Coping with Hard Times in Nw Iceland: Zooarchaeology, History, and Landscape Archaeology at Finnbogastaðir in the 18Th Century

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RAGNAR EDVARDSSON, SOPHIA PERDIKARIS, THOMAS H. MCGOVERN, NOAH ZAGOR & MATTHEW WAXMAN

COPING WITH HARD TIMES IN NW ICELAND: ZOOARCHAEOLOGY, HISTORY, AND LANDSCAPE ARCHAEOLOGY AT FINNBOGASTAÐIR IN THE 18TH CENTURY

As part of a cooperative archaeological project in NW Iceland (Strandasýsla) involving the National Museum of Iceland and Hunter College of the City University of New York, a small rescue excavation at the site of Finnbogastaðir generated a quantifiable collection of animal bones dating to the early modern period, mainly to the 18th century. The 18th century was a period of hardship in much of Iceland, with widespread tenantry, adverse climate, and degradation of many terrestrial landscapes posing severe challenges to poor farmers - perhaps most intensely in the Northwest. The animal bone collection from Finnbogastaðir reflects a multi-stranded subsistence economy involving seals, birds, and fish as well as domestic stock. Reconstruction of the fishing pattern indicates a mixed strategy that probably produced some stockfish for local exchange or for export but was mainly aimed at household provisioning. The nearly contemporary Jarðabók land register provides a direct comparison to the documentary record, and ongoing site survey and excavation in the NW provides a broader landscape/seascape perspective on the archaeofauna and documents. This small rescue investigation thus serves to illustrate the potential for an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to Iceland's past, including periods with extensive documentary resources.

Ragnar Edvardsson, CUNY Doctoral Program in Anthropology, [email protected] Sophia Perdikaris, Brooklyn College Zooarchaeology Laboratory. Thomas H. McGovern, Hunter College Bioarchaeology Laboratory. Noah Zagor and Matthew Waxman, NSF Arctic Social Sciences Research Experience for Undergraduates Program 2003.

Keywords: North Atlantic, Iceland, Early Modern, Zooarchaeology, Jarðabók, Landscape Archaeology

Introduction: The Region ry deposits at the site of Finnbogastaðir, Árneshreppur, Strandasýsla, NW Iceland (Vestfirðir) and seeks to place the results This paper provides a report of the analy- in the larger context of early modern sis of an animal bone collection excavat- economy in the region through the inte- ed in 1990 from 18th - early 19th centu- gration of historical documentary sources

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Finnbogastaðir

Árneshreppur

Fig. 1. Location of Finnbogastaðir and Árneshreppur.

and an ongoing program of landscape whales and ships (Kristjánsson 1980). In archaeology in the region. The district the mid 19th century there were 27 farms (hreppur, plural hreppar) of Árneshrep- in the Árnes district and in the beginning pur covers a larger area than most hrep- of the 20th century this number had par in the south and southwest of Iceland, increased to 50 farms. This expansion and takes in a landscape of deep narrow was a result of increased fishing which fjords, narrow glacial valleys, and high affected the whole of Iceland at the time. mountains (Figure 1). However, decline in fishing from the mid There is little area that can be culti- 20th century onwards has caused farms vated between the mountains and the sea to be abandoned, especially in the NW. In and by the later 19th century the farmers 2000 there were only 8 farms still occu- in the area were known for a wide rang- pied in the area, and there is now a real ing subsistence strategy. The major concern for the long term viability of the resources of the NW in the 19th century community as a whole. The changing included fishing, sealing, egg collection, demography of this now marginalized bird hunting, driftwood, and the wind- region cannot be fully understood with- falls provided by the stranding of both out reference to a properly historical

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ecology which can both document prior demonstrate an active use of marine shifts in population and identify coping resources and probable participation in strategies employed by prior generations commercial scale fisheries in the 13th- in this area. The NW has long suffered 15th centuries (Perdikaris et al 2003). hard times as well as periods of prosper- The possibility for connecting high-reso- ity, and a better understanding of past lution paleoclimatology with archaeolo- conjunctions of market and subsistence gy and history in the NW is generating economy, rapid social change, and cli- widespread interest in the area both in mate fluctuation is required if effective Iceland and abroad and a fresh program strategies for a genuinely sustainable of coordinated interdisciplinary investi- present and future are to be devised and gation is now underway (see Edvardsson implemented. 2002). This paper seeks to contribute to The image scholars have traditionally this new program of research by combin- had of Árneshreppur, and indeed of the ing archaeological and documentary evi- whole of the Northwest, is of a poor dence for 18th century economic region where residents had to struggle response of small farmers in Árneshrep- just to stay alive as marginalized sheep pur to harsh social and environmental raising subsistence farmers. This image conditions. derives mainly from 19th century written sources describing the NW of Iceland at a time when political decisions, climatic The Excavation at Finnbogastaðir cooling, and both local and regional economic changes had caused a general The Finnbogastaðir archaeofauna decline in the area. In fact, little is known (archaeological animal bone collection, about the economic organization in earli- for terminology see Reitz & Wing 1999) er periods, though there is some docu- was collected in the summer of 1990 as mentary evidence that suggests that dur- part of a larger cooperative Icelandic ing the medieval period the Vestfirðir Paleoeconomy Project involving the peninsula was an important resource cen- National Museum of Iceland and the City tre for rich farmers both within the dis- University of New York. The work at trict and outside it. Archaeological inves- Finnbogastaðir represented a small-scale tigations since the 1990 cooperative rescue project following the accidental Icelandic Paleoeconomy Project that are discovery of a bone-rich midden deposit combining survey, excavation and inter- directly outside the modern farmhouse in disciplinary analysis integrating paleocli- the course of driveway extension work matology, zooarchaeology, archaeo- by the farmer. With the kind cooperation botany, and geoarchaeology are steadily and warm hospitality of the modern fam- improving our understanding of this ily, our team was not only able to recov- poorly known region. Radiocarbon dates er bones from the spoil displaced by the on layers from both fishing booth sites driveway work but also to cut back the and farm middens in Árneshreppur working face and collect more material

