This thesis provides detailed studies of settlement on four Faroese islands and in four districts of Shetland in order to isolate and explain differences and similarities between the two island groups. These studies examine topography, place-names, relationships with previous settlements, church distribution, settlement expansion, inter-relationship of settlements and land assessments. The range of sources and methods are set out in the Introduction. The first Regional Study presents two districts of Western Norway, Fjaler and Gaular, which are discussed to illustrate some of the major trends of settlement in the homeland. Detailed studies are then made of settlements on the four Faroese islands of Fugloy, Streymoy, Sandoy and Suduroy and in the four Shetland districts of Fetlar, Delting, Walls and Sandness, and Tingwall. A section arranged thematically follows, bringing together results from the Regional Studies and referring more generally to the whole of Shetland and Faroe. This section examines three themes: firstly, the relationship between the Norse settlers and pre-Norse populations; secondly, the development of the Scattalds and bygdir; -and thirdly, naming patterns. Despite very great differences in the extent of settlement prior to the arrival of the Norse in Faroe and Shetland, primary settlement patterns are essentially similar. The Scattalds and bygdir represent comparable settlement districts and reflect similar agricultural requirements and responses to the landscape while primary settlement sites in both island groups generally feature good harbours and extensive cultivable land with topographical names descriptive of their coastal location. Secondary settlement expansion takes different forms in Faroe and Shetland, however, and this is reflected in nomenclature, in particular the absence of the habitative elements stadir, bolstadr and setr from Faroe. It is concluded that the absence or presence of habitative place-name elements is dependent on the nature of settlement expansion.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Göteborg : Göteborgs universitet, 2007. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

The thesis provides an insight into Danish culture and society. First chapter is dealing with the general characteristics of Denmark and its economic situation. Furthermore, it includes brief history. Following chapter introduces Danish culture and the values of the society. The cultural standards are divided into cultural dimensions, introduced by Hofstede, and compared to the Czech cultural standards. Danish business culture as well as business negotiation style is subject to third chapter. The chapter also provides information about consumer behaviour in Denmark. The last chapter introduces the results of a survey made.

Detta arbete behandlar anställningsavtalen: det svenska Storsjöavtalet för styrmän/telegrafist, färöiskt anställningsavtal för svenska fartygsbefäl och ITF:s anställningsavtal för besättningsmedlemmar på bekvämlighetsflaggade fartyg. Syftet med jämförelsen var att utröna skillnaderna mellan avtalen, gällande uppsägning, ekonomisk ersättning vid sjukdom och skadefall samt skadeståndsansvar med hänsyn till social trygghet. Metoden som användes för att genomföra arbetet var en kvalitativ litteraturstudie. Storsjöavtalet och det färöiska avtalet liknar varandra relativt väl gällande uppsägning medan ITF:s anställningsavtal skiljer sig från de andra avtalen. Gällande sjukdom och skadefall ger alla avtalen ersättningar. Storsjöavtalets ersättning baseradas på Försäkringskassans utbetalningar medan det färöiska och ITF:s anställningsavtal har separata försäkringar som rederiet upprättar till enskilt fartygsbefäl. Beträffande skadeståndsansvar devierar ITF:s anställningsavtal eftersom det inte behöver finnas synnerliga skäl, som krävs enligt Storsjöavtalet och det färöiska avtalet, för att bli personligt skadeståndsskyldig för fel i tjänsten. Jämförelsen ger en bra inblick hur avtalen är uppbyggda kring nationella lagar och/eller avsaknaden av dessa. Generellt är Storsjöavtalet mer socialt betryggande än vad det färöiska och det internationella ITF-anställningsavtalet är. / This study deals with employment agreements: the Swedish Storsjö Agreement for officers and telegraphists, Faroese Employment Agreement for Swedish officers and the ITF Uniform ”TCC” Collective Agreement for crews onboard flag of convenience ships. The purpose of the comparison was to determine differences between the agreements concerning termination, economical compensation for illness and injury cases and liability in case of default in regards of social security. The method of the work was a qualitative literature study. Storsjö Agreement and the Faroese Agreement is relatively similar to each other regarding termination of the contract, while the ITF Agreement differ from the other agreements. Regarding economical compensation for illness and injury cases all the agreements provides a safety net for the officer. The compensation with Storsjö Agreement is based on the Swedish Social Insurance Agency payouts, while the Faroese Agreement and ITF Agreement have separate insurance policies that the company arranges to individual officers. Regarding liability due to default, the ITF Agreement contract differ since it does not have to be any exceptional reasons for the default, which is required in Storsjö Agreement and the Faroese Agreement, to make the officer personally responsible for the damage. The comparison gives a good insight into how the contracts are structured around national laws and/or the lack of them. Generally Storsjö Agreement is more reassuring than the Faroese Agreement and the ITF Agreement concerning social security.

