Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2005, Page 63

COMMERCIAL AND SUBSISTANCE FlSHING IN VESTFIRÐIR
the northem end, a small hearth was
uncovered which was made of three large
stones. The hearth was very simple in
form and was probably only usable for
cooking small meals. Based on the
hearth's being associated with the occu-
pation layers, this building was interpret-
ed as a small kitchen for the station.
All artefacts found on the site
were large metal sheets, some with rivets
in them. These sheets were made of cop-
per alloy and are remains of large cook-
ing vessels. A fair number of iron objects
were also found and most of them were
boat nails. No ceramics or clay pipes
were found during the excavation, which
suggests an early date for the stmcture,
possibly before the 17th century as it is
unusual not to find ceramics on archaeo-
logical sites dated after then. Moreover,
at the Akurvík site similar artefacts were
found in layers radiocarbon dated to the
14th century, which suggests a similar
date for both stations. Unfortunately, due
to the nature and composition of the soil
at Sauratún, it was not possible to obtain
adequate samples for radiocarbon dating.
Results of the Skálavík Excavation and
Analysis
The Skálavík site is approximately 5
kilometers from the town of Bolungar-
vík. On the site there are 12 large strac-
tures visible that probably date to differ-
ent time periods. The most recent
stmctures are from the early 20th century
as the site was occupied in the first
decades of the 20th century (Ömefnaskrá
Minnibakka í Bolungarvík).
The excavation focused on an
area where it seemed more likely to
locate earlier occupation phases, possibly
prior to the 15th century. During the
excavation a small stmcture was excavat-
ed. This structure was similar to that
excavated at Sauratún, and measured 5 x
5 m, was dug into the ground and the
upcast used to make the walls on all
sides. The entrance was facing the sea,
however, unlike Sauratún, the entrance
was small. The excavation did not fmd
any evidence for a roof as no postholes or
postpads were found. The interior of the
structure was filled in with mbbish layers
and the artefacts recorded in these layers
were dated to the 18th and 19th centuries,
suggesting that the booth had been in use
prior to the 18th century.
The nature and the complexity
of the site make it difficult to draw any
firm conclusions regarding the function
of this particular stracture and more
excavation is needed here in order to
understand the function and development
of the físhing station at Skálavík. These
archaeological surveys and excavations
are however beginning to provide a
clearer picture of the structure and func-
tion of early físhing sites. It is quite
apparent that the earliest booths that pre-
date the 15th century, based on the
Akurvík and Sauratún material, are small
stmctures with no fixed roofs. More than
likely, at these two stations a tent, made
from skins, was erected over a simple
stracture. The Skálavík excavation sug-
gests a similar stmcture but the data is
not conclusive.
The occupation layers at the
Sauratún and Akurvík sites also show
seasonal occupation as abandonment lay-
ers are sandwiched between the occupa-
tion layers. These stations were built for
one purpose and occupation was only
intended for short periods of time.
Therefore minimal effort was expended
on the constmction of stmctures.
None of the archaeological
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