objects, Gestsson interpreted it as a Viking Age outlaw shelter, and perhaps the model for Hallmundur’s lair in Grettir’s Saga. As such, Hallmundarhellir not only entered the archaeological record as a Viking Age outlaw site but also discussions about the historicity of the Íslendingasögur and how their authors framed their scenes.
Our investigations documented that the site’s archaeological features and deposits remain intact, but the cave’s walls and ceiling are fragile. Sand blowing in from outwash plains below Langjökull and Eiríksjökull already covers the site’s floor and will choke its entrance soon. We determined that Gestsson’s mapping was accurate but under-estimated the number of archaeological features and the site’s complexity. Our evaluation of the site’s faunal assemblage suggest that it is unusually composed of bones from just sheep or sheep/goats. No horse teeth (mentioned in Gestsson’s report) were identified, nor were any additional artifacts seen or recovered. Five AMS dates on sheep bones from the site indicate that it was built and used during the late-12th through mid-13th century, the so-called Age of the Sturlungs.
Our investigations, therefore, indicate that Hallmundarhellir remains in good shape but is endangered. Rather than being a Viking Age outlaw shelter, it represents a new type of site from the Sturlung era.
Samantekt
Hallmundarhellir er einn af átta hellum í Hallmundarhrauni, í landi Kalmanstungu, sem vitað er um að geymi fornleifar. Stefán Kalmansson, bóndi í Kalmanstungu, fann hellinn árið 1956. Gísli Gestsson, safnvörður í Þjóðminjasafni Íslands, kannaði síðan hellinn árið 1958 og vann þar merkilegt brautryðjandastarf í hellarannsóknum á Íslandi. Þann 27. júlí 2017 fórum við að nýju í hellinn með kvikmyndateymi, mældum hann upp, tókum sýni til aldursgreiningar, aDNA greiningar og dýrabeinagreingar og endurmátum ástand minjanna og túlkun Gísla Gestssonar.
Áður en við komum á staðinn var skýrsla Gísla Gestssonar, sem birtist í Árbók hins íslenzka fornleifafélags árið 1960, eina fornfræðilega úttektin sem til var um þennan merka minjastað. Þar sem hvorki geislakols aldursgreiningar eða greinanlegir gripir voru þá til staðar, ályktaði Gísli, að þetta hefði líklega verið fylgsni frá víkingaöld, og gæti því hugsanlega hafa verið aðsetur Hallmundar, sem sagt er frá í Grettissögu. Sem slíkur hefur Hallmundarhellir, ekki aðeins ratað inn í fornleifafræðilega umræðu, sem fylgsni útlaga á víkingaöld, heldur einnig í umræðu um sagnfræðilegan áreiðanleika Íslendingasagna og hvernig höfundar þeirra staðsettu atburðina í landslagið.
Rannsókn okkar á staðnum sýndi að fornleifarnar í hellinum, bæði mannvirki og lausar minjar voru enn lítt raskaðar, en að í veggjum og lofti hellisins væru sprungur sem brotnað hefði úr. Sandur sem fokið hefur úr jökulaurunum vestur af Langjökli og Eiríksjökli, hálffyllti inngang hellisins og þakti hluta gólfsins. Við gátum sannreynt að uppdráttur Gísla var all nákvæmur, en að honum hafði yfirsést yfir nokkrar minjar, sem erfitt var að greina án góðrar lýsingar. Mat okkar á dýrabeinum sem fundust í hellinum er að þar sé um að ræða óvenjulegt beinasafn kinda/geita. Hrossatennur sem Gísli nefnir í sinni skýrslu fundust ekki núna, og engir gripir fundust heldur. Fimm dýrabein úr kindum voru aldursgreind með AMS greiningaraðferð. Niðurstöður aldursgreininganna benda til þess að hellirinn hafi verið í notkun á Sturlungaöld, eða frá síðari hluta 12. aldar og fram á miðja 13. öld.
Rannsókn okkar hefur því leitt í ljós að ástand Hallmundarhellis og minjanna í honum sé enn nokkuð gott, en að staðurinn gæti samt verið í hættu, einkum vegna sandfoks, jarðskjálfta eða mannaferða. Í stað þess að vera fylgsni útlaga á víkingaöld er um að ræða áður óþekkta tegund minja frá Sturlungaöld.
Note: in order to post this document, the PDF has been compressed, with some loss of clarity in images and maps.
Funding for the 1991 field season was provided by the Buffalo Museum of Science, with local support from the communities of Reykholtsdalur and Hálsasveit, and from the regional bank, Sparisjöður Mýrasýslu.
Limited historical documentation suggested that Háls was a small, independent farm worth 20 hundrað when its tithe was assessed in 1258, and that it had been abandoned long before 1708, when it was described as a long-abandoned farmstead then used as a stekkur (sheep milking pen) for the adjacent farm of Kollslækur.
Archaeological investigations revealed the size of the farm's home field (tún), provided information on enrichment of the tún during the farm's occupation, demonstrated that the farm was established ca. AD 1000 and had been abandoned by AD 1275, and that it had been built over the remains of an earlier, Viking Age iron production complex, established ca. AD 880-910 and taken out of production by ca. AD 1000.
The 1989 investigations combined a topographic and coring survey of the entire farmstead - documenting the relative age of five ruins visible on the site's surface, and the farm's homefield walls, and locating buried structural deposits in at three additional locations within the tún - with small area excavations at two locations within the largest of the buildings visible on the site, Háls 1, the medieval farmhouse.
