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POLLEN ANALYSIS OF THE WET MEADOW AT VATNSFJÖRÐUR<br />
Rebecca Barclay, Eileen Tisdall, Robert McCulloch and Ian Simpson<br />
University of Stirling<br />
Introduction<br />
The Homefield is commonly understood to be one of the most important parts of Viking<br />
settlements, where its correct management can directly determine a settlement's longevity and<br />
survival (Adderley et al 2008). The area typically consists of a combination of grazing for<br />
domestic livestock, hay meadows and cereal plots, and due to the demands placed on the land<br />
is intensively managed and improved through manuring practices (Adderley and Simpson<br />
2005). Peculiarly, given the harsh climate and challenging physical environment of Northwestern<br />
Iceland no such improvements have been identified by the authors within the<br />
homefield at Vatnsfjörður.<br />
An auger survey by the authors revealed a slope-related sequence of soils within the<br />
Vatnsfjörður homefield. Upper steeper slopes are characterised by shallow organic soils, with<br />
the main body of the homefield soils recorded as relatively shallow underlain by beach sands<br />
and gravels, giving rise to leaching, podzolic development and concurrent nutrient deficiency,<br />
resulting in each of these areas to be of poor agricultural potential. Given the site’s wealth<br />
and high power status such limitations to production are somewhat unexpected, particularly<br />
in an economy where cattle husbandry was presumed to be of upmost importance.<br />
In sharp contrast to the rest of the homefield a deep (approx 45 cm) peat accumulation<br />
was found to have developed behind a raised beach deposit in the lower homefield (Figures 1<br />
and 2); this is particularly unusual given the underlying gravelly substrate, similar to that in<br />
the main body of the homefield, which should therefore create free draining conditions,<br />
unfavourable to peat development. This ‘wet meadow’ is enclosed by the Viking Age eastern<br />
boundary wall, and is underlain by a thin band of charcoal. This charcoal was AMS<br />
radiocarbon dated to AD 890-1020 and AD 890-1030 (See Table 1) (Barclay 2008),<br />
indicating that peat accumulation was initiated after settlement and further supporting the<br />
proposal of early Norse settlement and land management within the Northwest peninsula.<br />
It is hypothesised that peat developed as a result of hydrological alterations associated<br />
with early woodland removal onsite and or the artificial creation of wetland conditions<br />
through utilising the natural damming effects of the raised beach surface. Wet meadow<br />
creation would be a means of coping with the farm site’s inherent infertility. This suggestion<br />
is supported by the observation in thin section of microhorizons of cultural materials (bones,<br />
charcoal and other midden materials) within the meadow, suggestive of manuring practices<br />
and the management of this area of homefield for fodder production (Barclay 2008) and/or<br />
grazing.<br />
Pollen analysis represents the most powerful scientific technique employed in<br />
reconstructing past environments. Change in the vegetation cover, as determined by pollen<br />
analysis would provide a further strand of evidence to allow for the interpretation of land use<br />
and any potential management of the site. Here we present the vegetation history of the wet<br />
meadow site at Vatnsfjörður as determined by pollen analysis.<br />
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