Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2004, Page 29

ZOOARCHAEOLOGY, HlSTORY AND LANDSCAPE ArCHAEOLOGY AT FlNNBOGASTAÐIR IN THE 18TH CENTURY
Fig. 3. Relative abundance of primary fish species.
spreading widely through the N Atlantic
along with intensified offshore físhing in
late medieval to early modem times
(Petersen 1998).
Fish
Fish bones are the most common element
of the Finnbogastaðir archaeofauna, and
the great majority of these are from the
cod (gadid) family. Figure 3 presents the
relative abundance of gadid fish identi-
fíed to species level, indicating the over-
whelming dominance of cod (Gadus
morhua L.) within this group. The rela-
tively few non-gadid físh remains belong
to five taxa, including wolf físh, shark,
flatfish, and rays. The most common
non-gadid is Anarchus lupus, wolf físh
(represented primarily through dense cra-
nial bones and teeth). Wolf fish is a com-
mon by-catch with gadids, and has long
been exploited in Iceland for its meat and
(recently) for its leathery skin. Also rep-
resented by the presence of teeth is the
Greenland shark, Somniosus micro-
cephalus. The Greenland shark is a large,
sluggish, deep-water shark, with pointed
upper teeth, and relatively flat lower
teeth, feeding primarily on seals, crabs,
and fish (Migdalski, 1976). The pres-
ences of these shark teeth are the only
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