Pictish Mounds and Norse Assembly Sites: Norse Settlement and Landscapes in the Orkney Islands from the 9th to 11th century

This thesis explores the Norse settlement of the Orkney Islands between the 9th and 11th centuries, focusing on how the incoming Norse adapted and reshaped the existing Pictish landscape to suit their own cultural traditions and needs. Through the use of saga literature, archaeological material, and landscape archaeology, it examines how earlier sites—like burial mounds, Iron Age structures, and assembly places—were reused and reinterpreted to reflect Norse ideas of authority, memory, and belonging. With focuses on early contact and interaction between the Norse and the Pictish population of Orkney. As Norse settlement increased, Pictish power structures faded, and a Norse cultural identity began to take hold—led largely by elite families who maintained their traditions in a new land ready for adaptation of Norse lifeways. By looking at how the Norse modified the physical landscape—both practically and symbolically. Sites were selected and shaped to reflect Norse ideas of ownership and cultural memory, with homes, farms, and thing sites taking on familiar forms tied to practices from Norway. The landscape itself became a tool for reinforcing their authority and was utilized in the administration of the islands for the Norse. This culminated in the later stages of landnam, where the introduction of Christianity and the rise of more formal systems of administration—like chapels and ouncelands—brought about major changes. Rather than abandoning their past, the Norse of Orkney built upon it, adapting their beliefs and rulership to meet new realities. By the 11th century, what emerged was a distinctly Orcadian identity: rooted in Norse heritage but shaped by generations of adaptation, cultural blending, and lived experience on the islands.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

History

Grantor

Arts

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Paron, Tristan Michael

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Konshuh, Courtnay

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Moore, Anne
• McGuire, Erin-Lee

• Orkney Islands
• Viking Age
• Medieval
• Landscape Archaeology

Statement dc:rights

• Unless otherwise indicated, this material is protected by copyright and has been made available with authorization from the copyright owner. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/50563

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ucalgary.scholaris.ca:1880/122969