VSF 2010 Report - Nabo

seaweed at the Viking Age and Medieval metalworking site of Alþingisreiturinn in
Reykjavík (Vala Garðarsdóttir, pers.comm.). Nevertheless, further research into this topic
is still required in order to better understand the use of seaweed at early Icelandic sites.
Seeds from the Sample Column
As is the case with many Icelandic sites, the plant macrofossils other than charcoal and
seaweed recovered from the samples were somewhat scarce. Those plants that are
represented are for the most part common and widespread, and thus can tell us little about
the use of particular different types of environment by the inhabitants of the farm.
Table 3. Plant species identified in samples, with English and Icelandic names and habitat
information. After Kristinsson 1998.
Species Name English Icelandic Habitat
Bromus Brome Sandfax Various
Carex Sedge Stör Various, but many species prefer damp soils.
Chenopodium album Fat-hen
Introduced, occurs in vegetable gardens and
waste places
Empetrum nigrum Crowberry Krækilyng Heathland, gravel hills, moss mats, lava
fields, bogs and mires. Very common.
Eriphorum Cottongrass Fífa Bogs, mires, lake banks, riversides and
springs.
Festuca Fescue Vingull Various
Hordeum sativum Barley Bygg Cultivated cereal
Polygonum aviculare Knotgrass Blóðarfi
Homefields, waste places and farm sites.
Common.
Rubus idaeus Raspberry Hindber Cultivated plant.
Rumex acetosa Common Sorrel Túnsúra Grassy plains, fertilised homefields,
heathland and fertile slopes. Very common.
Rumex longifolius Northern Dock Njóli Introduced, now common in waste places
and abandoned homefields.
Stellaria media Common Chickweed Haugarfi Fertilised and disturbed soil, gardens.
Common.
Vaccinium Bilberry Bláberjalyng
Heathlands and slopes, and on hummocks in
bogs. Common.
Table 3 shows the various plant species identified from seeds found in the samples
analysed for this study. Four species were only found as uncharred seeds. Although it is
possible for uncharred seeds to be preserved in some conditions on archaeological sites, it
is much more likely that these are invasive to the samples. The Rumex longifolius and
Chenopodium album seeds are both from plants which are modern introductions to Iceland.
These plants both grow on and around the farm mound at Vatnsfjörður, and were seeding
at the time of excavation, and as such are much more likely to originate from here than
from archaeological events. Vaccinium (bilberry/bláberjalyng) plants grow on the slopes
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