Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2010, Page 98

VÉRONIQUE FORBES, ALLISON BAIN, GUÐRÚN ALDA GÍSLADÓTTIR AND KAREN B. MILEK
Context A: Floor 7531
Sample S-516 was taken from floor
deposit 7531 (Table 1), a context thought
to represent the use of the last turf build-
ing of Vatnsíjörður after it was no longer
occupied as a residence in 1906. The
deposit was composed of wet organic
sediment with charcoal and hay remains.
The presence of a few bumt bone frag-
ments, birch twigs and carbonized seeds
were also noted.
Figure 8 shows that insects generally
associated with decaying hay clearly
dominate this assemblage, forming
almost 65% of it. Thus, it is tempting to
suggest that the formation of the archaeo-
logical deposit 7531 results from hay
storage activities. Moreover, the presence
of beetles associated with organic matter,
along with several species indicative of
outdoor environments, support this
hypothesis. After having conducted
experimental work on beetles from vari-
ous types of floors and roofs from aban-
doned buildings in the United Kingdom,
Smith (1996 & 1998) points out that hay,
thatch and turf interpretations based on
preserved insect remains must be treated
with caution, “because the majority of the
species present are indicative of a specif-
ic type of micro-habitat or biotype rather
than the materials in which they occur”
(Smith 1996, 173). There is no way to be
entirely certain that the beetles found in
this context are from stored hay or from
grass in decaying turf or other building
materials. However, work done by
Dugmore (1981) on Coleoptera from
southern Iceland demonstrated that
Xylodromus, Corticaria, Atomaria,
Lathridius and Cryptophagus species are
more likely to be associated with stored
hay than with any other organic material
in Iceland. Moreover, the presence of
other decomposers from the
Staphylinidae family can also be linked
B Ectoparasites
53 Fauna associated with
organic matter
■ Outdoor fauna
B Pests of stored
products
□ Dung feeders
H Fauna associated with
mouldy hay
Figure 8. Distribution of insects from Context A according to their ecological preferences.
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