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from in situ contexts and to draw pro- The taphonomic indicators (degree of files. The total area excavated was 1.1 m fragmentation, carnivore and rodent x 3.0m, and extended 80 cm below mod- gnawing, burning) of the 18th century ern ground surface. The work in 1990 archaeofauna showed strong similarities completed only the rescue excavation to contemporary collections from Iceland necessary for the driveway extension but (discussion in Perdikaris et al 2003). The did not reach the base of the archaeolog- deposits seem to have the same general ical deposit in any area. All excavated character (accretional deposition of material was sieved through 4 mm mesh domestic refuse, hearth cleaning, and dry mesh, including the spoil heap creat- craft debris) as other Icelandic middens ed by the initial non-archaeological exca- and are thus probably generally compara- vation. Artifacts recovered (ceramics and ble to other collections of similar size. a single kaolin pipe stem) indicate that the deposits sampled extend from the early 18th to early 19th centuries, with Overview of Species Present the most productive context (context 6) Table 1 presents the fragment count for probably dating to the first quarter of the all bone-bearing contexts at 18th century (Amorosi 1996). Finnbogastaðir, including the unstratified Finnbogastaðir is a substantial archaeo- (00) sieved spoil of the initial machine logical site, with much more extensive excavation. As table 4 indicates, the great deposits directly around the modern farm majority of the in situ bone collected building. This small rescue excavation came from the densely packed context provides only a very partial sample of the (layer) 11 and from the unstratified spoil later phases of the farm midden deposits, already disturbed by the machine excava- and has all the limitations of a small- tion, which almost certainly also largely scale trench excavation. However, the derived from context 11. As it was clear rich midden layers did produce a quan- in the field that the bone from the spoil tifiable archaeofauna with an identified came entirely from this unit and the time bone count (NISP) of 6,410 fragments range (18th century) suggested by the out of a total collection (TNF) of 7,379 artifact collection is fairly restricted, it bone fragments, providing the basis for seems reasonable to treat the archaeofau- an initial discussion of economic strate- na as a unit (with the understanding that gies in the early modern period at this the great majority of the bone derives farm and material for comparison to 18th from the earlier half of the century). century documentary records and land- Figure 2 presents the overall distribution scape archaeology (see Perdikaris et al of identified bone fragments (% NISP), 2003 for the full zooarchaeological which are made up mainly of fish bone report). but with significant numbers of domestic and wild mammals, birds and mollusca.

Taphonomic Evidence

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Fragments Identified Stratigraphic unit Taxon 00 spoil 1 8 9 10 11 13 14 15 Total Domesticates Cattle (Bos taurus dom. L.) 116 17 Sheep (Ovis aries dom. L.) 51 1 5 40 1 1 3 102 Caprine 83 11 1 1 27 1 3 127 Cetacea Large whale species indet. 26 4 1 1 1 33 Seals 0 Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina L.) 20 4 1 16 41 Seal species indet. 16 1 17 34 Birds 0 Guillemot/Murre (Uria sp.) 71 1 110 Eider (Somateria mollis. L) 11 Fulmar ( Fulmaris gla c. Erch.) 11 Red throated diver (Gavia stellata L.) 11 Gull species (Laridae ) 22 Bird species indet. 24 2 1 27 Fis h 0 Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) 984 33 1 49 39 697 2 5 3 1813 Haddock (Melanogrammus aelgf. L.) 28 5 1 7 17 2 60 Ling (Molva molva L.) 19 2 18 3 42 Saithe (Pollachius virens L,) 7 6 17 50 80 Torsk (Brosme brosme L.) 88 Cod family (Gadidae ) 423 25 1 14 11 330 2 2 808 Wolf fish (Anarch. lupus L.) 18 1 19 Halibut (Hippogl sp) 459 Greenland shark (Somin. microceph .L) 11 2 Ray species (Rajidae ) 11 2 Flat fish species 5 2 7 Fish species indet. 1181 78 3 152 52 944 7 1 2418 Mollusca 0 Mussel (Mytilus ed . L) 231 18 4 6 40 66 365 Common whelk (Bucc . sp.) 123 Clam sp. ( Mya sp.) 12 1 13 Periwinkle (Littorina nest. L.) 11 Mollusca species indet. 356 2 358 Total NISP 3,508 186 10 232 139 2,232 84 12 7 6,410 Large Terrestrial Mammal 17 1 10 1 29 Medium Terrestrial Mammal 299 24 4 5 1 107 4 1 2 447 Unidentified mammal fragments 273 45 23 15 113 3 15 6 493 Total TNF 4,097 256 14 260 155 2,462 91 28 16 7,379

Table 1. NISP by context.

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90 5268

740

10 252 33 75 42 0 domestic mammals whales seals birds fish mollusca

Fig. 2. Relative abundance of primary faunal groups.

Domestic Mammals mouse) chewing are present on several The identified domestic mammals are bones. cattle (9.13 %) and sheep or caprine (90.87%). As is common in late medieval and early modern contexts in Iceland, pig Domesticates age at death and goat bones are entirely absent and it Not enough intact tooth rows were avail- is likely that the entire "caprine" catego- able for effective reconstruction of age of ry (fragments that could belong to either death of the major domesticates (see sheep or goat) is in fact composed of Perdikaris et al 2003 for data). The pres- sheep. The ratio of cattle bone to caprine ence of neonatal (less than 3 month old) bone is approximately one to ten. Dog, cattle bone suggests the usual Icelandic cat, or rodent bones are not present in the dairying strategy, and contrasts with a archaeofauna, but (as noted above) tooth low frequency of newborn lamb bones. marks of both dog and rodent (probably

