Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2005, Page 28

Ragnar Edvardsson & Thomas H. McGovern
slag within the floor deposits, may sug-
gest that the building was used as a
smithy. However, this is difficult to deter-
mine based on the existing evidence and
it is hoped that further analysis of the
floor deposits will shed some light on
this issue.
Finds
During the excavation at Vatnsljörður, a
total of 103 artefacts were recorded. A
large portion of the artefacts were iron
objects (40%) consisting of nails and
tools. Other artefacts included two
beads, a spindle whorl, a whetstone,
worked whale bone, a loom weight and a
fish hammer.
Broken down by occupational
phase 40 objects were found in the floor
deposits of the later phase. This repre-
sents approximately 40% of the total
number of fínds. Most of which were
made of iron including a door lock. The
iron objects were scattered across the
floor, which suggests that they came
from the timber frame of the building
(roof, paneling or posts), and fell to the
floor when the building collapsed or was
tom down. Also recovered in this floor
deposit was a double yellow bead.
Double beads are a type of bead that is
well-recorded in Viking Age graves in
Iceland and across the Viking world. One
such Icelandic bead was found in the
pagan burial at Komsá in Ameshreppur.
Beads of this type have been dated to the
late lOth century (Eldjám 2000).
Approximately 15 artefacts
were recovered from the longhouse floor
deposits, about 15.5% of the total num-
ber. These objects were comparable to
those recorded in the later phase.
Similarly, most of the artefacts compris-
ing this phase were made of iron, includ-
ing nails, unidentified iron fragments,
whetstone, etc. Also recorded in this
phase was a complete, opaque, paste
bead. This type of bead is also common
in Viking Age burials and was recorded
at Komsá. As before, this bead more than
likely dates to the lOth century. Other
artefacts that could be identified in the
longhouse floor deposits were two loom
weights, a fish hammer and a broken
spindle whorl made of stone. The
remaining 45.5% came from various
deposits, such as wall collapse and rab-
bish deposits.
Vatnsfjörður Archaeofauna
Bone preservation at Vatnsfjörður is vari-
able, ranging from excellent to poor, with
most of the damage apparently caused by
mechanical soil processes rather than soil
acidity (upper layers were more exposed
to freeze-thaw cycles). Deeper deposits
will produce more consistent levels of
bone preservation, and the site has the
potential to produce signifícant collec-
tions. The animal bones from the 2003-
2004 Vatnsfjörður excavations thus far
comprise 142 identifíable bones out of a
total of 314 fragments recovered. This
NISP count is thus far well below the
number required for a fully quantifíed
analysis, but is large enough to suggest
some general pattems (NISP=number of
identified specimens). Table 1 presents
the current archaeofauna by taxon, com-
bining all contexts. Table 2 presents the
same data broken down by context. The
full range of domestic mammals is pres-
ent, including pig bones and a single
goat. Pigs are common on Icelandic sites
from the 9th-11 th centuries but become
increasingly rare by the 12th-13th cen-
turies. A complete adult pig mandible
from the floor of the long hall is a partic-
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