Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2004, Page 138

Gavin Lucas
Fig. 16. Spatial distribution plot of bone from Granastaðir, by
Einarsson (Arbók 1992).
1950s after which time scales are almost,
but not quite universally employed,
relates not so much to increased accuracy
as an increase in resolution; this only
becomes clear when we consider changes
in the use of iconic forms (i.e. stylised
stones or walls) used to represent archae-
ological remains. Figure 14 shows the
changes to drawings of structures by
decade where the individual elements
(e.g. stones, walls) are drawn iconically
or aniconically (i.e. 'realistically'). There
is a clear change in the 1930s, where sud-
denly the elements of structures are
drawn more realistically than iconically;
this is not simply a case of improved
accuracy, but rather reflects a concem for
greater resolution of the imagery. This
goes hand in hand with the emergence of
a new subject genre at the same time - the
feature. The concem to illustrate features
(such as hearths) reveals a new concem
with detail not seen before, and this is
directly related to the increased resolu-
tion of drawings, as exemplified through
the importance of scales and aniconic
rendering of detail.
Finally, I need to mention the few
rarer types of illustration, namely inter-
pretive plans which include phase plans,
136