Interim Report of faunal analysis from the 2005 Excavations at Gásir, Eyjafjörður, N Iceland

Archaeological excavations at the site of Gásir near the modern city of Akureyri were started in 2002 and directed by Howell Roberts of Fornleifastofnun Íslands (Archaeological Institute Iceland, FSĺ) for Minjasafnið á Akureyri (Akureyri Museum). The ongoing project has produced a substantial amount of animal bones, which have been continuously analyzed at the CUNY Northern Science & Education Center laboratories as part of the North Atlantic Biocultural Organization cooperative effort, with funding provided by the UK Leverhulme Trust. Analysis of the 2005 zooarchaeological remains was carried out by Ramona Harrison. The 2005 excavations were part of a larger scale, long term project which aims to investigate the remains of the early trading center at Gásir, and to place the site in a regional and historical context. Excavation work at Gásir is to be continued and this report is thus only a working paper to be updated and replaced as more material becomes available for study. The 2005 archaeofauna continues patterns in mammal bone distribution observed in previous years, and the addition of a context bearing large amounts of marine fish bone allows an expansion of our understanding of provisioning and possible fishing activities at Gásir. Radiocarbon dates and associated Carbon and Nitrogen isotopic assays carried out on mammal bone and marine shell by Dr. Gordon Cook (Scottish Universities Reactor Center) provide both chronology and some indication of differential grazing patterns in stock brought to Gásir.

Archaeofauna Gásir Iceland radiocarbon dating stable isotopes zooarchaeology

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