Geometries of sills intruded into the lava pile of the Faroe Island Basalt Group (FIBG), which were targeted in this study, were mostly recorded by conventional mapping methods where measured distances and positions were plotted onto accurate topographic maps aided by the use of high-quality photos of relevant outcrops. These data were subsequently used to manually plot 2D profiles along selected tracks and to produce electronic 3D maps using ArcGIS software. The general geometries of the investigated sills, measured at lateral scales ranging from a few metres to a few kilometres and at vertical scales ranging from a few metres to a few hundred metres, differ somewhat from typical sill geometries reported previously for sills intruded into sedimentary successions. The ubiquitous saucer-shapes of the sills from this study, which generally curve upwards in a gradual manner from inner sub-horizontal sections to steeper outer margins, contrast with the common angular transitions from inner sub-horizontal to outer steeper sections of sills reported from sedimentary host-rocks. In this thesis we explore possible alternatives to already existing theories on sill emplacement in sedimentary successions. Major and trace element compositions for samples representing most of the sills exposed in the Faroe Islands have been determined by means of XRF and ICP-MS analyses. Geochemically most of these sills can be grouped into two main categories characterised either by high or by low TiO2 contents. Different sorts/types of metasomatism of source rocks to high-TiO2 versus low-TiO2 sills are indicated by different Nb and Ta anomalies. Modelling by means of REE and other trace elements suggest that much of the compositional differences between these two main categories can be explained by various degrees of partial melting of broadly similar mantle sources. Additional fractionation and accumulation of plagioclase modified some of the melts that gave rise to the actual sills. The initial partial melting event probably occurred at depths slightly shallower than the lower limit of the garnet stability field at ~85 km while plagioclase crystallisation/accumulation most likely occurred at depths shallower than ~18 km. Isotopic compositions may point to very slight contamination of some sills with crustal material.

The Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) fishery is of great economic importance to the Faroese economy. There are two separately managed cod stocks around the Faroe Islands, the Faroe Plateau and the Faroe Bank cod. Both have experienced dramatic decreases in size and informed management decisions are vital for both stock viability and exploitation. The stocks are geographically isolated by an 800 m deep channel and water temperatures are on average 1 – 2 ºC higher on the Faroe Bank than on the Faroe Plateau. There are clear phenotypic differences between the stocks; in particular, the markedly higher growth rate for the Faroe Bank cod has caught public and scientific attention. There is continuing debate regarding the relative importance of genetics and environmental contributions to the contrasting phenotypes. Analyses of reproductive parameters (field data and experimental captive spawnings) as well as analyses of microsatellite and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were undertaken to better resolve the issue. Field data as well as data from experimental captive spawnings provided evidence of reproductive differences between Faroe Plateau and Faroe Bank cod. Peak spawning occurred earlier on the Faroe Plateau than on the Faroe Bank and this difference in timing of spawning was maintained in captivity. In particular, differences in sizes of eggs (average diameters of 1.40 and 1.30 mm for Faroe Plateau and Faroe Bank cod eggs, respectively) and indirect evidence of greater volumes spawned by the Faroe Bank females suggested stock differences with respect to egg size – egg number trade-off. It was hypothesised that the strategy adopted by cod on the Faroe Bank, with a higher number of smaller eggs, evolved in response to a more hostile environment (bare seabed and higher exposure to predators) experienced by early life stages in this area. Experimental captive spawnings with Faroe Bank cod showed a large interfamily skew in survival rates of cod eggs and fry. Egg size was identified as a useful indicator of survival rates in the egg stage, but egg survival rates could not be used to predict viability in later developmental stages, thus highlighting the importance of employing some sort of genetic monitoring of cod fry to ensure sufficient family representation in the progeny. While no tank effect was evident concerning fry survival, a significant tank effect was identified concerning body sizes of fry. Microsatellite data were analysed using large sample sizes of Faroe Plateau and Faroe Bank cod with the Faroe Plateau divided into two locations, Faroe Plateau North-East and Faroe Plateau West (cod from each of the two were known to belong to separate spawning grounds). Two Norwegian coastal cod samples were included as outlier populations. While no genetic differentiation was detected between the two Faroe Plateau locations, these analyses revealed a detectable, albeit relatively modest, degree of genetic differentiation between cod from the Faroe Plateau and the Faroe Bank (FST = 0.0014 and 0.0018; DJost_EST = 0.0027 and 0.0048; P < 0.0001 and P < 0.001 for the Faroe Plateau North-East – Faroe Bank and the Faroe Plateau West – Faroe Bank comparisons). These values were several times smaller than those between Faroese and Norwegian coastal cod (pairwise FST and DJost_EST values in the range of 0.0061 – 0.0137 and 0.0158 – 0.0386, respectively). Despite recent reductions in census population sizes for Faroe Plateau and, particularly, Faroe Bank cod, genetic diversity estimates were comparable to the ones observed for Norwegian coastal cod and there was no evidence of significant genetic bottlenecks. Lastly, data for one of the markers (Gmo132) indicated genotype-dependent vertical distribution of cod (as investigated for Faroe Plateau North-East cod). Contrary to some previously published studies, analysis of SNPs of two candidate genes for adaptive divergence, the hemoglobin gene Hb-ß1 and the transferrin gene Tf1, failed to detect differentiation between samples of Faroe Plateau and Faroe Bank cod analysed in this thesis. Of 3533 novel SNPs simultaneously discovered and genotyped by restriction-site associated DNA (RAD) sequencing, 58 showed evidence of genetic differentiation between Faroe Plateau North-East and Faroe Bank cod (P < 0.05). No single locus was fixed for different alleles between Faroe Plateau and Faroe Bank cod. A set of eight informative SNPs (FST values between Faroe Plateau and Faroe Bank samples > 0.25; P < 0.0005) were selected for validation in larger samples, that included cod from both Faroe Plateau areas and the Faroe Bank as well as Norwegian coastal and White Sea cod. Six out of the eight loci amplified successfully with a PCR-based method and there was 100 % concordance between genotypes of individuals screened by both techniques. Due to ascertainment bias, the SNPs should only be applied with caution in a broader geographical context. Nonetheless, these SNPs did confirm the genetic substructure suggested for Faroese cod by microsatellite analyses. While no genetic differentiation was evident between the two Faroe Plateau locations, significant genetic differentiation was evident between Faroe Plateau and Faroe Bank cod at five of the SNPs (FST values in the range of 0.0383 – 0.1914). This panel of five SNPs could confidently be used to trace groups of Faroe Plateau and Faroe Bank cod to their population of origin. In conclusion, multiple lines of evidence demonstrate that Faroe Plateau and Faroe Bank cod are truly two genetically distinct populations. While the findings contribute to a broader understanding of the biology and the genetics of Faroe Plateau and Faroe Bank cod, the novel SNPs developed may provide a valuable resource for potential future demands of i.e. genetic stock identification methods.

