ABSTRACT
This chapter examines bioarchaeological evidence for skeletal indicators of stress in two late Viking Age skeletal populations from Northern Iceland. Despite a lack of evidence for major or catastrophic climate change episodes, both populations display signs of substantial biocultural stress, indicating reactions to an environment characterized by consistent challenges, including fluctuating resources and seasonal and periodic cold spells. In general, living conditions for Viking populations in Iceland were arduous but these communities successfully managed to live in this region by developing a suite of social and cultural buffering systems to cope with a variety of environmental stressors.
