Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2006, Page 84

George Hambrecht
THE BISHOP’S BEEF.
IMPROVED CATTLE AT EARLY MODERN
SKÁLHOLT, ICELAND
This article presents results of a preliminary analysis of mammal bones from one
context in an early modern midden at the Episcopal farm of Skálholt, headquarters
for one of two Episcopal sees of Iceland (AD 1056 to 1785). Since 2001, excava-
tions by the Institute of Archaeology in Reykjavík have produced large collections
of early modern, i.e. early 17th to late 18th centuries, artifacts and bone from a
complex of structures which included the Bishop’s house, a boy’s school, and the
domestic infrastructure of this large, proto-urban manor and associated middens.
Excavation and analysis continue, and this paper is an interim report of the grow-
ing archaeofauna of this important site. This paper reports analysis of context 454
which was dominated by cattle bones (92% of the NISP 1,616). These bones come
from adult, but generally not aged animals, and include very few newbom calf
bones. This pattem is a strong contrast to other Icelandic archaeofauna (9th—19th
c) which contain high percentages of newborn calves and generally older adults.
In contrast to such typical “dairy” survivorship profiles associated with North
Atlantic farm economies, the majority of these cattle were slaughtered at their peak
age for meat return, sometime before the second half of their third year of life.
This assemblage represents an exceptionally high cost, and high value, beef-cattle
strategy probably associated with the status and scale of the Skálholt manorial
household. Furthermore these cattle were of a new breed. The majority of them
are naturally polled, and the two exceptions are artificially polled. This suggests
that the management of the Skálholt farm were engaged in the import of new
breeds and in animal husbandry improvement from an early date relative to the
Agricultural Revolution.
George Hambrecht, CUNY Graduate Center, Hunter College Department of
Anthropology, 695 ParkAve, NY, NY, 10021, (ghambrecht@gmail.com)
Keywords: Skálholt, Cattle, Zooarchaeology, Agricultural Improvement
Animal husbandry is as much a reflec-
tion of culture as architecture, ceramics,
or jewelry. Zooarchaeology in Iceland has
made significant contributions towards
understanding the contexts behind deci-
sion making in Iceland from Landnám
into the early modern era (Vésteinsson
et al., 2002, McGovern et al, 2001, for
example). Domestic animals have always
been dynamic elements within culture. We
can breed them to our needs and desires.
In the early modern period the level of
random chance in animal breeding in
Europe dropped dramatically as breeding
technologies advanced (Russell 1986).
The assemblage discussed in this article
reflect the impact of the technological
innovations in animal breeding and the
impulse towards improving agriculture
characteristic of this period in Europe and
the Americas.
After the earthquake in 1784,
Archaeologia Islandica 5 (2006) 82-94