Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2005, Page 113

Kúvíkur. An abandoned trading site
but is still broadly from the 17th/18th
century.
II. The next phase differed from the fírst
one. It consisted of four main layers.
Two of them, on the southem side of the
trench, were horizontal and compact, as
if they had been trampled. The layers in
the northem part of the trench, where it
starts to slope, are very different and con-
sist mainly of peatash. They are much
more loose, suggesting that they slid
down the slope.
III. The second youngest phase consisted
of many layers. As in the previous phase
they are more compact and brownish
where they are horizontal but get looser
and much more mixed where they start
sloping down to the north. There they
mainly consist of peatash, mixed with
greyish soil and some coal. A small pit,
12-13 cm deep, had been dug within the
sequence and had flat boards of drift-
wood at its base. They may represent a
part of a small container or a barrel, that
had later been removed and the pit back-
filled with very mixed midden deposits,
more compacted than any other layers
belonging to this phase. All the boards
are well preserved, each about 8-10 cm
wide.
IV. The youngest phase of the midden is
by far the most homogenous of all. It
formed the part of the midden that is vis-
ible on the surface. The eroded layers
have mainly come from this part of the
midden. They consist mainly of fairly
clean peatash layers with relatively few
finds - mainly nails. Its thickness is over
1 m. The top of the midden had a thin
layer of coal. Although homogenous, it
is clear that the phase has been formed by
repeated dumping of relatively clean ash.
The amount of clean peatash in
phase IV raises some questions as all
other waste seems to have been disposed
of elsewhere at that time. Since no other
midden is visible on the surface it can be
suggested that it was thrown down on the
shore or into the sea. It is possible that
the peatash was kept seperate because it
was to be used as fertilizer. All kinds of
ash were thought to be good fertilizers
and peatash particularly good where soil
was relatively wet, which could apply to
the homefield in Kúvíkur ('Fyrsta bú-
skapar hugvekja', 90). Since cultivation
seems to have been intense at Kúvíkur it
was considered important to see if this
was the case. A soil corer was used and
cores taken in a few places where lazy-
beds and/or potato fields are visble on the
surface. The results were negative - no
traces of peatash showed up. Since the
ridges are convex they are well drained
and thus loose substances such as peatash
could easily wash away. It should also be
pointed out that traces of peatash and
other fertilizers, such as dung and food
waste, have been found in an old field in
Ketilsstaðir, southern Iceland, using
micromorphology. In this case the ash
was not visible to the naked eye (Guð-
mundsson et al. 2004, 101).
It can be considered whether the
peatash in phase IV derived from heating
or perhaps from industry, that is the melt-
ing of shark liver. In the early 20th cen-
tury there were three iron liver pots kept
in a special melting shed on site
(Guðbrandsson 1970, 54). Today, the
remains of one such pot can be seen
about 100 m northwest of the midden.
Peat was the most easily accessible fuel
in Kúvíkur and known peat cutting areas
are in at least 3-4 places close to the site.
It is possible that peat was preferred over
other types of fuel for the processing of
liver oil. In a description written by the
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