Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1998, Page 223

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Landscapes at Landnám: Palynological and
Palaeoentomological Evidence from
foftanes, Faroe Islands
Landsløg í landnámstíð: flogsáðfrøðilig og
grókornfrøðilig prógv av Toftanesi
Kevin J. Edwards1, Paul C. Buckland1, Robert Craigie1, Eva Panagiotakopulu2
and Steffen Stummann Hanseff
1: Department of Archaeology and Prehistory, Sheffield University, Northgate House, West Street,
Sheffield S1 4ET, England
Phone: +44 114 222 2901, fax: +44 114 272 2563, e-mail: k.j.edwards@sheffield.ac.uk
2: School of Geography, University of Birmingham, UK
3: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Úrtak
Toftanes er ein bóndagarður úr víkingatíð í bygdini
LeirvíkíEysturoy. Útgrevstrarí 1980-árunum vístufýra
bygningar, fleiri túsund fundir og kolevni 14-dagfest-
ingar, sum møguliga rukku aftur í níggjundu øld e.Kr.
Hetta er fyrsti garður úr landnáminum í víkingatíð, sum
er útgrivin í síni heild í Føroyum. Flogsáð og skordýr í
lívmnnum leivdum í gólvløgum vórðu greinað í eini
roynd at endurskipa, hvussu jørðin hevur verið nýtt í
sambandi við garðin og landslagið sum heild.
Tafonomi av setløgunum og steinrenningarnar í
teimum hava tvørleikar við sær, tá ið úrslitini skulu tulk-
ast. Tað er tó greitt, at eitt opið landslag yvirhøvur varð
nýtt til beiti, men flogsáð av komi er eisini at síggja.
Skordýrafaunan er gátufør, við tað at hon vísir sera veik
antropogenisk tekn, tó at hon sýnir eyðsýnd tekn um
antropokor gróðrarøki. í framtíðini fara fomvistfrøði-
ligar rannsóknir at fevna um nógv fleiri royndir og
greiningar av fræ.
Abstract
Toftanes is a Viking age farmstead in the coastal village
of Leirvík, Eysturoy. Excavations in the 1980s revealed
four buildings, thousands of finds and radiocarbon dates
which extend back to perhaps the 9th century AD. This
is the first complex farmstead of the Viking Age land-
nám settlement to have been completely excavated in
the Faroe Islands. Organic remains from floor layers
were subjected to pollen and insect analyses in an effort
to reconstruct land use associated with the farm and the
wider landscape.
The taphonomy of the deposits and their contained
fossils presents difficulties for the interpretation of re-
sults. It is clear, however, that a mainly open landscape
was associated with a largely pastoral economy, but ce-
real-type pollen is also present. The insect faunas are
enigmatic in showing a very muted anthropogenic sig-
nature, yet one which displays obvious signs of anthro-
pochorous habitats. Future palaeoecological research
will include the investigation of many more samples and
the analyses of seeds.
Fróðskaparrit 46. bók 1998: 229-244