EAGER: Evaluating the Potential of Shallow Archaeogeophysics Techniques on Viking Age and Medieval Sites in Greenland

University Of Massachusetts Boston, Dorchester MA

Investigators

Abstract

This EAGER project will use the non-destructive techniques of electromagnetics, magnetometry, resistivity, and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to assess the nature, extent, and preservation of previously unidentified Norse occupation sites in Greenland. The PI argues that the current understanding of the Norse occupation of Greenland is biased toward large preserved ruins that are easily identified and surveyed because they are readily seen in the landscape. This project will assess the potentially numerous sites that are not so easily seen, perhaps buried under the deep aeolian sands that exist, or even those buried by later human occupation layers. This project is well proposed as an EAGER, it will "support exploratory work in its early stages on untested, but potentially transformative, research ideas or approaches." Because of the unknown quality of the "hidden" Norse record this project is High Risk but with the definite potential for High Return. If the PI is successful in identifying these sites with these techniques, then the project has the potential of creating a deeper history of the Norse in Greenland. This is High Risk but not completely un-proven, the PI and CoPI have been using these techniques to locate sites in Iceland. And although the geology and geography of Greenland is different and thus the need to test this technique, based on the PI and CoPI's record in Iceland, there is a high probability that they will succeed in Greenland.