Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2015, Page 60

Scott Riddell
Jarðabók although there is variability in the
degree of dependence from one region to
the next (Guðmundsson 1944; Kristjánsson
1980, 312-18; Amorosi 1990). Later hunt-
ing activity is also visible in the archaeolog-
ical record as is the link between the coast
and the interior (Ogilvie et al. 2009).
In 1992 zooarchaeologist Thomas
Amorosi published the findings of an ar-
chaeological excavation of a farm midden
at Svalbarð in northeast Iceland (Amorosi
1992). The midden was found to contain a
high percentage of seal bones; more than
have been found at other archaeologi-
cal sites in Iceland to date. This seal bone
assemblage was primarily composed of
material derived from the common seal
Phoca vitulina and harp seal Pagophilus
groenlandicus with the bones situated in a
stratigraphy that spanned the period 1050-
1800. The dating sequence was derived
from tephra layers and the stylistic char-
acteristics of specific artefacts e.g. bone
combs. The sudden appearance of quanti-
ties of harp seal bone in the 17th century in
association with bone fragments of bearded
seal Erignathus barbatus, walrus Odobenus
rosmarus and polar bear Ursus maritimus,
was attributed to the appearance of drift
and pack ice in the vicinity of Svalbarð at
this time. Drift ice is also cited as a possi-
ble cause for an increase in lamb mortal-
ity that coincided with the appearance of
the Arctic mammals. These features of the
archaeofauna were seen as a consequence
of climate cooling during the 17th and 18th
centuries, the height of the Little Ice Age
(LIA), with the exploitation of harp seals
seen as an indicator of sea ice and hard
times provisioning (Amorosi 1989, 1990,
1992 & 1996, 303). Amorosi (1990, 1992)
has also suggested that the presence of harp
seal bone in the assemblage is indicative of
a dramatic alteration in the distribution of
North Atlantic drift ice. In particular, the
presence of neonate harp seal bone (less
than 1 month old) presented the possibil-
ity that there was a stable whelping area in
close proximity to Iceland during the 17th
and 18th centuries (Amorosi 1992 & 1996,
303).
Although a recent reassessment of the
tephra sequences has called the Svalbarð
chronology into question (Woollett 2008)
the association of harp seal bone with sea
ice near Iceland persists in the archaeologi-
cal literature (Amorosi 1996; Amundsen
et al. 2005; Pálsdóttir 2006; Harrison et al.
2008a & 2008b; Woollett 2008; Hicks &
Harrison 2009; McGovern 2009; Ogilvie et
al. 2009; Hamilton-Dyer 2010; McGovern
et al. 2013, Harrison 2014). Moreover, the
notion that the presence of harp seals in
the archaeological record is a consequence
of climate cooling and subsistence stress
also endures (Byock 2001, 353; McGovern
et al. 2001; Ogilvie et al. 2009; McGovern
et al. 2013). However, should the interpre-
tation of the Svalbarð assemblage apply
to all instances of harp seal bone in the
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