Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2013, Page 41

EXPLOITATION OF WILD BIRDS IN ICELAND FROM THE SETTLEMENT
PERIOD TO THE 19TH CENTURY AND ITS REFLECTION IN ARCHAEOLOGY
and that supposedly got rid of the smell
(Theodórsson 1936, 236-238; Jónasson
1945, 9-10; Kristjánsson 1986, 218-222
and 237; Friðfmnsson 1991, 48-49 and
121; ÞÞ 4450; ÞÞ 4676; ÞÞ 4425; ÞÞ
4470; ÞÞ 4512; ÞÞ 6330; ÞÞ 7203; ÞÞ
6559; ÞÞ 8011). The Great auk was rid of
his feathers by boiling its body in water,
which loosened the feathers from the skin
and presumably cleaned them at the same
time (Anonymous 1936,186). Only swans
seem to have been skinned (Jónasson
1945, 196; Ólafsson and Pálsson 1981,
128; JÁMXIII, 26-27). In 1963 Sveinsson
(KB 1963, 729) tells of 85 swans that
ífoze to death on a lake around 1900 and
he comments on how very little fat had
been on their skins. That could suggest
that swanskins usually had to be scraped
similar to animal skins in order to get rid
of fat. No information was found
regarding how swanskins were treated
before being sold but according to Roth
and Merz (eds. 1997, 364) feathered skins
were preserved by drying and/or some
fonn of chemical treatment.
When Olavius (1965, 116) toured
around Iceland in the 1770s swanskins
were often chopped up and used for
bedding. For a long time (mid 14th-20th
century) a large variety of feathers and
down were used in Britain and Europe e.g.
to make fashion accessories like hat
trimmings, boas, fans, pelerines and muffs
(Cumming et al. 2010, 23 and 80) as well
as being used to produce tooth picks, in fly
fishing (e.g. 17th c. England), in golf balls
(featheries, goose feather cores in
cowhide spheres), powder puffs and
parasols (Hanson 2011, 213-246). Skins
of birds like swans, ostriches, cranes and
vultures were often used to trim garments
in place of furs (14th-mid 17th c.) and
mallard feathers were e.g. used in wigs
(ca. 1750-1800; Cumming et al. 2010, 23
and 80; Hanson 2011, 244-245). As
swanskins were a luxury commodity, it is
not unlikely that white ptarmigan skins
were also used for these purposes as a
cheaper altemative, although no written
confirmation was found of this. In the
oldest known records from 1624, at least
116 kg of unidentified bird feathers and
down were exported in that year and in
1630 at least 624 kg of the same vaguely
classified products were exported
(Jónsson and Magnússon eds. 1997,
416-429). How much of that was
eiderdown, and how much was other
feather types, is unclear. Swanskins don't
seem to have been recorded as an export
commodity until 1806 (Jónsson and
Magnússon eds. 1997,416-429), although
they could have been counted in the
vaguely defmed “bird feathers and down”
category, which is recorded as far back as
1624. As feathers and skins seem to have
been a desired commodity from the 14th
century it is not impossible that export of
such items from Iceland goes back farther
than the beginning of the 17th century as
records indicate.
During and after moulting all flight
and tail feathers of geese and swans were
collected, e.g. in Gilsfjörður and on
Amarvatns- and Holtavörðuheiði where
swans moulted and in Mýrar where wild
geese shed their feathers (Theodórsson
1936, 236-238; Ólafsson and Pálsson
1981, 128 and 321). Their primary flight
feathers, as well as raven flight feathers,
were highly sought affer for use as quills
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