Fróðskaparrit

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FORNFRØDILIG RANNSOKN I UPPISTOVUBEITINUM I LEIRVIK

Fig. 8. Bronze weight of Viking Period type

Lodd úr bronsu av víkingaaldarslag

Special interest is focused on wooden

objects pertaining to ship- or boat construc-

tions, which are found very rarely on the is-

lands (Arge, 1995a). Thus we have recov-

ered a spant - a rib - of oak, the closest par-

allel is to be found on the Lynæssboat from

Roskildefjord, Denmark, dated to ca. 1140

A.D. (Crumlin-Pedersen, 1979). We have

also found a keip, made of hazel - which

during the Viking-Age seems to have been

a common cultural element in Scandinavia,

and still is along the Norwegian coast, but

which was, however, replaced in the Faroe

Islands by a locally'evolved tholepin. Both

the spant and the keip appear here for the

first time in the Faroese material. Also tog-

gles of various sizes, made of pine and

common spruce or larch, may be related to

nautical activity.

Metal objects are seldom found so well

preserved as on this site. To continue in a

nautical vein, plenty of iron nails and rivets

were found that in all probability have been

used within boat or ship building. The find

situation indicates a craftsmanslike indus-

try on the site, as many of the iron frag-

ments are parts of sheared nails6. Further-

more we have recovered several fishhooks

- another rare find category.

Other metal objects include knives, frag-

ments of locks, as well as a spherical

weight with flattened »poles« and punched

circle-ornamentation, fig. 8. The weight is

exclusively of bronze - it lacks the iron

core often found in this type of weight. The

weight weighs 26,23 grams, which is ex-

tremely close to the weight of a Medieval

øre.

Personal objects are represented in the

form of a doublecomb, fig. 9, three bronze

brooches and a few glass beads.

The prescence of runic inscriptions en-

hances the variety and bredth of the mater-

ial. One of the inscriptions is that of the

name OLAFR found written on a stone

(Stoklund, 1991). The other pertains to an

11 cm. long stave or stick, square in form

and with inscriptions on three of the four

sides. The runes are medieval, however a

translation has made no sense of the in-

scriptions (Stoklund, 1996).

Animal bones and teeth are rarely found

so well preserved in the islands as here. The

material contains the remains of large

mammals, as well as the bones of birds and

fish awaiting closer study and analysis. A

preliminary analysis of the teeth material

has revealed the prescence not only of

sheep and cattle, but also such species as

pigs, pilot whale, grey seal and wolffish7.

The»bone material, has for the first time

ever, revealed the habit of sucking marrow

from sheep's feet in the Faroes, in accor-

dance with recent similar discoveries in

Iceland and the Shetland Islands.

The publication of this observation led to

the relevation that not only had this practice

occured up to recent times in some places