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Domestic Mammal Butchery Wild Mammals The pattern of element distribution of The wild mammals from Finnbogastaðir both cattle and caprines includes all parts are all marine species, whale and seal. of the skeleton, cranial fragments, long The whalebone fragments (none identifi- bones, and toes (see data archive). This able to species) are probably mainly from mixture of meat-rich and meat-poor ele- broken artifacts or from the debris of arti- ments suggests the usual Icelandic pat- fact fabrication, as nearly all show multi- tern of home butchery of stock and the ple tool marks. This pattern is familiar deposition of both primary butchery from other Icelandic collections, and as waste and the remains of meal consump- usual leaves the issue of whale meat con- tion into the same midden deposit. The tribution to the diet open (it is equally collection shows many examples of the possible to bring home hundreds of kilos characteristic bi-perforation of caprine of boneless whale meat or to collect metapodials for marrow extraction, meatless bones for tool manufacture). which involves circular holes in the prox- The seal bones may be more informative. imal articular facet, and the plantar sur- All seal bones that can be identified to face of the distal shaft. This method of species level (using the criteria of Møhl marrow extraction allows preservation of nd with minor additions) are harbor or the usefully shaped metapodials for craft- common seals (Phoca vitulina L.) and work and keeps bone splinters out of the 63% of the seal bones are from newborn rich metapodial marrow. The technique pups less than two months old. This sug- was widespread in the Shetlands, Faroe gests a pattern of predation upon harbor Islands, and Iceland after ca AD 1100 but seal pupping beaches similar to that doc- has not been reported from Norse archae- umented extensively in Kristjánsson ofauna from Greenland or Norway, and (1980) for the NW. Patterns of cut marks appears to be a later medieval foodway are consistent with the butchery methods developed in the N Atlantic islands illustrated in Kristjánsson (1980) and (Bigelow 1985). The Finnbogastaðir col- probably reflect use of both skins and lection also contains several examples of meat. the ancient Scandinavian dish svið (a singed half sheep cranium split along the midline), still enjoyed in Iceland today. Birds Such split crania of sheep and goats have As Table 1 indicates, birds make up a been recovered from 9th century small portion of the Finnbogastaðir Icelandic collections, and Greenlandic archaeofauna, and appear to be mainly collections indicate not only that the Guillemot/Murre (Uria sp.) with trace preparation method spread with the 10th elements of other species. The presence century settlers but also that it was of the now - common fulmar is an addi- applied to caribou heads as well as tional temporal indicator, as this species caprines. appears to have immigrated to Iceland in the early modern period, probably

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100

1813 90

10 80 60 42 8 0 Atlantic cod Haddock Ling Saithe Torsk

Fig. 3. Relative abundance of primary fish species.

spreading widely through the N Atlantic to five taxa, including wolf fish, shark, along with intensified offshore fishing in flatfish, and rays. The most common late medieval to early modern times non-gadid is Anarchus lupus, wolf fish (Petersen 1998). (represented primarily through dense cranial bones and teeth). Wolf fish is a common by-catch with gadids, and has long Fish been exploited in Iceland for its meat and Fish bones are the most common element (recently) for its leathery skin. Also rep- of the Finnbogastaðir archaeofauna, and resented by the presence of teeth is the the great majority of these are from the Greenland shark, Somniosus micro- cod (gadid) family. Figure 3 presents the cephalus. The Greenland shark is a large, relative abundance of gadid fish identi- sluggish, deep-water shark, with pointed fied to species level, indicating the over- upper teeth, and relatively flat lower whelming dominance of cod (Gadus teeth, feeding primarily on seals, crabs, morhua L.) within this group. The rela- and fish (Migdalski, 1976). The pres- tively few non-gadid fish remains belong ences of these shark teeth are the only

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evidence for the historically documented es. Thornback rays are represented by shark fisheries carried out in this district teeth only. down to recent times (centred on both the Greenland shark and the larger Basking shark). Shark bone is soft and cartilagi- Fish skeletal element frequency nous and is not preserved in most deposi- The distribution of the different portions tional contexts, so the low frequency of of the fish skeleton recovered from identifiable shark remains in this archae- archaeological sites has been used to ofauna need not reflect the actual eco- trace inter-regional trade in preserved nomic importance of shark fishing. In fish and to aid the recognition of special- addition to Greenland shark and wolffish, ized sites producing preserved fish for an at least two species of flatfish are present. external market (Perdikaris 1999). Large Most identifiable of these is the Atlantic cod-family (gadid) fish are usually halibut, one of the largest of the flatfish- processed by gutting and beheading, and

40 MAU %

TJR Otic FBS Olfactory Occipital SVK Lateral Investing Investing Opercular Mandicular Hyoid Arch Hyoid Branchial Arch Pelvic Girdle Pectoral Girdle Vertebral Column Caudal Skeleton

Fig. 4. Distribution of cod elements at three sites (TJR=Tjarnagata; FBS=Finnbogastaðir; SVK=Sveigakot.

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the stripping out of a variable number of osition and survival. A MAU score con- the upper (thoracic) vertebrae (depending verted to percentages should show equal on the preservation method used). numbers for each element in the unlikely Specialist production sites near the land- event that all survive to reach the ana- ing point thus should have many cranial lyst's laboratory in actual anatomical pro- and upper vertebral bones, while con- portion. In practice, different densities sumption sites far from the coast should and fragmentation patterns of different lack most of these same bones. elements of fish skeletons heavily affect Subsistence fishers eating their own the survival and recovery of many indi- catch as fresh fish should generate mid- vidual elements, so most workers tend to dens with a balance of skeletal elements use the MAU % of groups of elements more similar to that found in live fish. for comparisons (upper, middle, lower Zooarchaeologists often use the MAU vertebrae, larger skull parts) rather than measure (minimum animal unit, see individual bones (Enghoff 2003). Reitz & Wing 1999), which divides the Figure 4 uses MAU % to compare the bones found per skeletal element by the distribution of cod (Gadus morhua) number of times it appears in the live fish grouped skeletal elements recovered to allow for a direct comparison of dif- from Finnbogastaðir (FBS) and from ferent parts of the skeleton, as a tool for 18th-19th century deposits from investigating patterns of differential dep- Tjarnargata 3c in downtown Reykjavík

40 % MA 30

TJR 10

FBS 0

Thoracic SVK Precaudal Caudal

Fig. 5. Distribution of cod parts at three sites (see fig. 4 for key).

