Midden Investigations at Steinbogi (SBO) Mývatnssveit, N Iceland 2002

During the 2002 field season of the (directed by with collaboration by the NABO cooperative) the CUNY team was tasked to locate and excavate midden deposits associated with the small abandoned farm Steinbogi in ývatn district (28 W 0399697, UTM 7276512, ca 280 m asl). The site is endangered by highway construction and is target of a multidisciplinary rescue effort as part of the overall regional research and education effort. The midden team located an extensive midden deposit up to 75-80 cm thick in front of what appears to be the main house mound. A 3 x 3 m midden unit K was begun, and carried through to subsoil in a small 25 cm x 1 m sondage. Significant amounts of well preserved animal bone were collected, along with artifacts suggesting a medieval date for the majority of the deposit (including the games piece illustrated above). The midden is not deposited upon an undisturbed natural surface, but rests on what was probably extensive turf cuttings that have been carried to the surface of the prehistoric H3 tephra. There are no other in situ tephra visible, even the thick 1477 tephra seems to have been removed by later turf cutting. However the surviving midden deposits are quite rich in well preserved bone and artifacts, including a single sided comb fragment roughly dating main context to pre- 1200 AD. The deposit is well worth further investigation and should provide a welcome comparison to later phases of the other Mývatnssveit archaeofauna.

Iceland midden Mývatnssveit Steinbogi

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