Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1998, Side 277

SKORDÝRAFAUNA í LANDNÁMSTÍÐ: EIN FORNSKORDÝRAFRØÐILIG
RANNSÓKN 1 TJØRNUVÍK í STREYMOY
283
have been present in the Faroes before the
arrival of settled farming communities. Al-
though Buckland (1988) was inclined to ac-
cept this as evidence for a seventh century
pre-Norse landnám, he later (1992) doubt-
ed the stratigraphic grounds and, on bio-
geographic grounds, suggested that a
northern rather, than Irish origin, for the
settlers seemed probable. Of the remaining
31 taxa in the list, only the small staphylin-
id Xylodromus concinnus is likely to have
been synanthropous, as opposed to anthro-
pochorous. Although from southern Swe-
den and Denmark southwards the species is
recorded in the wild, on the Atlantic islands
it is exclusively synanthropous, occurring,
probably an a predator on the immature
stages of Diptera, in old hay in barns and
byres (Larsson and Gígja 1959), occasion-
ally flying out into the infields, where
Bengtson (1981) took one on Nólsoy. Both
species are present with a range of other
clearly synanthropous beetles in deposits
associated with the landnám period farm at
Toftanes on Eysturoy (Edwards et al.
1998). Several other taxa in the Tjørnuvrk
iist are also probably anthropochorous, ac-
cidentally shipped out in the ballast and
dunnage of the landnámsmen’s ships
Sadler 1991). The Faroese species of
Philonthus are all essentially synanthro-
pous and liable to accidental transport. Two
ground beetles may also belong to this
group. Loricera pilicornis is holarctic in its
distribution, although absent from Iceland.
Essentially a species of damp deciduous
woodland (Koch 1989), it is also frequent
in man-made habitats (den Boer 1977),
such as gardens, and could easily have been
casually collected up with hay. Introduced
to North America and to Iceland, where it
appears restricted to hot-houses (Larsson
and Gígja 1959), the eurytopic ground bee-
tle, Bembidion bruxellense appears to have
formed part of the landnám assemblage at
Tjørnuvík. Of the remainder of the fauna,
most are likely to have formed part of an
initial early Holocene immigration, and
there is a significant overlap with the list
from Saksunardalur (Buckland et al.
1998a). Bengtson (1981) thought that Hen-
riksen’s identification of the byrrhid Sim-
plocaria metallica Sturm from a pre-land-
nám site in Tórshavn (in Jessen and Ras-
mussen 1922) was more likely to have been
S semistriata, present both at Tjørnuvík and
Toftanes, and if this is the case, it may be
added to the pre-settlement list.
Although only present in sample Tjl/1,
the 15 individuals of the small staphylinid
Ochthephilus omalinus (det. R J. Osborne)
are likely to represent a native species,
which is either extinct on the islands, or
overlooked. The beetle is recorded from
moss lawns, flood debris and waterfalls
(Koch 1989), all widespread habitats in the
Faroes, although perhaps not adequately
collected. It should be noted that two other
species, O. andalusiacus (Fag.) and O.
venustulus (Rosen.) have recently been
added to the British list (Hodge and Jones
1995), and separation on the fossil speci-
mens is unlikely without aedeagi.
The overall picture of the landscape of
Tjørnuvík shortly after landnám is of damp
pasture or meadow with occasional pools,
represented by the water beetles, Hy-
droporus spp. Wet moss and damp decay-