Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2009, Page 70

Heather B. Trigo et al.
plants such as chickweed (Stellaria),
Polygonum, several types of wetland
sedges (Cyperaceae), and a few grasses
(Poaceae). While the proportions of
chaiTed to uncharred seeds change across
taxa, for the most part, we found both
charred and uncharred seeds of the same
type. This fact, combined with the integ-
rity of the stratigraphy and the presence
of charred, partially charred, and
uncharred wood and dung suggest to us
that the uncharred plant materials were
not later contaminants, but instead relate
to the archaeological deposits.
Interpretation
The presence of charred dung and charred
wood suggest that the people of
Reynistaður were utilizing both types of
fuel. Charred seeds are visible in the
dung (Figure 6), so we believe that the
dung is the source of at least some of the
plant materials. In contrast to other
Icelandic archaeological deposits
(Nordahl 1988; Ross and Zutter 2007;
Zutter 1999), the seed assemblage is not
particularly diverse, being dominated by
only two taxa. This lack of diversity may
also indicate a single, limited, source for
the seed assemblage: the dung. Both
human and animal components to dung
deposits have been identifíed at the
Gjogur midden in Iceland (Ross and
Zutter 2007), but with the exception of
the barley, none of the plant remains
appear to relate to plant foods typically
consumed by people such as blueberries/
cranberries (Vaccinium) or crowberries
(Empetrum). We believe that the majority
of the seeds and some of the smaller plant
materials come from livestock dung and
thus relate to foddering or grazing prac-
tices.
A substantial portion of the seeds were
Taxon Count %
Hordeum kemels 10 3%
Hordeum glumes 1 0%
Hordeum rachis 3 1%
Caryophyllaceae* 147 49%
Polygonum 3 1%
Cyperaceae 124 41%
Poaceae 12 4%
Total 300 -
*predominantly Stellaria
Table 1. Seeds and Related Plant Parts
Recoveredfrom Layer 11.
uncharred or only partially charred. This
suggests that if dung was being bumt
purposefully at Reynistaður, then it was
being bumed at very low temperatures
(see Simpson et al 2003 for a discussion
of burning temperatures). It is hard to
imagine that at this early date at
Reynistaður that any type of fuel was in
short supply. Therefore, it is possible that
the dung was not bumed for heat but
rather for its smoke to preserve food
(e.g., Hangikjöt).
The plant remains indicate that barley
was consumed at Reynistaður. While the
presence of rachis fragments may merely
be a norrnal component of poorly cleaned
grain stores, they may also signal that
barley was grown nearby. Moreover, the
presence of these plant parts among
pieces of charred and uncharred dung
indicate that the barley may have been
eaten by the livestock, which perhaps
were allowed to graze on harvested fields
or were fed grains and harvesting waste.
Ethnographic accounts and archaeologi-
cal data indicate that grains and chaff that
were deliberately fed to livestock as fod-
der are evident in the dung (Valamoti and
Charles 2005; Derreumaux 2005).
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