Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2005, Page 119

Kúvíkur. An abandoned trading site
Conclusion
The rescue excavation in Kúvíkur
showed promising results. A fairly large
assemblage of fínds was retrieved and
the stratigraphy of the midden mapped.
Trench 1 in the midden revealed up to 2
m thick cultural deposits. Organic mate-
rial was well-preserved down to the bot-
tom layers, v/hich could date to the 17th
or 18th century, judging from the fínds.
It seems that in the beginning there may
have been a structure of some kind on the
bank of the brook. When the structure
was abandoned people started to throw
rubbish into it and such disposal contin-
ued until the site was abandoned in the
1950's. Apart of the midden deposit had
obviously slid down to the brook and
thus been carried with it to the sea. This
could partly explain glass and pottery
fragments that can be found down on the
shore but it also remains likely that waste
was disposed there directly. It is clear
that disposal has been relatively intensive
during the last phase, especially if it is
considered that the peatash probably
derives mainly from the houses closest to
the midden. They include the dwelling
and trading house of Jakob Thorarensen
and possibly the byre of which the upper
floor was inhabited, at least for some
time in the beginning of the 20th century.
Although quite a few people lived in
Kúvíkur in the 19th-20th centuries, it is
not likely that waste was carried to the
midden from dwellings in the eastem-
most part of the area, which was called
"Á hlaðinu". Possibly the peatash in
phase IV was produced not only by the
buming of peat for heating but for the
melting of shark-liver. Shark was caught
from Kúvíkur until the 20th century.
Trench 2, which showed obvious signs of
human activity is, without a doubt, older
than the last phase of occupation. The
oldest finds in the trench date to the
17th/18th century. To reach a final con-
clusion on the function of the possible
stmcture, a more extensive excavation
would be required.
Kúvíkur is the fírst site from the
19th-20th centuries to be studied in detail
in Iceland. Social interpretation is there-
fore difficult even though plenty of writ-
ten sources about the social environment
dating to this period is available. Little is
known about how that is expressed in
material terms. The nature of the site is
quite complex and it can be debated
whether the finds assemblage represents
Kúvíkur as a typical 18th to 20th century
farm or a trading place. Until comparison
material is available from other sites
these questions will remain unanswered.
However, it is perhaps ironic that one of
the more common fínds from the excava-
tion - glass chimneys from kerosene
lamps - signifíes a major change in
domestic lighting in Europe and else-
where, from oil fuelled lamps to
kerosene. Shark oil, which was the main
focus of trade at Kúvíkur, was exported
primarily for lighting - largely for street
lamps, though by the late 19th century it
was in decreasing demand, as gas and
later electricity took its place.
Nevertheless, in the 1920s new uses were
found as refinery methods were devel-
oped in Japan to extract squalene, used in
cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. In the
process, however, Japan also became the
largest exporter of shark oil in the 20th
century. It is perhaps another irony that
much of the porcelain that ended up at
Kúvíkur in the 20th century was from
Japan. While the decline of Kúvíkur is
undoubtedly caught up in many factors, it
seems only right to point out that many of
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