Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.1998, Page 148

Ritdómar
bowls. The cooking pots are typified
on basis of the rim in accordance with
the classification of Madsen &
Schiprring (1981) as well as Molaug
(1981) (slip — decorated redware is
given extra consideration). In addition
the smallest group of finds like
porcelaine — both Asian and European
— and rarely occurring special forms
like crucibles are mentioned.
Only a few stove-tiles have been
found in Iceland: in Bessastaðir, Skál-
holt and Viðey. Presumably tiled
stoves were not widespread in Iceland,
possibly due to the high cost of
acquisition. Sites including tile-frag-
ments are all high-status sites associ-
ated with the partly Danish ruling
elite. None of the Icelandic stove-tile
sherds date back beyond the second
half of the lóth century. Floor tiles
were hardly found at all. The frag-
ments are very small and hard to inter-
pret, nevertheless they show similar-
ities to floor-tiles from the Bryggen
excavation in Bergen. Whereas in the
fourth chapter the emphasis was laid
on constructing a type series, the fifth
chapter compares sites where pottery
has been found in Iceland and the
types found there with pottery types
found in Northern Europe. Attention
has to be paid to the fact that only a
few of the sites were explored in a
proper archaeological way and a
considerable number of the sherds are
stray finds. Sherds of not yet complet-
ed excavations like Viðey were not
taken into consideration. Information
about some sites was often not obtain-
able. As a consequence it was hardly
possible during the project to get a
complete picture of the distribution of
pottery in Iceland. A comparison
between an inland farm and a coastal
farm did not show any difference in
the use of pottery. The small number
of actual medieval sherds amongst the
assemblage led the author to the
conclusion that pottery must have
been of rather modest significance to
Icelandic farms in the middle ages.
A total of 4433 sherds is preserved
at the above mentioned museums in
Reykjavík, 1985 of these pieces were
discovered in Bessastaðir. The majority
consists of red earthenware of the
17th, 18th, and 19th century. Most of
the medieval sherds were found in
Viðey (due to the still ongoing excava-
tions these could not be considered
here), as well as in the medieval trad-
ing place Gautavík and finally in
Reykholt.
What does the pottery tell us about
the sites? Chapter six deals with that
question. Obviously relevant informa-
tion can only be obtained from those
sites which have been carefully in-
vestigated. This was the case in Reyk-
holt, Stóraborg, Kópavogur, Gautavík,
Bessastaðir, Svalbarð and Viðey (which
is now dealt with for the first time in
the book).
The seventh chapter treats pottery as
an indicator for trade. In fact the
history of Icelandic trade and its
eventful periods can be reconstructed
by looking at the pottery found on the
island. In 1262 Iceland joined the
Norwegian kingdom and subsequently
all traded items found their way via
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