Midden Investigations at Brenna, Mývatnssveit, N Iceland, 2002 (field report)

Summary

During the 2002 field season of the

(directed by Fornleifastofnun Islands with collaboration by the NABO

cooperative) we visited the abandoned site of Brenna on the shores of Sandvatn

(to the NW of Mývatn). A small farm site now much overgrown with dwarf birch

and willow had clear boundary walls, several room depressions in a small farm

mound, and a clear mounded midden deposit to the NE of the main structure. A

small test pit had been dug some time in the past at the base of the midden

mound, but this appears to have missed the main deposit and is mainly sterile.

Three cores were placed in a line across the upstanding midden mound, and

these demonstrated between 50 and 90 cm of deposit extending down to the

distinctive local LNS. Fish bone, ash, charcoal, bird egg shell (in some quantity),

and burnt mammal bone suggest that this is both a rich and an early deposit.

Logistic problems are considerable however, and supporting or maintaining an

excavation crew on site would be a challenge.

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

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