Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2006, Page 85

The bishop’s beef. improved cattle at early modern Skálholt, Iceland
the Bishop’s residence at Skálholt in Ice-
land was moved to Reykjavik1 and the
manorial complex - which consisted of
the Bishop’s quarters, a school, and con-
siderable infrastructure devoted to the
household - was partially abandoned, and
a prosperous farm took its place. Skálholt
was a major livestock farm in its own
right, based in a highly fertile region (rel-
ative to Iceland) in the southern part of
the Iceland and had according to an early
eighteenth-century land register one of
the largest cattle herds in the country
(Edvardsson, in progress). Church docu-
ments, early maps, geophysical survey,
and early modern travelers’ accounts all
indicate the unusual size and intricacy of
the complex of buildings currently being
exposed by excavation. Skálholt can be
regarded as a settlement of possibly the
highest year-round density in Iceland
until it was replaced by the expansion of
Reykjavik beginning at the end of the
eighteenth century (Lucas, 2005).
The zooarchaeological assem-
blage recovered so far is extensive, but
this paper only addresses one particular
midden, context 454, found in a 2x3 meter
trench with a one meter square extension
off of the southwest section (group 383)
to the southeast of the main complex.
This midden was found directly below
a collapsed wall that originally followed
the break of a slope running roughly east/
west a short distance, about 20 meters,
south of the main complex and near one
of its main entrances. There is no absolute
date for the midden, yet the depth of the
midden, over one meter, and finds found
above and within the midden, such as a
17th century Dutch pipe bowl, and frag-
ments of tin-glazed earthenware suggest a
date within the seventeenth century. Three
other 2x2 meter trenches were excavated
5 (group 1440), 10 (group 2193) and 15
(group 2008) meters east along the same
slope as group 383 in June and July of
2006. They were all excavated down to a
similar depth to that of group 383, a little
over one meter. Group 1440 contained a
17th century Dutch pipe bowl as well as
other artifacts typical of the 18th and 17th
centuries such as stoneware and glazed
and unglazed redware. Group 1440 also
contained a midden context below a col-
lapsed wall at almost the exact same depth
as that of group 383 and unit 454. While
analysis is ongoing the initial impression
is that this midden is at the very least
superficially similar to that of unit 454 in
that it is dominated by cattle. Group 2193
contained little bone and the wall collapse
did not appear but a single early 17th cen-
tury pipe stem (with maker’s mark) did
appear in one of the middle layers. Group
2008 also contained an early seventeenth
century Dutch pipe bowl, fragments of
tin-glaze earthenware, and a hammered
sixteenth or seventeenth century coin.
The deepest unit in this group contained
half of a naturally polled cattle skull. No
late 18th century ceramics or other arti-
facts were found in any of these groups.
Another hint for dating comes
from Joseph Banks, an eminent Brit-
ish naturalist who visited Iceland and
stayed at Skálholt in 1772. His traveling
companions included illustrators, one of
whom included some clearly polled cattle
in his portraits of the settlement. Though
not definitive this is another piece of evi-
dence supporting an early modern date
for unit 454. Finally many of the polled
European breeds, such as the Angus and
1 The Bishop returned to Skálholt after having bought the property from the crown and lived there until his death in 1796.
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