Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1991, Page 107

INSECT, MAN AND THE EARLIEST SETTLEMENT . . .
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evidence for the nature of the pre-Man
fauna.
The formerly waterlogged valley bottom
situation of the Tjørnuvík site removes the
possibility of direct disturbance by burrow-
ing birds and the faunas can be taken at
face value. The influx of sediment from
the steep sides of the valley would not
have carried insect material, other than
that which was penecontemporaneous, but
the depositional dip of the sectioned dep-
osits led to some initial confusion over
dating. The sample (Tj 1/1) from 1.7 m
provided an extensive fossil insect fauna,
including one secure indicator of the pre-
sence of introduced herbivores. The dung
beetle, Aphodius lapponum Gyll., was
represented by several fragments of one
individual and this was initially thought to
reflect a pre-Norse introduction (Buck-
land, 1988). It is but one of the several
species presently recorded from the Faroe
Islands and the one species which is widely
distributed at the present day (Bengtson,
1981); it occurs as a fossil immediately
after Landnám in Iceland (cf. Buckland et
al., in press). A re-examination of the rec-
orded stratigraphy indicates that the
sample containing A. lapponum lies firmly
across the horizon of the earliest Norse
Landnám; the dung beetle is one of Grím-
ur Kamban’s ’footprints’. The diversity of
the insect fauna associated with this
sample is also remarkable and contains
one species, Ochthephilus omalinus (Er.),
not currently recorded from the Faroe
Islands, as well as one probable ant-
hropochorous species, the small rove
beetle , Omalium rivulare (Payk.). It con-
trasts markedly with the remaining samp-
les from below the horizon of Norse Land-
nám, which contain few, if well-preserved
insect fossils. The diversification of imme-
diate habitats which the earliest Norse far-
mers provided, is not reflected earlier in
the succession. Any pre-Norse Landnám is
currently unrecognisable in the fossil in-
sect record. The influx of inorganic sedi-
ment, dated by radiocarbon to ca. A.D.
600+/-100, is not accompanied by any ant-
hropochorous elements in the insect
fauna, nor by any major change in the
endemic assemblage. If the Papar are to
be found at Tjørnuvík, it is surprising that
their stock had no apparent impact on the
insect fauna.
The initial doubt about the relevance of
Aphodius lapponum to pre-Norse Land-
nám was raised on biogeographic grounds,
for it seemed an unlikely candidate to have
been introduced direct from Ireland, alt-
hough northern Scotland remains possible;
the notorious world of probability suggests
several other dung beetles if an Ireland,
rather than Norway, to Faroe connection
is sought.
Conclusion
It cannot be claimed that the fossil insect
evidence in any way detracts from the pa-
lynological record. It is possible that Irish
monks had so little overall impact on the
landscape as to be undetectable in the en-
tomology but, if the Færeyrar were the is-
lands of sheep, it is surprising that they
were without their dung beetles. It is poss-
ible that, if we were to sacrifice our one
specimen for an accelerator radiocarbon
date (cf. Elias & Toolin, 1900), a different