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(TJR) and from 10th-11th century present, as might be expected in a site deposits from the rural farm site close to the shore. Sveigakot (SVK). The Tjarnargata 3c The distribution of vertebrae recov- deposits are definitely the refuse of a ered can also shed light on the disposi- fully commercial fishery in large-scale tion of fish bodies once separated from production of cod for export (mainly as their heads (a complete skeleton would stockfish) and show a full range of skele- show equal height bars for all vertebrae). tal elements with a predominance of Figure 5 again compares the same three bones from the head and jaws (Perdikaris sites. The consumer's site at inland et al 2002). The Sveigakot (SVK) cod Sveigakot clearly shows a surplus of bone collection comes from an inland lower tail (caudal) vertebrae relative to site nearly 60 km from the shore, and upper vertebrae (pre-caudal and tho- lacks any jaw or upper head bones. The racic). The two early modern coastal sites Sveigakot collection is made up entirely show the reverse pattern of an apparent of vertebrae and the bones around the gill surplus of upper vertebrae and shortage slit (mainly cleithrum) which are usually of lower tail vertebrae normally exported left in preserved fish to hold the body in a preserved fish (either as dried stock- together (Barrett et al. 2001, Perdikaris et fish or split salt fish). If the inland al 2003, Nicholson 1998). The deposi- Sveigakot archaeofauna shows a "con- tional pattern of cod bones at sumer's profile" (more lower body verte- Finnbogastaðir (FBS) appears far closer brae, no head bones), both the to the 18th-19th century Tjarnargata pat- Finnbogastaðir and Tjarnargata 3c tern, with a full range of cranial bones archaeofauna show a "producer's profile"

Cod Premaxillae & Dentaries

Number of Specimens 4

0 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 Reconstructed Length (mm)

Premax. Dent.

Fig. 6. Size reconstruction of cod.

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Cod Length Reconstruction (Dentary, 10 cm interval)

30 % of Dentaries %

0 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 Reconstructed Live Length (mm) Finnbogastadir TJR3C Midbaer

Fig. 7. Comparison of size reconstructions at the three sites.

of more upper body vertebrae as well as length, with the majority of specimens many head bones. All sites were fully falling between 400 mm and 800 mm. sieved to the same standard, so the pat- While a range of sizes of cod tend to be terning is not likely to reflect archaeolog- taken from the same waters with the ical recovery. same gear, only some size ranges cure well as stockfish. Figure 7 compares the Cod Length Reconstruction length reconstructions based on cod den- Making use of regression formulae of taries for Finnbogastaðir, Tjarnargata 3c, Wheeler & Jones (1989) it is possible to and the early modern layers of a small reconstruct live length of many gadids farm site Miðbaer on Flatey in from the measurement of preserved Breiðafjörður (Amundsen 2004), with mouth parts (premaxillae and dentaries). the limits of the "stockfish window" indi- Figure 6 presents the size reconstruction cated by vertical lines (x axis is rescaled data for the cod at Finnbogastaðir. Both with broader intervals to more realistical- elements produce broadly similar pat- ly reflect the inherent limits of the recon- terns of distribution of reconstructed struction method). Fish much smaller

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than approximately 600 mm dry too hard, bers of domestic animals on farms and while fish much larger than 1100 mm other relevant information about agricul- tend to rot rather than cure. The fully ture. Some records relate directly to the commercial Tjarnargata 3c cod recon- site of Finnbogastaðir during the period struction distribution peaks squarely in of deposition of the 18th century archae- the middle of the stockfish window, the ofauna. The earliest documentary records Miðbaer collection peaks clearly below extend to the early Middle Ages. In the the window, while the Finnbogastaðir early 18th century the Danish king reconstructions straddle the lower edge ordered a census to be taken and the col- as well as including a few very large lection of farm data for a land registry for specimens above the stockfish window all farms in Iceland. The main aim of the limits. If the Tjarnargata 3c distribution land registry was to better administer tax- typifies the zooarchaeological signature ation upon Icelandic farms and to gain a of selection for optimum stock fish pro- general overview of the resources of the duction (with a by - catch of smaller indi- country. In the period between 1702 and viduals probably consumed locally) and 1712 two Icelanders, Árni Magnússon the Miðbaer collection typifies a fishing and Páll Vídalín, collected material from strategy aimed almost entirely at local all parts of Iceland. The data for the land consumption, then the Finnbogastaðir registry for the district of Árnes was col- distribution appears to fall between these lected in September 1706. The registry poles. While the skeletal element fre- recorded 29 farms in the area, 5 farms quencies from the Finnbogastaðir cod do were not occupied at the time. The suggest concentration of heads and dis- church owned 7 farms, the king 13 and 9 persal of tail bones, the cod length recon- farms are privately owned (Magnússon, structions suggest that stockfish produc- Árni, 1940 edition). Prior the 15th centu- tion for export can have been only one of ry the king did not own any farms in the many uses of this fish by the 18th centu- district and most farms were privately ry residents. Probably the best interpreta- owned except for few farms belonging to tion of these data would be as evidence of the church. By the reformation in the mid a mixed fishing economy aimed at both 16th century the king had acquired farms local subsistence provisioning and at in the area as elsewhere in Iceland. small-scale stockfish production for The Jarðabók register allows some export and local exchange. broad inter-regional comparisons of pre- vailing stock raising practices. Table 2 compares the records for the main The Historical evidence domestic animals (milch cows, milking ewes, wethers) and the number of these The written sources from the period of per farm from three districts: Árnes- the deposition of the Finnbogastaðir hreppur (NW), Reykjahlíðar (NE - valley archaeofauna are abundant and in some near sea level), and Mývatn (NE- inland cases very detailed, giving actual num- higher altitude). It seems clear that while

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Mývatn. 1712 Reykjahlíðar.1712 Árnes. 1706 Farms 18 61 35 Milking Cows 66 199 50 Milk ewes 962 2323 322 wether/old wether 680 1532 132 total 1708 4054 504 Major stock per farm 95 66 14 Table 2. Comparison of livestock in three regions based on historical records.

