Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2005, Page 65

COMMERCIAL AND SUBSISTANCE FlSHING IN VESTFIRÐIR
evidence is therefore suggestive of much
more specialization than previously
thought. However more archaeological
work is clearly needed on físhing sites of
this type.
Both areas, Strandasýsla and
Isaljarðarsýsla, did not focus solely on
one species but the existing data suggest
that N-ísaf]arðasýsla was more focused
on físhing the large cod and Strandasýsla
more towards shark físhing for shark
liver oil. Both these products, skreið and
shark liver oil, were the main export
items in the period between AD 1200-
1550 (Magnússon 1940).
Discussion
This paper has argued that the economy
of the Vestfírðir region is different from
elswhere in Iceland, with more emphasis
on marine resources. It has also argued
that archaeologically, físhing stations in
the area should be categorized into two
types. This categorization is based on
whether they were focused on subsis-
tence or commercial fishing. The com-
mercial fishing stations were specialized
sites targeting the offshore físhing
grounds and focusing on one or two
species of a certain size. However, it has
been diffícult to identify commercial
físhing sites in Iceland historically as
well as archaeologically as the line
between subsistence and commercial
físhing is often unclear.
In the past decade there has
been a new focus in archaeological
research in Iceland. This focus has shift-
ed from pure structural/artefactual
research towards incorporating other
types of data such as faunal and botanical
remains. The results of this change are
beginning to play a major role in
Icelandic archaeological research. Faunal
research has given archaeology in
Iceland new methods of interpreting
aspects of its history that have remained
hidden from earlier researchers. Fishing
is one such hidden part of early Icelandic
history as most of the written sources are
silent about its role in Viking and
Medieval economies.
Much work has already been
done in identifying early commercial
fishing in the North Atlantic. Various
zooarchaeological indicators have been
used, such as changing species diversity,
body part representation, butchery strate-
gy and reconstructed life length (Amund-
sen, et al. in press). This research demon-
strates that using faunal assemblages and
locational analysis, físhing sites that were
primarily focused on offshore físhing can
be identifíed and examined. Such sites
were usually located on a peninsula as
close to the offshore físhing grounds as
possible and show a high concentration
of a certain type of físh in their faunal
assemblages.
From this work, various differ-
ences between físh assemblages from
sites across Iceland in two major periods
(9th-12th centuries, and 13th-15th cen-
turies), indicate changes in the Icelandic
economic system. The first notable dif-
ference is that of the composition of
species between the two periods. The
former period contains an assortment of
diverse species, while the latter has a spe-
cific focus on cod. This is an indication
that commercialized físhing is becoming
more important by the latter period.
Body part representation has
been used to indicate differences between
consumption sites and production sites.
Production sites produce a different cod
elemental distribution pattem, predomi-
nantly consisting of head bones, few
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