Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2013, Page 39

EXPLOITATION OF WILD BIRDS IN ICELAND FROM THE SETTLEMENT
PERIOD TO THE 19TH CENTURY AND ITS REFLECTION IN ARCHAEOLOGY
seabirds as well is unclear but the fat of
the gannet for example was ofien used for
ointments or in oil lamps and Fulmar spew
which was squeezed from the chicks
bellies was also used as a light source
(Kristjánsson 1986,225-226 and 241-242;
Norðmann 1946, 29-30). Wings of auks
were sometimes dried and plucked, and
the feathers used for bedding, while the
bones were thrown away (ÞÞ 7203; ÞÞ
8011). Generally all meat was picked off
birds, the neck and head picked out, even
the eyes and the brain (Friðfmnsson 1991,
48-49; Gísladóttir 1999, 147). Leg and
wing bones of swans and geese were used
as drinking straws for children and swan
feet skins were dried whole, fitted with a
lock and used as purses (Jónasson 1945,
196; Óla 1976, 91; Ólafsson and Pálsson
1981,128; Tómasson 1988, 95). Wings of
larger birds were used to sweep floors and
for dusting and bird feet were usually
coveted children’s toys (Einarsson 1946,
108; Gísladóttir 1999, 146; Milek 2006,
73; ÞÞ 6307) although eagle claws were
kept around to ward off house fires
(Tómasson 1988, 95).
Bone remains
Judging from the information presented
above the most likely bones to be found in
archaeological excavations in Iceland
would be lower leg (e.g. tarsometatarsus
and digits) and wing (e.g. metacarpals and
digits) bones as well as skull bones
(mandible, cranium), where such things
were not used as fuel (table 1). Where
birds were eaten ffesh (and/or possibly
smoked and wind dried) most of the other
bones are also likely to appear in
excavations, especially ffom larger birds
like geese and swans. It is unclear,
however, whether the stemum for
example, was cut away from the meat
when it was smoked or wind dried like it
was sometimes done when salted. If birds
were stored whole in whey, bones like the
humerus, femur, ilium, ribs, wishbone,
coracoids and stemum were most likely
eaten along with the meat. The amount of
bones eaten ffom fresh younger chicks
could also have depended in some degree
on the ossification stage, i.e. how much
bone was still partially cartilage (Podulka
et al. 2004, 4.6). Birds hunted in large
quantities while moulting (geese and
swans) or nesting (sea birds) most likely
had to be stored over long periods of time
so perhaps they are more likely to have
been stored in whey, dried or smoked,
while birds like the ptarmigan, which was
hunted in snares most likely in much
smaller quantities at a time (opportunistic
hunting, see Tinsley 1999, 74-75), could
have been eaten fairly ffesh and whole
more often than not.
Bone collections do not seem to show
any clear trend towards one way over the
other however, although judging from the
information at hand, wing and long bones
do seem to be more common. According
to McGovem et al. (2006, 193), the
unidentified bone assemblages in the
Mývatn district were largely long bone
shaft fragments. In Hrisheimar
(McGovem and Perdikaris 2002, 9) and
Sveigakot (Tinsley 2001, 30-31)
ptarmigan remains represented whole
individuals (wings, legs, stema, and
cranial), while the Hofstaðir (Tinsley
1999, 74-75) ptarmigan collections were
largely lower leg bones, which Tinsley
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