Heads or tails - the analysis of fish bones from northwest Iceland (Images)
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- Heads or tails - the analysis of fish bones from northwest Iceland (Images)
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Title
Heads or tails - the analysis of fish bones from northwest Iceland (Images)
Description
This paper competed for the 2006 Junior Researcher Open Zooarchaeology Prize.
Abstract: Excavations in 1990 in North-West Iceland documented a stratified series of small turf structures and associated midden deposits at the eroding beach at Akurvík and a deep farm mound at the site of Gjogur dating from the 11th-13th to the 15th-16th centuries AD. These settlements produced rich fisheries history, with evidence for subsistence fishing and local level exchange of prepared fish products extending back to the period of first settlement in the late 9th century AD. While the date for the onset of full scale commercial fisheries remains somewhat controversial, the earliest seasonal fishing station at Akurvík, NW Iceland is radiocarbon dated to mid-13th century. The farm-mound at Gjögur, 3 km to the West of Akurvík, represents a deep midden deposit associated with this permanently occupied farm. The bone assemblage is dominated by fish, mainly Atlantic cod, with low amount of domestic (sheep, pig, horse and cow) and marine mammals (seals), shells and birds (puffin, gull, guillemot and gyrfalcon). This paper briefly summarizes the excavation results, and presents preliminary zooarchaeological analysis of the upper context dated to 14th-15th century AD at Gjögur, comparing the site with a nearby seasonal fishing booths site at Akurvík, and raising questions concerning the relationship between “fishing farms” and seasonal fishing stations in this region. Keywords- North West Iceland, North Atlantic, Fishing Farm, Maritime Zooarchaeology
Abstract: Excavations in 1990 in North-West Iceland documented a stratified series of small turf structures and associated midden deposits at the eroding beach at Akurvík and a deep farm mound at the site of Gjogur dating from the 11th-13th to the 15th-16th centuries AD. These settlements produced rich fisheries history, with evidence for subsistence fishing and local level exchange of prepared fish products extending back to the period of first settlement in the late 9th century AD. While the date for the onset of full scale commercial fisheries remains somewhat controversial, the earliest seasonal fishing station at Akurvík, NW Iceland is radiocarbon dated to mid-13th century. The farm-mound at Gjögur, 3 km to the West of Akurvík, represents a deep midden deposit associated with this permanently occupied farm. The bone assemblage is dominated by fish, mainly Atlantic cod, with low amount of domestic (sheep, pig, horse and cow) and marine mammals (seals), shells and birds (puffin, gull, guillemot and gyrfalcon). This paper briefly summarizes the excavation results, and presents preliminary zooarchaeological analysis of the upper context dated to 14th-15th century AD at Gjögur, comparing the site with a nearby seasonal fishing booths site at Akurvík, and raising questions concerning the relationship between “fishing farms” and seasonal fishing stations in this region. Keywords- North West Iceland, North Atlantic, Fishing Farm, Maritime Zooarchaeology
Creator
Yekaterina Krivogorskaya
Source
Krivogorskaya_Images.pdf
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pdf
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267
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Citation
Yekaterina Krivogorskaya. "Heads or tails - the analysis of fish bones from northwest Iceland (Images)," in BoneCommons, Item #456, http://www.alexandriaarchive.org/bonecommons/items/show/456 (accessed February 3, 2012).
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