Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1998, Blaðsíða 279

SKORDÝRAFAUNA í LANDNÁiyiSTÍÐ: EIN FORNSKORDÝRAFRØÐILIG
RANNSÓKN í TJØRNUVÍK í STREYMOY
285
cent areas of wet moss. Whilst Aphodius
lapponum was collected from dung, it was
not taken in the pitfall traps. The faunas
from the modem cultivated localities differ
from the fossil immediately post-landnám
assemblage in the virtual absence of a wet-
land component. As Jóhansen (1971) noted
on the pollen evidence, drainage and im-
provement of hayfields has removed the
pools, which gave Tjørnuvík its name. The
drier mown areas also support a different,
more eutrophic carabid and staphylinid
fauna.
Conclusion
The fossil beetle assemblages from Tjørnu-
vík show the impact of Norse settlement in
the sudden increase in diversity across the
iandnám boundary. It should be noted,
however, that this change takes place above
that defined by Jóhansen (1971) on palyno-
logical grounds. This is likely to reflect the
taphonomic problem that, unlike at Tof-
tanes (Edwards et al. 1998), the sampling
’ocality is not immediately adjacent to the
occupation site and poor preservation re-
duces the value of the samples below Tj 1/1.
The possibility of the incorporation of old
carbon, site disturbance by movement
downslope of soils disturbed at landnám,
and the gap in deposition implied by the
gravel horizon, limit the value of the site in
determining the date of landnám. This
problem will only be solved by the applica-
tion of radiocarbon accelerator dates to sin-
gle identified entities from well studied
successions.
Acknowledgements
Sampling was carried out in close cooperation with the
late Jóhannes Jóhansen, and the pit dug with the assis-
tance of Tom Addyman, Joan, Philip and Robert Buck-
land. The farmers of Tjørnuvík are thanked for their for-
bearance at yet another hole being dug in their fields.
The comments of Kevin Edwards, Pehr Enckell and Jon
Sadler are gratefully acknowledged. Peter Osborne,
Dept. of Geological Sciences, University of Birming-
ham kindly identified the Omalinus sp.
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