Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2010, Page 63

SMALL HOLDER FARMING IN EARLY MEDIEVAL ICELAND: SKUGGI IN HÖRGÁRDALUR
grazing land was likely done to preserve
as much pasture and wood land as possi-
ble that occupied the space between the
small farm and the river Hörgá. The
socio-economic logics behind putting
Skuggi there might be that the land occu-
pation system in Eyjafjörður could have
functioned along the lines of the so-called
‘Skallagrimr strategy’ (Vésteinsson et al.
2002:128). This method of settling previ-
ously empty areas consisted of the estab-
lishment of vast, single-purpose estates
that were run by strong leaders from the
Settlement period on and that stretched
across different ecological zones, aimed
at maximizing income from farmed and
natural resources. Conceivably,
Staðartunga farm, but not necessarily this
very one could have represented an inde-
pendent farmstead in control of depend-
ent smaller farms like Skuggi that were
utilized to exploit specific environments,
i.e. forests, pasturages, coastal areas.
When compared to sites of known
social standings, the Skuggi caprine/cattle
ratios above somewhat resemble those of
early medieval Icelandic farmsteads of
low-middle social status. The generally
high number of caprine bones collected
for every cattle bone at Skuggi suggests
that this was a farm economy concentrat-
ing on sheep/goat management fitting for
the site’s location on a quite steep moun-
tain slope. The lower amount of caprine
bones per cattle bone during Phase VI
(mid 1 lth - mid 12th c) could indicate that
there was a slight shift in farm organiza-
tion that may have included higher focus
on cattle for food production, before a dis-
tinct concentration on caprines emerged in
VikingAge and MedievalCaprine/CattleRatiosin Comparison
13th c.
Figure 7. Skuggi cattle tooth eruption.
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