Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1998, Blaðsíða 236

242
LANDSCAPES AT LANDNÁM: PALYNOLOGICAL AND
PALAEOENTOMOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FROM TOFTANES; FAROEISLANDS
woodland had been present at the time of
landnám, it was quickly removed and any
surviving arboreal elements, such as birch
and juniper, must have been protected from
grazing animals or were inaccessible to
them.
The insect faunas are enigmatic in show-
ing a muted anthropogenic signature, yet
one which displays obvious signs of an-
thropochorous habitats. This is curious giv-
en the obvious existence of a farmstead and
any incongruity may be a result of sam-
pling bias. Three new species have been
added to the Faroese list.
Future palaeoecological work at Tofta-
nes will involve extensive additions to the
number of pollen and insect samples
analysed, their statistical analysis, and the
identification and interpretation of seed
samples. A major priority must be efforts to
reduce the taphonomic uncertainties asso-
ciated with the samples.
Acknowledgements
Thanks are extended to Føroya Fornminnissavn under
whose aegis excavation took place, and to Jóhannes
Jóhansen who collected the samples for pollen analysis.
Processing and identification of insect remains was
funded by a grant from NSF (USA) to NABO, the North
Atlantic Biocultural Organisation. Robert Buckland as-
sisted with sample processing.
References
Amorosi, T., Buckland, P. C., Edwards, K.J., McGov-
ern, T.H., Sadler, J.P. and Skidmore, P. 1998. They
did not live by grass alone: the politics and palaeoe-
cology of fodder on the North Atlantic islands. En-
vironmental Archaeology, 1: 41-54.
Amorosi, T., Buckland, P.C., Ólafsson, G., Sadler, J.P.,
and Skidmore, P. 1992. Site Status and the Palaeoe-
cological Record: A Discussion of the Results from
Bessastaðir, Iceland. In Morris, C.D. and Rackham,
D.J. (eds.) Norse and Later Settlement and Subsis-
tence in the North Atlantic. Dept. of Archaeology,
University of Glasgow, pp. 169-192.
Arge, S.V. 1997. I Uppistovubeitinum. Site and settle-
ment. Fróðskaparrit 45: 27-44.
Bengtson, S.-A. 1981. Terrestrial invertebrates of the
Faroe Islands: III. Beetles (Coleoptera): Checklist,
distribution, and habitats. Fauna Norvegica, B28,
52-82.
Bennett, K.D. 1994. Annotated catalogue ofpollen and
pteridophyte spore types ofthe British Isles. Depart-
ment of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge.
(http://www-palecol.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/) 1 -37.
Buckland, P.C. 1992. Insects, Man and the earliest
settlement of the Faroe Islands: a case not proven.
Fróðskaparrit 38-39 (1989-90): 107-113.
Buckland, P.C., Amorosi, T., Barlow, L.K., Dugmore,
A.J., Mayewski, P.A., McGovern, T.H., Ogilvie,
A.E.J., Sadler, J.P. and Skidmore, P. (1996) Bio-
archaeological and climatological evidence for the
fate of Norse farmers in medieval Greenland. Anti-
quity, 70: 88-96.
Buckland, P.C., Buckland, P.I. and Skidmore, P. 1998.
Insect remains from GUS: an interim report. In
Ameborg, J. and Gulløv, H.C. (eds.) Man, Culture
and Environment in Ancient Greenland. Danish Na-
tional Museum and Danish Polar Centre, Copen-
hagen, pp. 74-79.
Buckland, P.C., Dugmore, A. J., Perry, D.W., Savory,
D. and Sveinbjarnardóttir, G. 1991. Holt in Eyja-
fjallasveit, Iceland. A Paleoecological Study of the
Impact of Landnám. Acta Archaeologica, 61: 252-
271.
Buckland, P.C., Edwards, K.J., Sadler, J.P. and Dinnin,
M.H., this volume. Late Holocene insect faunas
from Mykines, Faroe Islands, with observations on
associáted pollen and early settlement records.
Buckland, P.C. and Perry, D.W. 1989. Ectoparasites of
Sheep from Stóraborg, Iceland and Rein interpreta-
tion. Piss, parasites and people; a palaeoecological
perspective. Likuin, 15: 37-46.
Buckland, P.C. and Sadler, J. 1989. A biogeography of
the human flea, Pulex irritans L. (Siphonaptera:
Pulicidae). Joumal of Biogeography, 16: 115-120.
Buckland, P.C. and Sadler, J. 1991. Farm or shieling: an
entomological approach. In Sveinbjamardóttir, G.
Shielings in Iceland - an archaeological and histori-
cal survey. Acta Archaeologia, 61: 93-96.
Clark, R.L. 1982. Point count estimation of charcoal in
pollen preparations and thin sections of sediments.
Pollen et Spores 24: 523-535.