Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2013, Page 50

SÓLVEIG GUÐMUNDSDÓTTIR BECK
elites e.g. in Scandinavia, Britain and
mainland Europe to use in hunting games
as they were one of the most coveted
diplomatic gifts that passed hands between
royalties, when political bonds and the
wheels of commerce needed greasing. An
overview of the general information
gathered in this text can be seen in table 1.
It must be noted that while only the most
common bird species exploited were
discussed above, smaller species like e.g.
plovers, oystercatchers and rails (see table
2) must not be ruled out as a food and
feather source as Grágás (2001, 32 and
349) and Jónsbók (1970, 192) state that
small birds that do not swim, like e.g.
snipes, are mostly fair game for anyone to
hunt and eat.
Finding evidence of hunting and export
of these products in archaeology is
problematic. It is unlikely that remains of
snares, nets, snare poles or rafts will be
found in excavations and hunting leaves
very little evidence, excepting perhaps
geese folds. With regards to falcons it is
more likely to find evidence of their
existence where they were being stored
and shipped, e.g. in Bessastaðir and
perhaps Gásir. Very little has been done in
exploring eiderdown production within
archaeology but the most likely remains
frorn such activities were found to be
housing and possibly remnants of down
cleaning in floor layers. Finding evidence
of consumption and exploitation of these
wild birds is easier but the interpretation of
the remains found could prove rather
complicated. Generally, every useful part
of killed birds was eaten or otherwise
utilized. Before salt became a general
commodity the meat (and bones) was
smoked, wind dried or stored in whey
when it was not eaten ffesh in soup or
boiled. Wings, heads and feet were
chopped off and sometimes the breast
bones were removed, but usually the goal
was to consume as much of the birds as
possible, even the bones. Heads were
picked out and e.g. swan necks and Puffm
spines were stored in whey and then
consumed. When eating Puffin chicks
nothing was usually left but the largest leg
bones. From this information it was
inferred that the most likely bone types to
be found in middens would be leg and
wing bones and perhaps skulls, and this
seemed to be at least partially mirrored in
some of the zooarchaeological
assemblages already uncovered in Iceland.
One other important thing can
possibly skew our interpretations of the
exploitation of wild birds even further.
The domestication of birds is hinted at in
Grágás (2001, 350; commonwealth
period) and Jónsbók (1970, 190-192; late
13th/early 14th c.) where they discuss
marked birds (branded webbed feet) and
the duties of those who inadvertently hunt
such birds. Domestic birds are thought to
have been mainly geese (heimgcesir) and
chickens (Olgeirsson 2003, 13-22)
brought over by the settlers, although
ducks cannot be ruled out. This
assumption has yet to be confirmed with
any confidence by the archaeology. How
common such backyard flocks were and
how they fared through the centuries is
therefore unclear but in the 18th century
Horrebow (1966, 114-115) discusses how
difficult it is to feed domestic fowl (ducks,
pigeons and chickens) as com is rare and
expensive. Identifying chicken bones is
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