Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2005, Page 66

Ragnar Edvardsson
pelvic girdle elements and very few ver-
tebrae. In all production cases, the head
was cut off and was either left at the pro-
cessing site or brought to the farms. All
the production methods leave a substan-
tial part of the vertebral column, which
travels with the físh to its consumption
site. Nearly all production methods leave
the cleithrum on with the fmished prod-
uct, which also travels to the consump-
tion site. Consumption sites thus exhibit
low numbers of head bones and higher
numbers of vertebrae. In it interesting to
note that on inland sites in Iceland during
the 9th-12th century period, cod heads
are missing but the vertebral column and
cleithrum are present. This indicates that
the inland sites are consumption sites and
must be trading for marine products.
Inland sites in the northeastem
region of Iceland, where much work has
already been done in identifying early
commercial físhing in the North Atlantic
(Hofstaðir, Sveigakot and Hrísheimar) all
dated to the 9th-12th centuries, show a
considerable variety of gadids in their
archaeofaunal assemblages, mainly cod,
haddock and saith. These sites are all
approximately 80 km from the sea and in
general very far from any fishing sta-
tions. It would have been a major effort
for farmers and farmhands to travel from
their farms to the fishing stations.
However, these sites all show a strong
connection with the sea and the fact that
in the 9th century, the role of físh is
already important in farm economy.
(McGovem, et al. 2001)
Before Iceland became involved
in the intemational físh trade in the 13th-
15th centuries the economy was inten-
sively involved in the control and the
manipulation of dried físh. Chieftains in
Vestfírðir exchanged dried fish for other
products, most likely agricultural prod-
ucts, as the region could not produce
enough agricultural surplus both to sus-
tain their households and for export. This
economic pattem is represented both on
production and consumption sites, such
as Akurvík and the sites in the Mývatn
region and this pattem probably extended
back to the settlement period. The
appearance of foreign merchants looking
for dried físh products for European mar-
kets both changed the economy of the
region and the actual físh product. The
merchants were looking for a new stan-
dardized product which the European
market demanded not the local product
of the Viking period.
Thus in the 13th-15th centuries
a new element was introduced into the
economic system of Iceland, the export
of marine products. The main export
item was a standardized físh product,
skreið, which could only be made from a
certain size of cod. The Vestfirðir was in
a key position to benefit from the export
of marine products as the area had always
relied primarily on marine products for
income. Vestfírðir became, during this
period, one of the most important politi-
cal and economic parts of Iceland. This is
clearly reflected in the written sources as
the richest individuals and families in
Iceland at the time all lived in Vestfírðir
and owned a large portion of the penin-
sula. Their source of power and wealth
was, as before, based on the control and
manipulation of marine resources; and in
the 13th-15th centuries the control of
trade with foreigners became increasing-
ly important (Nash 1995).
The archaeologcial research
into físhing in Vestfirðir is generating
new and interesting data on Viking and
Medieval economies. The data suggests
64