Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2005, Page 118

Birna Lárusdóttir, Gavin Lucas, Lilja Björk Pálsdóttir and Stefán Ólafsson
Figure 7
1-3. Glass lamp chimney tops, (1-2 with
relief tnarks, 3 with etched mark)
4. Medicine phial with cork stopper
5. Phial with external screw thread top
6. Neck of green soda/beer bottle
7. Green soda/beer bottle
8. Base of medicine phial with embossed let-
tering
found in phase III is more than twice that
of phase II which could mean either more
activity or a longer period of time. The
dating evidence only gives a lower limit
of dating for the phases so they cannot be
interpreted as absoulute starting dates. If
the difference between them is used to
estimate the length of the phases, phase II
is ca. 15 years long and phase 3 ca. 30
years long. It is difflcult to know how
accurate this is but it indicates that the
reason for more finds is simply the fact
that the phase extends over a longer peri-
od of time. Forty-eight pottery sherds
were retrieved, dating from the mid-19th
century.
Analysis of the different types
of objects does not indicate many
changes. There is for example, little dif-
ference in the various types of glass
objects between phases II and III. The
only exception seems to be the different
composition of metal objects. There
seems to be a great increase in domestic
material and much less building material;
this is not visible in the analysis of the
nails or the glass objects. It is therefore
diffícult to explain this as an indication of
less building related activity in phase III.
This phase had the highest number of
pottery vessels and based on the marked
vessels and lithograph decoration, proba-
bly starts no earlier than ca. 1890 and
extends into the mid-20th century.
Figure 8
1. Undecorated whiteware bowl
2. Porcelain saucer with rose lithograph
print decoration
3. Spoon
4. Fork with wooden handle
5. Tin can
7. Clench bolts and nails
8. Tobacco pipe stem with marked heel
9. Lead postal seal
When objects in phase IV, except
for metal objects, are compared to phase
III there is a huge decrease in quantity
which again might be because of the dif-
ferent longevity of the phases. The over-
all composition is similar, e.g. domestic
(bottles, lamps) and building material
(window glass, nails). The metal objects
are clearly different and in much larger
quantities than in the previous layers.
This increase is seen in both domestic and
building material, although more in the
latter. It seems like a change in disposal
pattem - that more metal in general was
disposed. It is possible to interpret this as
a change in the material culture: That
metal was more used in general in both
building and domestic objects or that
metal was not considered as valuable as
before. This final phase shows a decrease
in vessels, and though comprised of thick
deposits, probably marks a relatively short
period of time in the mid-20th century.
A total of 178 finds was recov-
ered from trench 2. They include metal
objects, glass and ceramics. On the
whole, the assemblage seems to be con-
temporary with the primary phase in the
main midden. The oldest dateable fmds
are a piece of glazed earthenware, which
is probably 17th/18th century and a
creamware plate, probably late 18th cen-
tury but could be extending into the first
decade of the 19th (i.e. ca. 1780-1810).
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