Faunal Analysis from the 2005 Excavation at Aðalstræti Nr. 10 in Reykjavík, Iceland (lab report)

• Main Authors: Harrison, Ramona, Gorsline, Marjorie, Hicks, Megan, Alexander, Elise, Feeley, Frank, Mitrovic, Slobodan
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: the Digital Archaeological Record
• Subjects: Data Recovery / Excavation; Aðalstræti; Domestic Structures; Fauna; Reykjavík; Howell; Iceland
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.6067:XCV8JQ0Z04_meta$v=1317077072986

In 2005, Archaeological excavations at the site of Aðalstræti in downtown Reykjavík were carried out under direction of Mjöll Snæsdóttir and Howell M. Roberts from the Archaeological Institute of Iceland (FSÍ). Reason for these archaeological activities was a planned rebuilding and reparation of the house at Aðalstræti 10, whose building date falls into the latter half of the 18 th Century (Snæsdóttir, 2005 – English translation). Phase one of the investigations involved a series of test trenches, dug on the western part of the plot in January and February of 2005, revealing neither archaeological remains from the Viking age nor from the 18 th Century. According to Snæsdóttir (Snæsdóttir 2007), the early modern remains from Aðalstræti 10 lie to the north of the old Reykjavík farm (Fig 2) which dates back to Settlement period (Markússon in Vésteinsson 2004). The inside foundation of the house at Aðalstræti 10 was excavated in August to September of 2005, yielding bone material which weighed about 30 kg. The excavators found rows of stones associated with the original wooden floor of the present building as well as several thick cultural layers underneath which were dated to the 18 th century AD, mainly based on pottery and clay-pipe fragments. The archaeofauna is associated with these pre 1760s AD cultural layers which predominantly consisted of peat ash from fireplaces. The 2005 Aðalstræti archaeofauna is thus roughly datable to the early 18 th to late 17 th centuries AD (at the beginning of the process of urbanization at Reykjavik), and appears to be closely associated with the Early Modern farm buildings. This NORSEC Bone report uses zooarchaeological data from the analyzed faunal remains gathered during the 2005 rescue excavation of the 18th century house in Aðalstræti. A total of 30 kg of faunal materials were analyzed for this report. Bone rich contexts were sampled for bulk and additional flotation samples were wet-sieved through 1 mm mesh.