all three districts kept the same mix of Further analysis indicates that only stock, both absolute numbers of animals about 26 - 30 % of income for farms in per farm and the proportion of stock Árnes in 1706 were based on agriculture maintained differ across 18th century while the ratio is much higher for northern Iceland. Mývatn - and Reykjahlíðar districts, Not only do the farms in the NW keep about 60% in 1712 (Edvardsson 2003). far fewer domestic animals, but their mix These analyses indicate that the people of is tilted much more heavily towards food Árnes district in the early 18th century production rather than wool production, could not live on agriculture alone and with a proportionally higher percentage must have based their income on of milk cows and milking ewes relative resources not fully quantified in the land to wethers. Sturla Friðriksson (1972) registry or any other historical source. estimated that under conditions of traditional Icelandic agriculture (before the mid 19th century) it took the product of 9 Finnbogastaðir in the Jarðabók Land ewes to sustain one adult, with 6 ewes Register equaling one cow. If we use these figures as a rough guide, it is possible to show In the 1706 land registry Finnbogastaðir that in the Árnes district the total number appeared as a fairly typical farm in its of animals could not possibly sustain the district, valued at 16 hundreds, which number of people actually living on the was a mid-range farm for the NW area. farms in 1706, but the number of domes- Compared to the rest of Iceland the farm tic animals in the Mývatn and would be classified among the poorer Reykjahlíðar districts should have been farms (Appendix 1). able to sustain the number of people that The farm values are somewhat prob- were living in the area. lematic as they were probably calculated

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at an earlier period, sometime around with an eye to stock renewal. He also AD1100. From the period 1100 to 1706 a owned some additional stock maintained number of things have changed and some at the nearby church farm Árnes. The farms may have lost parts of their values. smaller household was that of Brandur However, the sources indicate that the Björnsson, who had only his wife and six farm values for most farms have children to support, but who also only remained the same from their original had a single cow and five milk ewes. If calculation. Statistical analysis of the we apply the Friðriksson provisioning farm values suggest that they were calcu- formula, both households appear to have lated from the number of domestic ani- had a provisioning shortfall: Sr. Bjarni mals and all benefits that the farm had, had approximately 5.3 human rations to driftwood, stranding, etc. (Edvardsson, maintain his ten household members Ragnar, 2003). while Brandur had only 1.1 human The Jarðabók entry reveals some pat- rations to feed his family of eight. The terns common to much of 18th century households of early 18th century Iceland. A complex pattern of absentee Finnbogastaðir, like the great majority of land ownership was not unusual, in this their contemporaries in Vestfirðir, must case a four tiered structure extending have relied on other resources to main- from the actual occupants up to the King tain bare subsistence. We are informed of Denmark, with a local farmer (Jón that seal hunting is sometimes successful Magnússon from Reykjanes), providing and that both households have access to oversight within the hreppur. Multiple boats for fishing, but the register typical- tenant households within the same farm ly makes no attempt to quantify non-agri- were also common in this period, with up cultural production. to four sharing the same holding (not necessarily all occupying the same structure). The two tenant households occupy- Jarðabók and Zooarchaeology ing the farm at Finnbogastaðir in the late fall of 1706 were clearly of different eco- The bone assemblage recovered from nomic (and probably social) status. The Finnbogastaðir corresponds in most larger household was of Sr. Bjarni respects with the information on stock Guðmundsson, the local priest. Sr. Bjarni keeping provided in the land registry. All maintained four servants (both male and animals mentioned in the registry are female) as well as his wife and four chil- present in the assemblage and the ratio of dren (it was not uncommon for poor ten- cattle to caprine bones (1:9.96) in the ants to have still more impoverished archaeofauna matches the overall ratio of landless servants living in their house- cattle to sheep in the registry (1:9.43). holds). Sr. Bjarni has a mix of milk cows, The seals mentioned in the entry appear wethers, milk ewes, and two horses as as bones in the midden, and whalebones well as younger cattle and sheep appar- correlate with recorded (disputed) ently being maintained over the winter strandage rights. However the fish so

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dominant in the excavated archaeofauna of Sr. Bjarni and Brandur at are only indirectly mentioned in the Finnbogastaðir in 1706 may have repre- Jarðabók account, and the documentary sented two ends of a spectrum of relative account provides no means to further wealth, education, and access to the investigate the marine resources that wider world of enlightenment Europe, must have sustained the households of Sr. but both were certainly poor and strug- Bjarni and Brandur. The two types of evi- gling tenants. However, the two house- dence are complementary, and it may be holds on the Finnbogastaðir farm in the more productive to synthesize their very fall of 1706 (18 people in all sharing the different perspectives on the same eco- same small site) were by no means the nomic strategies rather than to seek to poorest of the poor. These were the land- privilege history over archaeology or the less paupers and sporadically employed reverse. It will require a much larger migrant farmhands who caused such offi- bone sample than we now have to effec- cial concern and inspired often draconian tively reconstruct the sheep herding pat- legislation aimed at controlling the terns so economically laid out in the land potentially dangerous wandering poor register, but even a relatively small (who tended to have the highest mortali- archaeofauna such as the 1990 sample ty during times of famine, Vasey 2000). can quickly and effectively answer the Most tenant farmers had single year leas- question of the likely source of the miss- es, and would frequently move between ing resources that provisioned the early farms (either voluntarily or driven by modern farmers of Árneshreppur - the eviction). When a farmer moved a speci- sea. Our zooarchaeological evidence can fied number of cows and sheep stayed at also help fill in some of the missing the farm for the next tenant, along with pieces of the puzzle of how poor tenant any improvements to farm buildings, farmers like Sr. Bjarni and Brandur man- pastures, or other immovable property. aged to survive, especially if we add Tenants were formally required to main- archaeological survey and landscape tain houses, fences, and farm buildings at analysis evidence. Explaining the critical their own expense. However, mainte- role of marine resources at this 18th cen- nance of structures on farms became a tury tenant farm requires a broader, problem after 1700 because tenants multi-disciplinary view of the contempo- moved so frequently that they considered rary social and environmental context. it a waste of time and energy to rebuild farm buildings they could never own and would only briefly inhabit. Only mini- Rural Poverty, Environmental Change mum repairs were made to turf structures and Strategies for Survival (which require annual maintenance and large scale rebuilding every 25-30 years), By the 18th century most Icelanders were which caused many farms to become tenant farmers, and many were extreme- increasingly neglected and fall into ruin, ly poor by any measure. The households prompting negative comments from

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Sheep fleeces needed for Household household consumption wethers ewes total adult sheep Sr. Bjarni 48 21 24 45 Brandur 38.4 5 5

Table 3. Estimation of woolen requirements, against probable production at Finnbogastaðir.