A large database of domestic mammal bone measurements from sites across Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the Northern and Western Isles of Scotland is presented. The reasons for variations in bone growth of domestic ungulates are examined in detail; nutrition is identified as a key factor in the determination of adult bone size and shape. Possible sources of variation in bone size in both time and space in the North Atlantic region are identified. Four hypotheses are proposed; firstly that bone dimensions, particularly breadth, will decrease with increasing latitude in the study region; secondly that higher status sites will raise larger livestock than lower status sites within the same time period and region; thirdly the size of domestic mammals in the Northern and Western Isles of Scotland will increase in the Later Iron Age, possibly in relation to increased fodder supply; finally at times of environmental degradation (climatic and/or landscape) domestic mammal size will decrease. The latitude hypothesis could only be partly upheld; there is no evidence for increased size with site status; a small increase in size is noted at some Scottish Iron Age sites and varying results are found for the environmental degradation hypothesis. The results are discussed with particular reference to how changes in the skeletal proportions of domestic mammals affect their human carers and beneficiaries. The potential of further expanding the dataset and integrating biometrical data with other forms of evidence to create a powerful tool for the examination of economic and environmental changes at archaeological sites is discussed.

When the whole world was in lockdown and tourism was at a standstill due to the COVID19-pandemic, the Faroe Islands found an alternative way to let people experience their destination. They started the “Remote tourism” campaign which offered live virtual tours where users from all over the world could navigate the locals who were equipped with GoPro cameras on their helmets. But how satisfying can such an experience be? How do users experience virtual tours? And how do such virtual tours promote the willingness to visit a destination? This study aimed at answering those questions by conducting semi-structured interviews with members of Generation Y. The participants of the interview watched the recorded versions of the virtual tours offered by Visit Faroe Islands and were asked about their experience. There are different factors for a satisfying tourism experience, namely presence/telepresence, enjoyment, involvement, and flow. The results showed that these factors were also relevant to the virtual tourism experience. However, the virtual tours were experienced differently by different participants and the results cannot be generalized. Yet, this will likely be the case for the traditional tourism experience as well. The same tourism experience will be perceived differently by every individual. The results also showed that the virtual tours did promote the willingness to visit the Faroe Islands for the majority of participants – or it did not change to the worse at least.

This paper examines the artist Sámal Joensen-Mikines (1906-1979) and how he and his work manifest Faroese national identity. The theoretical background used in thispaper is Anthony D. Smiths theory on the potential of art to reproduce and re-interpret national identity. He describes three different elements of how this can be achieved in art – evocation, commemoration and didactic. The paper examines the form, style and subject of three of Mikines’ paintings from this theoretical perspective, as well as how the artist positions himself and how he is positioned by critics and experts both during and after his lifetime. The results show that his home island Mykines and his identity as Faroese are central for Mikines and his work. His artwork is clearly identified as Faroese by experts, and he has a strong position in the Faroese art world. The form and style of his work is international, strongly inspired by Nordic and European artists, and he uses this as his language to communicate Faroese national identity in form of evocation and commemoration to both a Faroese and an international audience.

A large database of domestic mammal bone measurements from sites across Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the Northern and Western Isles of Scotland is presented. The reasons for variations in bone growth of domestic ungulates are examined in detail; nutrition is identified as a key factor in the determination of adult bone size and shape. Possible sources of variation in bone size in both time and space in the North Atlantic region are identified. Four hypotheses are proposed; firstly that bone dimensions, particularly breadth, will decrease with increasing latitude in the study region; secondly that higher status sites will raise larger livestock than lower status sites within the same time period and region; thirdly the size of domestic mammals in the Northern and Western Isles of Scotland will increase in the Later Iron Age, possibly in relation to increased fodder supply; finally at times of environmental degradation (climatic and/or landscape) domestic mammal size will decrease. The latitude hypothesis could only be partly upheld; there is no evidence for increased size with site status; a small increase in size is noted at some Scottish Iron Age sites and varying results are found for the environmental degradation hypothesis. The results are discussed with particular reference to how changes in the skeletal proportions of domestic mammals affect their human carers and beneficiaries. The potential of further expanding the dataset and integrating biometrical data with other forms of evidence to create a powerful tool for the examination of economic and environmental changes at archaeological sites is discussed. / The Division of AGES (University of Bradford), the Andy Jagger Fund (University of Bradford), the Francis Raymond Hudson Fund (University of Bradford), the Viking Society, the Prehistoric Society, SYNTHESIS and the Paddy Coker Research Fund (Biogeographical Society)