Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2004, Qupperneq 27

ZOOARCHAEOLOGY, HlSTORY AND LANDSCAPE ARCHAEOLOGY AT FlNNBOGASTAÐIR IN THE 18TH CENTURY
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domestic mammals whales seals birds fish mollusca
Fig. 2. Relative abundance of primary faunal groups.
Domestic Mammals
The identified domestic mammals are
cattle (9.13 %) and sheep or caprine
(90.87%). As is common in late medieval
and early modem contexts in Iceland, pig
and goat bones are entirely absent and it
is likely that the entire "caprine" catego-
ry (fragments that could belong to either
sheep or goat) is in fact composed of
sheep. The ratio of cattle bone to caprine
bone is approximately one to ten. Dog,
cat, or rodent bones are not present in the
archaeofauna, but (as noted above) tooth
marks of both dog and rodent (probably
mouse) chewing are present on several
bones.
Domesticates age at death
Not enough intact tooth rows were avail-
able for effective reconstmction of age of
death of the major domesticates (see
Perdikaris et al 2003 for data). The pres-
ence of neonatal (less than 3 month old)
cattle bone suggests the usual Icelandic
dairying strategy, and contrasts with a
low frequency of newbom lamb bones.
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