Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2005, Page 43

Fish Bones and Fishermen: The Potential of Zooarchaeology in the Westfjords
regressions. Different sized fish are suit-
able for preparation as stockfish, klipfisk,
or for fresh consumption only. The stock-
fish window is ca 60-110 cm live length.
Fish smaller than this window over dry,
and físh much larger simply rot; for dis-
cussion, see Perdikaris (1998). However,
smaller-sized físh in the ca. 40-70 cm
live length range can be ideal for prepar-
ing as klipfísk.
Figure 5 presents the live length
reconstruction for both phases at Gjögur
and Akurvík based on atlas vertebrae
(Enghoff 1994). The cod dentary and
premaxilla are jaw parts that are robust
and regularly recovered in excavation,
and these elements have also been wide-
ly used for live length reconstruction
(Wheeler and Jones 1989). Both Gjögur
and Akurvík have produced substantial
numbers of both elements. The recon-
structed size distributions show a similar
pattem to the atlas reconstmctions, but
larger sample sizes provide more detail.
Figure 6 presents the recon-
stmcted live length distribution for cod
dentary and premaxilla from the roughly
contemporary later medieval phases at
Gjögur and Akurvík with the optimum
size for stockfísh (solid) and klipfísk
(dotted) indicated as boxes. Note that the
mutually consistent patteming of both
premaxillae and dentaries on the two
sites indicate two different pattems - a
Figure 6. The distribution of cod fish reconstructed live length based on the dentary and pre-
maxilla for both Akurvík and Gjögur late medieval contexts demonstrates clear bimodal distri-
bution, at Akurvík with peaks in both stockfish and klipfisk "production windows". Note the close
tracking of reconstructions based on both elements in both archaeofauna.
41