Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2013, Page 31

EXPLOITATION OF WILD BIRDS IN ICELAND FROM THE SETTLEMENT
PERIOD TO THE 19TH CENTURY AND ITS REFLECTION IN ARCHAEOLOGY
controlled hunting regimes. The
eiderdown is still a well-known luxury
product used in duvets and in Iceland at
least, Eider ducks (Somateria mollissimá)
along with birds like Whooper swans
(Cygnus cygnus) and Gyrfalcons (Falco
rusticolus) are now firmly protected by
law. Little is known about the way birds
were caught and processed in Iceland or
how much of it was exported before or
during the Middle Ages due to lack of
written sources. Most of the written
information gathered for this article comes
ffom the 17th century onwards up to the
20th century while archaeological
materials have been found in Iceland
dating as far back as the 9th century.
The beginning
Icelandic bird fauna today is abundant and
dominated by sea bird species but is
overall still fairly diverse. On the coast
and outer lying islands cliffs are covered
in huge colonies of sea birds (e.g.
Northem gannets (Morus bassanus),
Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis), gulls and
auks) alongside flocks of Eider ducks
along the shorelines. On the shorelines
there are also abundant wading birds (e.g.
Oyster catchers (Haematopus ostralegus),
plovers, curlews and snipes) due to high
tidal range. Fresh water areas are rich e.g.
in Whooper swans and a myriad of duck
species (dabbling, diver and fish eating)
along with grebes and loons, especially at
Lake Mývatn in Northem Iceland. Inland
in marshy and dry places we find geese
(mostly Greylag Anser anser) and
Pink-footed ((Anser brachyrhynchus))
and Rock ptarmigan (Lagopus mutá) but
only a few hardy passerines live in Iceland
due to lack of forest and wet weather
conditions (e.g. the White Wagtail
(Motacilla alba), the Meadow Pipit
(Anthus pratensis), Winter wrens
(Troglodytes troglodytes), thmshes,
Ravens (Corvus corax) and Snow Bunting
(Plectrophenax nivalis)). Very few raptors
(only Gyrfalcons, Merlins (Falco
columbarius), White-tailed eagles
(Haliaeetus albicillá) and the Short-eared
owl (Asio flammeus)) can be found on the
island due to the small range of rodent
species present. Most birds are migratory
and only come to the island to breed
before they fly south for the winter. Some
are passing migrants (e.g. the Great
White-fronted (Anser albifrons), Brant
(Branta bernicla) and Bamacle geese
(Branta leucopsis)) in spring and auturnn
on the way north to Greenland and Canada
to breed or south to wintering grounds in
the British Isles. Few species usually stay
for the winter, the most common being
e.g. Ravens, Rock ptarmigans,
Gyrfalcons, Black-backed gulls (Larus
marinus), Eider ducks, the Common
merganser (Mergus merganser) and the
Winter wren (Petersen 1998; Hilmarsson
2000).
The most abundant bird species in
Iceland, both on sea and land, have likely
been utilized since the 9th century but
written sources are scarce up until the 18th
century. The best earliest evidence can be
found in Grágás (2001, 32 and 349-350),
Iceland's earliest law book
(commonwealth period), where laws have
already been set down e.g. against hunting
birds close to egg laying colonies. Swans,
geese, ducks and seabirds were types of
birds that outsiders were not allowed to
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