Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2015, Page 64

Scott Riddell
Century
■ Siglunes
□ Tjornes
OGömlu Grímsstaðir
OSkutustaðir
□ Hofstaðir
□ Gásir
□ Akurvík
□ Eyri
0 Fornusandar
HSkriðuklaustur
Figure 2. Harp seal bone in Icelandic archaeofauna’s minus Svalbarð due to its unrefined chronology (timeframe
indicated). The datesfor Fornusandar II, Akurvík and Tjörnes are speculative. The NISP at Akurvík and Tjörnes
is unknown but they must have a minimum NISP of2andl respectively.
Ólafsson 1975 vol. I, 304; Kristjánsson
1980, 312-318; Amorosi 1996, 303). Sea ice
does not form around Iceland’s coast; it is
exported in the form of drift ice from the
Arctic Ocean (Miller et al. 2012). When
drift ice fills the fjords of northern Iceland
it is defined as “severe” while “extreme” ice
occurs when it is carried down the east
coast (Eyþórsson & Sigtryggsson 1971). On
rare occasions it can drift westwards along
the south coast as far as Reykjanes as hap-
pened, for example, in 1695 (Vilmundar-
son 1969, 313-332). Observations of seals
in association with sea ice extend as far
back as the 13th century e.g. at the Flóabar-
dagi (Battle of the Bay) in 1244 (Sturlunga
Saga II, 50), the Selvorið mikla (Great Seal
Spring) in 1564 (Kristjánsson 1980, 328)
and from written descriptions of Iceland in
1595 (Benediktsson 1952; Einarsson 1971).
Clubbing seals on ice (uppidráp) is record-
ed from 1565 until 1895 (Guðmundsson
1944; Kristjánsson 1980, 326-330).
Journeying in Iceland between 1752
and 1757, Eggert Ólafsson provides the first
specific reference to harp seals being killed
in great numbers on the ice with clubs in
Skagafjörður, Eyjafjörður and Þingeyjar-
sýsla (Ólafsson 1975 vol. II, 49-50). How-
ever, as a hunting method, it is not until
the early 19th century that uppidráp be-
comes most prominent, with large culls
from Aðalvík (Hornstrandir, 1817/1818, “a
high number”), Norður Múlasýsla (1819,
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