Iceland's networked society : revealing how the global affairs of the Viking age created new forms of social complexity / by Tara Carter.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 331-362) and index.

Examining the process of secondary state development in Iceland -- Environmental constraints and the development of an autonomous secondary state -- The Norwegian world system : hegemonic colonial secondary state formation -- Examining the economic dimensions of early Icelandic society : a proposed methodology for multiregional settlement pattern analysis -- The archaeological survey of Hjaltadalur and Viovikursveit -- From independent traders to dependent tenants : reflections of an economic landscape in Skagafjorour -- The formation of a synergistic secondary state in the Norse economic territory.

"Linked by the politics of global trade networks, Viking Age Europe was a well-connected world. Within this fertile social environment, Iceland ironically has been casted as a marginal society too remote to participate in global affairs, and destined to live in the shadow of its more successful neighbours. Drawing on new archaeological evidence, Tara Carter challenges this view, arguing that by building strong social networks the first citizens of Iceland balanced thinking globally while acting locally, creating the first cosmopolitan society in the North Atlantic. Iceland's Networked Society asks us to reconsider how societies like Iceland can, even when positioned at the margins of competing empires, remain active in a global political economy and achieve social complexity on its own terms"--Provided by publisher.