Danish officials and improving great tion. Several 18th century sources (esp. farmers (see Hastrup 1997 and Skúli Magnússon (1784) ) allow a rough Durrenberger & Pálsson 1989). Many calculation of the amount of wool needed tenant farmers in Iceland had to fulfill to provide for the needs of an individual certain duties in addition to rent pay- and many sources provide closely comments (usually made in money and in parable estimates of the washed clip of kind, as at Finnbogastaðir) including dif- Icelandic sheep (Orri Vésteinsson pers ferent forms of labor service (Sr. Bjarni comm 2003). While such calculations and Brandur were fortunate to escape cannot be precise, a comparison of the these requirements at Finnbogastaðir). In estimated household woolen require- the NW, tenants often had to man boats ments vs. probable production provides that belonged to the owner of the farm. In some grounds for assessing the situation other places there were ferry duties, or of the 18th century households at other required services. Failure to meet Finnbogastaðir (Table 3). all obligations of rent and service led to While Sr.Bjarni may have been able eviction, which could result in the to clothe his household from his own breakup of the household if not starva- flocks (or come close most years), tion. Brandur faced an insoluble shortfall. By the 18th century, tenant house- Neither tenant could have relied upon holds needed to produce cash (or its surplus wool production to generate sig- equivalent in store credit) as well as food nificant cash income. Note that in order to survive. Rent payments often Brandur's household kept no wethers at required money as well as butter (as at all, and thus seems to have forgone spe- Finnbogastaðir), and the small collection cialized wool production entirely. Thus of imported ceramics and single kaolin small tenant farmers needed to generate pipe fragment recovered in 1990 suggest some surplus above the bare nutritional the occasional purchase of the imported needs of the household to purchase goods luxuries so regularly denounced (as they did not produce themselves and ful- unsuitable for the poor) in contemporary fill their many social obligations. Like sermons. Woollen clothing and bedding many members of small-scale societies were also household requirements that in the modern circumpolar north, these may not have been met by local produc- 18th century farmers needed a multi-

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stranded strategy for household survival factors likely to reduce taxes, a range of that included elements of both a cash and paleoenvironmental studies indicate that subsistence economy. adverse landscape changes were indeed In addition to harsh social conditions, widespread and that cooling climate did Icelandic small farmers like the tenant reduce pasture productivity and the families at Finnbogastaðir also were con- amount of winter fodder that could be fronted by changing climate and geomor- secured. The NW was also affected by phological challenges to agriculture sea ice in both winter and (in many years (Ogilvie 1984 et seq). Three well dated of the 18th century) in summer as well recent sea cores taken just off shore from (Ogilvie and Jónsdóttir 2000). Both the central Árneshreppur (off the farm documentary and paleoenvironmental Gjögur mentioned in the Jarðabók record starkly reveal the host of chal- account above) by teams led by John lenges facing small farmers in 18th cen- Andrews and Anne Jennings (INSTAAR, tury NW Iceland; the coping strategies U Colorado) support other paleoclimate they employed to survive are less well evidence in indicating a prolonged cold understood. interval in this district from 1650-1920 From the standpoint of a tenant AD, based on carbonate accumulation farmer in 18th century NW Iceland, and stable isotopic variations from benth- many agricultural practices advocated by ic foraminifera (Andrews pers com enlightenment improvers (drainage 2003, Jennings et al 2001). By the 18th ditching, field flattening, intensive century erosion had also seriously begun manuring, more elaborate hay storage to affect farmland all over the country. As facilities) were a complete waste of both the brief Jarðabók notices and the scarce time and energy. Not only would longer accounts in the annual sheriff's most of the improvements serve to enrich letters of the 17th-18th century indicate, the landlord (and probably generate a pastures and sometimes entire farmsteads rent increase for the tenant) but their ben- were being lost to rapid wind erosion, efits would almost certainly be lost to the destabilization of slopes, and sudden improving tenant due to eviction within a hydrological changes in river and stream year or two. In addition, steadily worsen- regimes: landslides, floods, and denuded ing environmental conditions in the NW pastures are common complaints in most and widespread loss of pasture area and of the quarters of Iceland (Ogilvie 1984a, reduction of pasture productivity was 2001). Many scholars somewhat devalue increasingly making agricultural intensi- the accounts of property damage in the fication a losing proposition for all but land registry as they suspect that the the richest farmsteads in the most pro- farmers were complaining and not giving tected locations. Instead of putting more an accurate description of their farmland effort into agriculture, NW tenant house- because the registry was to be used for holds would have been better served by tax purposes. While farmers and tenants an intensification of exploitation of wild certainly had an incentive to stress any resources. In the Árnes area most farms

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had access to abundant driftwood and Marine Landscape Archaeology, stranding and some had access to salmon Environmental Archaeology, and and trout rivers. However, as the Economic History Finnbogastaðir Jarðabók entry above indicates, by the 18th century most of The statistical analysis of the land reg- these access rights had been acquired by istry data and the analysis of the bone a variety of distant secular and ecclesias- data when placed in the context of coping tical land owners (note that strandage strategies of a severely stressed local rights were mentioned as a point of con- population may explain why fish, espe- flict in the Jarðabók account). Sealing cially the Atlantic cod, was the main ele- (from the zooarchaeological evidence ment in the economy of the farm as directed at harbor seal pupping beaches) reconstructed by zooarchaeology. As could provide small farmers with both suggested by the element distribution rich meat and saleable pelts, but a major patterns and size reconstructions, intensification of sealing effort would be Atlantic cod probably played a "dual" likely to simply drive the local harbor role for the farmers at Finnbogastaðir. seal colonies to extinction or cause them The larger portion of the catch would be to relocate in less accessible areas. The for domestic use and a small portion same problem limited the potential for would be sold at markets to generate the expansion of sea bird exploitation. cash income needed by these fisher-farm- Gathering of molluscs (especially mus- ers. The nature of the shark fisheries is sels) was a low risk, low investment less clear from the zooarchaeology due to strategy which could be pursued by chil- problems of preservation and attrition, dren and the elderly, but which produced and a single archaeofauna (from what is only a small volume of low value meat essentially a limited test trench) cannot (shellfish were traditionally regarded as shed much light on the cultural landscape famine food in many areas of Iceland). and the spatial organization of resource While a range of wild food certainly sup- use. Additional excavations aimed at plemented the demonstrably inadequate better understanding the nature and lay- household provisioning provided by agri- out of fishing stations combined with culture, the only area which would be regional landscape survey may allow a likely to repay intensification of effort by better understanding of the processes both producing more food for the tenant behind the formation of the archaeofauna household and potentially providing a sampled at Finnbogastaðir in 1990. saleable product would be fishing for Archaeological surveys and excava- gadids or sharks. tion on farms and fishing sites in the Árnes and neighboring Kaldrananes districts have shown that there is a regulari- ty in the location of fishing sites in the landscape. All farms in both areas, except for those located inland have a heimræði