These combined investigations allowed the development of a six-phase archaeological sequence for the site, documenting its initial role as a specialized iron production center distant from any related farm site (Phase 1); the establishment, ca. AD 1000 of a small farm in the clearing produced by iron production, its occupation, and demolition ca. AD 1150 (Phase 2); the erection of a newer and larger farmhouse directly on the foundations of the earlier house, ca. AD 1150, its occupation, impoverishment, and abandonment by ca. AD 1275 (Phase 3); short-term and transitory use of the farm's ruins for shelter, architectural raw material scavenging, and off-site agricultural work linked to continued use of the abandoned farm's homefield (Phase 4, ca. AD 1275-1350); the construction of a large hay barn within the wall stubs of the ruined Phase 3 farm (Phase 5a, ca. 1350-1425), the barn's renovation and use over an extended period of time (Phase 5b, ca. 1425-1500), and its eventual abandonment (Phase 5c, ca. 1500-1650); and the building and use of an open-roofed sheep milking fold (stekkur) above the ruins of the late medieval/post-medieval barn (Phase 6, ca. 1650-1900).
The significance of the deposits at Háls 1, the focus of the 1989 season, lies in its well-preserved record of activities and changes through the course of the Icelandic Commonwealth, and especially during the Sturlung Period (ca. 1150-1275) - a period barely understood in archaeological terms. Beyond this, the investigations at Háls shed new light on processes of abandonment, with the continued harvesting of the homefield at Háls for nearly 250 years after the farm was "abandoned" providing space for arguments that its abandonment was not due to the exhaustion of its resources but rather to the value of the investments that 8-10 generations of householders had made in its resources and that made the site too valuable a resource for one of its neighbors to allow its reoccupation when the farm's household failed, ca. AD 1275. Annexation, abandonment, and repurposing within an active agricultural landscape suggest that social factors underlay major changes in land tenure at Háls, with environmental challenges providing perhaps proximate causation for the failure of the last household to occupy the farm.
Investigations at Háls in 1989 followed preliminary investigations undertaken in 1988 and laid the groundwork for subsequent seasons there in 1991, 1996, 1997, and 2000. Funding for the research in 1989 was generously provided by the American-Scandinavian Foundation, Sparisjöður Mýrasýslu, the communities of Reykholtsdalur, Hálsasveit, and Hvítársíða, the following community organizations: Ungmennafélagið Reykdæla, Kvenfélag Reykdæla, Ungmennafélagið Brúin, and the Buffalo Museum of Science.
Due to the small scale of the 1988 test trench at Háls 1, only three phases of use were identified. These were refined in later seasons at the site. Thus, the "stekkur" level discussed in this report became Phase 6 after the 1989 field season; "Phase 2" - the upper floors in this report - became Phase 3 after the 1989 field season; and this report's "Phase 1" - the lower floor deposits - became Phase 1 after the 1989 fieldwork.
The fieldwork in 1987 was conducted as part of the National Museum of Iceland's first exploratory field season at Reykholt, located 10 km west of Háls. The 1988 project was supported by the local community, Hálsasveitshreppur, with a small travel grant from the Graduate School at the University of Michigan, and from wages I drew as a crew member on the National Museum of Iceland's field project that year at Reykholt.
The primary goals of these initial investigations were to identify whether intact archaeological deposits remained at the site, to determine their depth, extent, and complexity, and to evaluate the site's potential for future research.
The investigation included electromagnetic induction (EM) surveying, topographic mapping, coring, and small-scale excavation. This coordinated program successfully located structural remains and midden deposits at Gilsbakki, with EM providing rapid coverage and remarkable details over areas larger than standard sub-surface documentation could have produced in the available time.
Many questions remain unanswered about the timing, causes and processes leading to Icelandic deforestation. These include not only the strategies used by Icelandic households to acquire reliable sources of energy from their own woodlands, peat beds and farmyard wastes, but also the role of regional trade in the Icelandic fuel economy.
This poster details information gained about the production and circulation of fuel resources in western Iceland through excavations at Gilsbakki, an elite site with a 1100-year stratified record, Háls, a site with a complex history of occupation and abandonment, and at Skógarnes, a 17th-18th century site specializing in the production of reiðingur, a natural fibrous peat used as saddle pads for transporting timber and peat on horseback within and between districts in a period of depleting resources and cold climate.
Excavations at Gilsbakki and Skógarnes were undertaken in 2008 with funding from the US National Science Foundation's Archaeology Program, work at Háls was undertaken in 1989-2000 with funding from the National Geographic Society, the American Scandinavian Foundation, and local Icelandic business and civic groups.
However, relatively few analyses take the actual color of lithic raw materials seriously into account. Color is often regarded as a secondary accident of a raw material's chemical composition or physical structure, rather than as possibly the primary reason for its acquisition and use. This paper will explore case studies from the medieval Icelandic site of Reykholt and a regional study of the late prehistoric Narragansett basin of Rhode Island and Massachusetts to argue that selection for color may sometimes be the primary reason for acquiring and accumulating lithic raw materials, and for quarry selection. Comparing lithics from domestic and sacral contexts, this paper explores the role of color in guiding assemblage composition for utilitarian use, in ritual settings, and in political signaling.
In 2008, a jasper fire-starter was recovered during Parks Canada’s investigations north of the largest turf-walled Norse longhouse at the site, bringing the number of jasper fire-starter spalls from L’Anse aux Meadows to eleven. Instrumental Neutron Activation and pXRF analyses of these and a suite of geological jasper samples gathered from outcrops across the North Atlantic provide new information on the locations from which the Norse sailed, areas to which they traveled, and locations where they may have encountered First Nations/Native American people. This paper explores these issues, querying Icelandic documentary records in new light gained from studying objects in context.
African Arts magazine's review of "Believing Africa" can be found here: http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/Haffenreffer/exhibits-manning/documents/BAreview.pdf