Stuart Morrison

Stuart successfully defended his thesis on the Emergence of Early Fishing Communities in Iceland in Spring 2012.

Archaeological research undertaken since 2002 by Fornleifastofnun Íslands has uncovered evidence of significant wealth being present in the remote Vestfirðir region of Iceland since first permanent settlement of the country (Landnám) around AD 871. Due to the topographical restrictions present within this region, this wealth has been attributed to the systematic exploitation of maritime resources through an early specialist fishing industry. This contradicts the antiquated historical perception that a specialist commercial fishing economy did not emerge in Iceland until well into the Middle Ages. The aim of this project was to test these two competing hypotheses using a geoarchaeological approach using the on-site soils and sediments as a cultural record to give further insight into the complex debate regarding commercial fishing development in Iceland.

This project contributed to providing a more accurate historical chronology for specialist fishing development in Iceland, and also towards the wider cultural identity of Vestfirðir.

Publications

Morrison, S.J.L., Simpson, I.A. and Edvardsson, R. (In Preparation). Site-based chronology of fishing stations, Vestfirðir, Iceland

Morrison, S.J.L. & Simpson, I.A (In preparation). Geoarchaeological Investigation of a Pre-Modern Fishing Base: Mhogh Sgeir, Inner Loch Hourn, Inverness-shire, Scotland.

Lawson, I.T., Milek, K.B., Casely, A.F., Church, M.J., Duarte, L., Dugmore, A.J., Edwards, K.J., Gathorne-Hardy, F.J., Newton, A.J., Simpson, I.A., Adderley, W.P., Morrison, S., Guðmundsson, G. (In Press). The Palaeoenvironment of Mývatnssveit During the Viking Age and Early Medieval Period.

Morrison, S. (2005). The contribution of Summer Grazing Towards Historical Landscape Degradation in Northern Iceland: An Integrated Cross-Disciplinary Approach. Unpublished Master of Research Thesis. University of Stirling/University of Dundee.

Reports

Morrison, S.J.L. & Simpson, I.A. (2008) Jethou, Channel Islands: Thin Section Micromorphology of Midden (JET07)

Morrison, S.J.L. & Simpson, I.A. (2008) Nessbreck, Corrigall, Harray, Orkney: Soil Chemical Analysis of spot samples from Souterrain.