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(home base, i.e. fishing directly from be used for stockfish production and at their farms). Both districts have verstöð- shark fishing which was caught mainly var (fishing stations) located somewhere for shark liver. Stockfish and shark liver within their boundaries. In the 18th cen- oil were probably both the most impor- tury the Árnes district had a fishing sta- tant exchange items within the Árnes dis- tion at Gjögur but prior to the 18th centu- trict and generators of cash income as ry two other verstöðvar, Akurvík and both could either be sold at a market or Ávík, were located in the area. It is inter- stored at a farm for later use. Long term esting to note that all stations in the storability of stockfish and shark liver oil Árnes district are in a close proximity, (up to several years) also provided a bit within a radius of 6 km from each other. of flexibility to the domestic economies In the Kaldrananes district the main ver- of NW farmers, allowing them to "bank" stöð in the 18th century was at Skreflur particularly successful catches against but earlier another had been at Sauratún hard times. about 1 km south of Skreflur. Farmers fishing from their heimræði would mainly catch smaller cod and Cultural Seascapes and Marine other species which were not suitable for Catchments stockfish production but were good for domestic use. The location of the heim- The sea provides as many constraints to ræði was not that important for the fish- free movement as the land, and is not ing economy of the district but for the well understood as a wet version of the farmers on the poorer farms the heimræði locational geographer's theoretical uni- and the ready access to inshore fishing it form featureless plain. Added to the usual provided were often the determining fac- issues of geodesic and pheric distance, tors between life and death. Heimræði least effort constraints, and movement were usually located anywhere along the costs is the overwhelming role of hazard shoreline were topography provided a reduction in any marine sea-use strategy. safe landing and minimal shelter. Most fishermen died young in the 18th- The location of a verstöð was more 19th century and the trade is still one of important as they were probably more the world's most dangerous occupations. specialized sites aiming more at optimiz- Wind and weather effects are highly vari- ing access to target species and to deep able in NW Iceland, but some recurring water fishing in general. These verstöð- patterns will tend to condition access to var were thus key elements in any strate- the deep sea from different potential ter- gy of large scale intensification of marine restrial landing points. Any verstöð had resource use, and especially for reliably to be located as close to the deep water producing the fish products that were fishing grounds as possible so boats more suitable for commercial purposes. could reach the fishing grounds and Deep water fishing was focused on return in the shortest time possible. In the catching the larger sized cod which could 18th century most fishing was carried out

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by small crews rowing 4 or 6 oared open west of the Reykjanes peninsula was a boats. Exposure and fatigue (especially very rich area for both shark and large in winter fisheries) would take a steady cod fishing in the early 18th century. toll on the crews, who were regularly Marine catchment circles around these described by 18th - 19th century foreign fishing stations, with 20 km as the aver- visitors as exceptionally hardy but gen- age distance for a boat with six oars on a erally poorly clothed and equipped by single fishing trip, provide some scale. contemporary British or Continental Sizes of boats in the Northwest varied standards. Transit time to deep water from small boats with two oars to large fishing was important not only for least boats with eight oars. The most common effort considerations but also for hazard boat in the Northwest was the boat with reduction - prolonged survivability of six oars (Kristjánsson, 1980). The deter- these small open boats (on return voyage mining factor in locating a verstöð in usually heavily overloaded and in winter Arnes district thus does appear to follow subject to icing) attempting to ride out a the broader model. About 80% of the gale on the open sea would be minimal farms in the Árnes district, including the and the only viable option open to a crew Finnbogastaðir farm, would therefore be caught offshore by bad weather would be too far away from the best deep water to run for a verstöð landing. Heavy surf fishing grounds, and their local farm fish- and directly onshore wind would make ing stations would have been hazardous any landing a dangerous "one chance" bases for extensive offshore fishing. affair, and would greatly limit the ability During the fishing seasons many of users of the verstöð to launch boats at accounts describe farmers and farmhands all. Peninsula locations often provide moving to the verstöð to get access to the more options for landing and recovery deep water fishing. under different weather conditions than In the 18th century the poorer farmer spots deep in a bay or fjord (like the Brandur at Finnbogastaðir had a small heimræði of Finnbogastaðir). The ideal boat which he used for inshore fishing location for a verstöð thus would involve "when he could". The richer occupant of proximity to deep water, and an ability to the farm Sr. Bjarni owned several boats. successfully launch and recover boats One boat was used for fishing from the from a variety of bearings in a variety of farm itself for domestic use, another spe- wind and surf conditions. These marine cialized in shark fishing at the Gjögur locational factors may regularly out- verstöð and Sr. Bjarni also owned part in weigh the considerations of terrestrial a third boat which was also used for cultural landscape, and a good verstöð shark fishing. This suggests that one of location need not be at a good farming the Finnbogastaðir farmers was mainly location. The verstöðvar (pl.) in the subsistence fishing while the other was Árnes district in fact all clustered in a rel- fishing on a larger scale, both for com- atively small area at the end of the mercial and domestic consumption. The Reykjanes peninsula (Figure 8). The area farmer at Reykjanes and primary tenant

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Fig. 8. Location of fishing stations (verstöðvar) in Árnes district.

