Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.1998, Page 125

Hofstaðir 1996-1997. A Preuminary Zooarchaeological Report
(Amorosi 1996) and has been
documented from Norse collections in
Greenland as well. Both shearing
blows by an axe or heavy cleaver and
finer knife scratches and slice marks
were observed on the 1996 bones
collected, sometimes on the same el-
ement. Notably absent were the dis-
tinctive bi-perforated caprine meta-
podials common on later Icelandic
sites. These are also found in Late
Norse collections in Shetland (Bigelow
1984), Faroe (Aarge 1996), and parts
of Scotland (Olwyn Owen personal
communication 1996), but are absent
from bone collections from Norse
Greenland or the Scandinavian main-
land. A study of this efficient marrow-
extraction technique (nearly universal
in recent-early modern Iceland) by
G.F. Bigelow (Bigelow 1985) indicates
that it arose sometime around AD
1100, thus post-dating the Hofstaðir
Area G midden fill. The preliminary
butchery evidence thus suggests some
points of both continuity and change
between the Hofstaðir farmers and
modern Icelandic practice.
Bird Bones
Bird bones of several species (to be
identified) were recovered from the
Area G midden fill in 1996. However,
the most striking find was not bird
bone but multiple concentrations of
well-preserved fragments of bird egg-
shell. These concentrations of shell
fragments appeared as localized
pockets at the base of the C4 layer and
in the C5 layers directly beneath.
Their deposition suggested that nearly
complete eggs (presumably with the
insides sucked out) were included in
the midden fill. At least 61 concentra-
tions of fragments were recorded in
the small portion of the Area G
deposits investigated in 1996, sug-
gesting that egg collection was a
significant seasonal activity for the
settlers at Hofstaðir. Dr. Arni Einars-
son of the Nature Research Station at
Skútustadir kindly provided a pre-
liminary identification of at least some
of the fragments as probably deriving
from duck eggs. This would appear to
be the earliest record of human ex-
ploitation of the rich migratory water-
fowl of the Mývatn region.
Fish Bones
Fish bones made up a significant
proportion of the animal bones
recovered in 1996-7. Field observa-
tions indicate that the vast majority of
these are from the salmonid family
that includes the trout (Salmo trutta),
the arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus)
and the true Atlantic salmon (Salmo
salar). These species are not easy to
distinguish on many elements, but
field observation suggests the presence
of both large trout and true salmon.
The salmonid fishes were represented
both by vertebral elements (many with
spines intact) and head parts (includ-
ing jaws with intact dentition). This is
testimony not only to excellent
conditions of preservation, but also to
the consumption nearby of entire
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