Periodic Reporting for period 1 - VIPICE (Viking Iron Production in Iceland: a new model of Norse iron supply and circulation in the North Atlantic)
Período documentado: 2024-10-01 hasta 2026-09-30
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.
About 40 utilitarian iron artefacts (e.g. nails, rivets, small tools) were selected from representative ironmaking sites in Iceland for geochemical analyses. Two metal fragments were collected from each artefact. The first fragment was mounted in epoxy blocks for subsequent scanning electron microscope observations (SEM-EDS) and trace element analysis of slag inclusions trapped within the metal using laser ablation coupled with mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The second fragment was digested in concentrated acid and successively purified prior to isotopic analyses of Hf, Sr, and Nd using multi-collector mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS). This approach led to the establishment of a robust and reproducible multi-proxy analytical protocol for iron provenancing, enabling the identification of iron produced in Iceland.
As a second part of this project, trace element analyses of slag inclusions were performed on artefact samples from the reference Buchwald collection of objects from Norse settlements discovered in Greenland (30 artefacts), Norway (2 artefacts), and Sweden (2 artefacts). The trace element compositions, together with multivariate statistical analyses (e.g. principal component analysis, PCA), indicate a non-Icelandic origin for these utilitarian artefacts. These preliminary results should be complemented by further isotopic analyses of the same objects and highlight the need for future work to investigate the potential export of Icelandic iron to other Norse communities.
As a second part of this project, trace element analyses of slag inclusions were performed on artefact samples from the reference Buchwald collection of objects from Norse settlements discovered in Greenland (30 artefacts), Norway (2 artefacts), and Sweden (2 artefacts). The trace element compositions, together with multivariate statistical analyses (e.g. principal component analysis, PCA), indicate a non-Icelandic origin for these utilitarian artefacts. These preliminary results should be complemented by further isotopic analyses of the same objects and highlight the need for future work to investigate the potential export of Icelandic iron to other Norse communities.
The multi-proxy provenancing approach developed in this project demonstrates the coexistence in Iceland of an important ironmaking industry supplying local consumption, together with imports of iron from Scandinavia. Although the proportion of imported and locally produced iron remains difficult to estimate, the vast majority of the Icelandic artefacts analysed in the VIPICE project show a local signature. This suggests a self-sufficient iron production in Iceland, which contradicts the commonly accepted model that Norse iron was almost exclusively produced in Scandinavia and exported to other Viking settlements. At the very least, our results point to a Norse iron trade in the North Atlantic that is more complex than initially thought, with communities that were independent from their Scandinavian homelands in terms of iron supply.
The identification of Icelandic iron across the North Atlantic region remains limited, having been documented only in Greenland and based on a dataset of just 30 artefacts analysed for trace element composition. This represents a very small sample compared to the numerous iron finds from across Viking territories. This limitation highlights the need for further studies on iron circulation in the Viking world. Therefore, this project lays the foundation for tracing Norse iron using a multi-proxy provenancing approach.
The identification of Icelandic iron across the North Atlantic region remains limited, having been documented only in Greenland and based on a dataset of just 30 artefacts analysed for trace element composition. This represents a very small sample compared to the numerous iron finds from across Viking territories. This limitation highlights the need for further studies on iron circulation in the Viking world. Therefore, this project lays the foundation for tracing Norse iron using a multi-proxy provenancing approach.