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of Finnbogastaðir and other local farms, assess its importance for the local econo- Jón Magnússon, owned three boats and my. The specialization of verstöðvar (pl) parts in other boats on different farms. In is an important question. There is a total he owned 7 boats. Two of his boats strong possibility that the location of a were used for shark fishing and one for verstöð in the landscape was the result of general fishing. He also received a por- what species fishermen intended to catch tion of the catch from the boats that he from that particular site, a question that owned with other farmers. Most farmers requires further collaborative investiga- in the Árnes district were fishing for sub- tion. sistence but the three richest were also From the archaeological and histori- fishing for commercial purposes, and cal data we can draw some conclusions access to boats and verstöð stations about the early 18th century economy of (along with rent income and labor serv- the area. While the traditional domestic ice) were clearly key elements in the stock still played a role in subsistence strategies of these (still rather poor) local and rents were still partly paid in butter, magnates. it is clear from both the zooarchaeology The 18th century land registry also and a close reading of the available doc- suggests that some form of specialization uments that the most important species was taking place in the fishing industry for most of the people of the Árnes dis- in the area. Many farmers in the Árnes trict were cod and shark with agriculture district owned boats that were specially playing a lesser role. As the statistical outfitted for sharkfishing. At the Gjögur analyses of the Jarðabók register demon- fishing station 9 boats were stationed in strate, poor tenants (like Brandur and his 1706, six of them were outfitted for shark family) were very dependent upon fishing and 3 for general fishing (Árni marine resources to support their families Magnússon, VII.). Three of the farmers and to buy necessities they could not pro- fishing from Gjögur are not local farm- duce themselves while at the same time ers. Two of them come from the they were largely restricted to fishing Kaldrananes district and one is from from scattered heimræði or as crewmen another district further away. These farm- in boats owned by others. Middling ten- ers were at Gjögur for sharkfishing or ants like Sr. Bjarni had more options deep water fishing as their farms were open, both in terms of stock raising and probably located too far from deep water in the ability to access larger boats oper- fishing grounds.This indicates that the ating from better fishing locations. The fishing industry in the area was more three richest farmers (like Jón) were in aimed at shark fishing and that the ver- some ways mini-entrepreneurs, owning stöð at Gjögur was specialized in shark many boats and shares in others. These fishing with cod fishing playing a lesser greater farmers thus had a wider social role. Unfortunately shark bone is not well niche breadth and were paricipating in preserved and therefore it is impossible both inshore fishing, taking smaller sized to make full use of zooarchaeology to cod species and offshore fishing, taking

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larger sized cod and shark. They would ly valued products to Jón Magnússon at have had enough surplus products to Reykjanes. trade with other farmers or to sell at mar- Hired livestock is iiii cow values, ii kets, acquiring the imported tableware, with each occupant. Rents are paid usual- tobacco, and other minor luxuries docu- ly in butter, sometimes with something mented by the artifactual record. else. Strategies for survival and for coping No duties. with the environmental, economic, and Timber for house building comes from social stresses of the 18th century thus the driftwood rights, such as there is to be varied among the different levels of soci- had. Occupants have recently renewed ety in Árnes, but all involved intensifica- the hired livestock without getting any tion of fishing and a notable flexibility in compensation for it. combining terrestrial and marine Domestic animals are, with Sr. Bjarni resources and negotiating the different iiii cows, i young cow, xxiiii milk ewes, options and constraints of both the cash- xii castrated wethers, vii winter old, ii based and subsistence based portions of lambs, ii horses. With Brandur are i cow, local and regional economy. A combina- v milk ewes. Of the priest's domestic ani- tion of documents, artifacts, animal mals there are i young cow and ix bones, and locational archaeology wethers at Árnes. applied to landscape and seascape allows The priest’s household consists of the us a glimpse of the complexities of the couple, their iiii children and iiii workers coping strategies of the farmer-fishers of (male and female). The household of early modern Vestfirðir, and may indicate Brandur are the couple and their vi chil- the potential productivity of such inter- dren. disciplinary research in Iceland. God enough peat is not to be had for fuel. Seal hunting is sometimes successful. Driftwood and stranding is of some Appendix use. The church at Helgafell has a claim- based on a charter of rights to the drift- Finnbogastaðir wood and stranding The rights are Farm value xvi hundreds. between Skarð and the river estuary, half King’s farm, one of the Strandasýsla of a whale stranding and also one third of farms, which the lawman Lauridtz a half. Men do not think that the church Christiansson Gottrup holds for the king. has ever received this, and people oppose Jón Magnússon from Reykjanes rents it. Limited beach-pasture for sheep in this farm. winter occasionally. A home base is Occupants are Sr. Bjarni there. Guðmundsson one half, Brandur Sand damages the homefield. Björnsson the other half. Outfields are damaged by water, and Rent of land is one hundred according mudslides have destroyed parts of them. to proportion. Should be paid in official- The meadow-road is difficult to travel.

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Winter is very hard. Domestic animals is used for shark fishing ut supra. are in danger from mudslides, creeks and Within the farmland there are ruins bogs. In some places there is flood dan- and a field boundary, where a farm seems ger. Storms are frequent and houses and to have been at some time, but no one has fodder are in danger from them. Wells are information about it. This farm can't be bad and often dry out. rebuilt. The occupant Brandur owns a boat, In another place there are ruins called which he uses for fishing during summer Litlanes. These ruins used to be a farm it when he can. Sr. Bjarni owns a ship at is said. The river Árnessá has now Árnes which he uses in spring for shark destroyed most of them. This farm can´t fishing at the fishing station at Gjögur. be rebuilt. He owns another boat which he uses for (Magnússon, Árni and Vídalín, Páll, fishing when he can. He owns a part of (1940). Transl. Edvardsson, Ragnar). another boat with Sr. Guðmundur and it

Acknowledgements We would also like to gratefully acknowledge the support of the National The authors would like to gratefully Geographic Society, PSC-CUNY grants acknowledge the generous support pro- program, CUNY Northern Science & vided by the US National Science Education Center, & Icelandic Science Foundation for both the original excava- Council. We would also like to express tions (Archaeology program) and later our thanks for the kind hospitality of the analysis as part of the Office of Polar people of Strandasýsla and to the hard Programs Arctic Social Sciences working 1990 crew and to Colin Research Experience for Undergraduates Amundsen for his work with the REU program. The innovative OPP Arctic students in the lab. This paper is a prod- Social Sciences REU allowed for active uct of the North Atlantic Biocultural participation of the undergraduate co- Organization (NABO) research coopera- authors (Zagor & Waxman) in the labora- tive and of the Leverhulme Trust project tory research and field program in 2003. "Landscapes Circum Landnám".

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