Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2005, Page 56

Ragnar Edvardsson
work has also shown that the written evi-
dence only gives a limited and often one-
sided picture of the Icelandic economy
during the Viking and Medieval periods.
The archaeological evidence suggests
that there are elements of the medieval
economy that can only be brought to
light with archaeological methods
(Amundsen, et al. in press).
It is important to understand, for
economic studies in Iceland, the entire
process that the íish follows from the
time it is caught until it is consumed and
thrown away. There are numerous prob-
lems facing anyone interested in under-
standing this process. Making this more
challenging is the fact that the fish are not
processed and consumed at the same
place thus presenting the complexity of
differentiating between subsistence and
commercial físhing. In archaeology we
can distinguish between two sites, the
processing and the consumption site and
each will show different signatures based
on whether they are based on subsistence
or commercial economy. In Iceland the
signature can become blurred as com-
mercial and subsistence fishing were
sometimes happening at the same time at
the same site.
Fishing Stations, from Land and Sea
This research includes two main
approaches to studying fishing stations in
Vestfirðir. The fírst and foremost is to
look at each site archaeologically from
the land. This includes all states of sur-
vey and excavation as well as including
the landscape, surrounding farms and
boundaries surrounding the fishing sta-
tions. Secondly, one cannot attempt to
understand fishing stations or físhing in
general without understanding the source
and the relationship with that source.
Thus, not only should the landscape be
considered, seascapes must be included
as well. Therefore, the following research
into the settlement of fishing sites and
indeed the settlement of Vestfirðir in gen-
eral, not only views the fishing stations
from a terrestrial perspective, but also
from a marine perspective. It is the view
of this project that the sea and its
resources are the primary factors influ-
encing the settlement and its develop-
ment in this area. The location and place-
ment of any settlements, fishing or other-
wise, were ruled primarily by the sea and
land is only of secondary importance. It
is important therefore to begin with a
brief discussion of the seascape and its
connection to particular types of físhing
stations as well as where the físhing sta-
tions were situated. This information
should help to contextualize the archaeo-
logical data.
Offshore and Inshore Fishing
In the study of fishing and its develop-
ment, special notice should be given to
the particular seascape of a fishing site
and its settlement. There are two main
íunctions of stations that will be dis-
cussed: offshore and inshore. Any fish-
ing site that was a base for deep-sea físh-
ing had to be located close to the offshore
fishing grounds. A practical location for
such a site would be on a peninsula,
which was closest to the deep sea físhing
grounds and where suitable landings
could be found, preferably a rocky beach.
It would not be practical to locate an off-
shore fishing base far away from the fish-
ing grounds, deep in a fjord, as the cost
for the fishermen would be too great to
reach the fishing grounds and too danger-
ous as they would be exposed to the ele-
ments for too long. In contrast, fishermen
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