Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2009, Page 47

Geochemical Identification of Obsidian Artifacts
areas, but the most substantial midden
was infilling the deep sunken featured
building at the south end of the hall. Only
minor activity was evident in the post-
Viking periods as the area lay on the
edges of the medieval and later home
field. Dating through tephrachronology
has firmly placed the occupation of the
whole settlement to within a maximum
period of 160 years, c. 940-1104 AD and,
within this time, the site shows multiple
phases of construction, repair and aban-
donment. Twenty-seven C14 dates have
been processed and they confirm the date
range of occupation based on tephra.
The site is of particular significance
because of the size of the hall. It is more
than twice the length of normal settle-
ment period halls and thus comparable to
several other monumental halls from
Nordic countries such as Borg, Lejre and
Uppsala which have been interpreted as
feasting halls - the residences of chief-
tains or kings where pagan rituals also
took place. Such an interpretation for this
hall fits Hofstaðir well, as the faunal
assemblage provides substantial evidence
of a high meat profíle along with decapi-
tation and display of cattle heads (see
Lucas & McGovem 2008 for the most
recent discussion). This current view of
the hall’s function partially revises prior
interpretations, which viewed it variously
as a pagan temple or chieftain’s farm
(Bmun & Jónsson 1909; 1910; 1911;
Rousell 1943: 220-221; Olsen 1965).
The Context of the Obsidian Samples
Four pieces of obsidian were recovered
from various contexts from the 1992-
2002 excavations; their provenance is
summarized in Table 2. The site has been
divided into seven phases on the basis of
stratigraphy and tephra layers: phases
I-III are Viking period (AD 940-1104),
phases IV-V are medieval (AD 1104-
1477) and phases VI-VII are post-medie-
val/modern (AD 1477-C.1950). The
obsidian comes from all periods. The
obsidian pieces recovered from Hofstaðir
are all small (Figure 3). Sample 97-28 is
a broken flake, with negative flake scars
and linear scratches on the dorsal surface
but no clear edge modification. Specimen
98-111 has multiple negative flake scars
on its dorsal surface, very steep edge
modifícation/cmshing around two of its
three sides and multiple linear scratches
on its ventral surface. Artifact 99-404 is a
small chunk or core shatter, with possible
remnant flake removal scars on one face
but no evidence of edge use. Finally,
Find No. Location [Iayer] Date (phase) Morphology
00-102 Floor ofhall [318] . . , . ... Flake/chip (21 x 16 x Viking (phase I-II) ;7mm)
97-28 ash dump at the north- eastern edge of the site [1043] Broken flake with Medieval (phase IV-V) scratches (29 xl8 x 6mm)
98-111 sheet midden south of hall [106] Flake with edge wear Viking (phase II) and scratches (26 x 19 x 9mm)
99-404 wall collapse from mod- em outhouse [107] Post-medieval (phase ,,, , Chip (16 x 12 x 16mm)
Table 2. Archaeological contexí of the Hofstaðir obsidian specimens
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