Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2010, Page 90

VÉRONIQUE FORBES, ALLISON BAIN, GUÐRÚN ALDA GÍSLADÓTTIR AND KAREN B. MILEK
to Þorsteinsson (2006), the last turf house
was built in 1884 on the foundations of the
previous farmhouse. It was occupied until
1906, after which it was partially demol-
ished and used for storage and metal
working until the middle of the 20^ cen-
tury (Þorsteinsson 2006).
Archaeoentomological methods
An opportunistic sampling strategy was
adopted for the archaeoentomological
analyses of the 19and 20^-century
deposits at Vatnsfjörður. Most sediment
samples were taken from contexts con-
sidered to have good interpretative poten-
tial. These included floor levels (samples
S-504, S-510, S-516), midden deposits
(S-13, S-14, S-17), and samples from lay-
ers interpreted as construction and reno-
vation events (S-520, S-521) in order to
verify if archaeoentomology could yield
useful information regarding such activi-
ties. Specifíc contexts were also exam-
ined, which included sediments from
beneath a wooden structure located in the
northwest comer of the cellar 7503 (S-
505), and samples S-511, S-512 and S-
513, taken from different ash lenses
deposited on the floor of the same cellar.
Figure 4 shows the locations of the
archaeoentomological samples collected
in 2007 and 2008 from the late 19^- early
20^-century house on the farm mound
and table 1 provides associated context
details. Most samples were bulk sediment
samples between three and a half and four
litres in volume. The separation of the
insect remains from the archaeological
sediment was facilitated by the use of
paraffin or kerosene flotation (see P.I.
Buckland 2000,18-19; Elias 1994,32-33).
The recovered insect remains were
observed using a low magnification binoc-
ular microscope. All the identifiable beetle
(Order Coleoptera), tme bug (Order
Hemiptera), lice (Order Phtiraptera) and
flea (Order Siphonaptera) parts were iden-
tified based on anatomical comparisons
Sample # Excavatlon Context # Details Votume (L) Analytical context
S-516 7531 Floor layer 4 A
S-504 7512 Floorlayer 4 B
S-505 7515 Sediments under wooden structure 4 c
S-510 7525 Floor layer 3,75 Cellar 7503 occupation deposits
S-511 7526 Ashy lens 0,25
S-512 7527 Ashy lens 0,25
S-513 7528 Ashy lens 0,5
S-13 8554 Midden deposit composed of turf debris and silt 3,5 D
S-14 8566 Midden deposit composed of turf debris and wood ash 3,8 Filling of 'midden room'
S-17 8583 Midden deposit composed of peat ash and turf debris 3,9 8562
S-520 7542 Levelling layer, under a pavement, composed of compact turf debris 2,5 E Levelling layer 7542
S-521 7542 Levelling layer composed of compact turf debris 3,25
Table 1. List of archaeoentomological samples and description of their archaeological context.