The Church at Gásir, Eyjafjörður, N Interim Report of faunal analysis from the 2004 and 2006 Excavations

Archaeological excavations at the trading site of Gásir near the modern city of Akureyri were started in 2001 and directed by Howell Roberts of Fornleifastofnun Íslands (Archaeological Institute Iceland, FSĺ) for Minjasafnið á Akureyri (Akureyri Museum). Plan 1 outlines the Gásir excavation areas in blue, with the Church clearly visible on the left hand of the picture, and the trading site with its booth-like constructions and central Trackway on the right, located on a coastal inlet close to the mouth of Eyjafjörður, about 11 km north of the modern town of Akureyri (Roberts, 2006). In addition to the 2001-2

2006 excavation of Area A (as well as some other areas that produced no faunal materials), Area B was excavated in seasons 2004 and 2006. Orri Vésteinsson directed the churchyard dig that produced the faunal materials that have been 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 Area B zooarchaeological remains was carried out by Ramona Harrison.

Zooarchaeological data from the years 2004 and 2006 has been used for this report, offering a total NISP (Number of Identified Species) of 246 out of a TNF (Total Number of Fragments) of 334. The species present include domestic cattle, sheep, and dog, as well as seal and whale elements; furthermore bird and fish remains as well as relatively large amount of Mollusks (roughly 12%). Context 5019, a midden deposit under the churchyard wall, receives special focus throughout the report. It contains a mixed number of species, most notably a large amount of bird remains speciated to the Guillemot family. The bird remains found in the midden amount to 98% of the total site-assemblage.

Archaeofauna church Gásir Iceland zooarchaeology

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