Preliminary Report of a Medieval Norse Archaeofauna from Brattahlið North Farm (KNK 2629), Qassiarsuk, Greenland

Summary

Introduction : This is a preliminary report of the animal bone collected in 2005-06 by international teams led by Ragnar Edvardsson for the Greenland National Museum and Archives (NKA) and NABO. The bone collections come from stratified contexts in the midden area south of the Brattahlið North Farm (E29N under the old Bruun system: now KNK 2629) whose structures were excavated in 1932. Degerbøl (1934) has provided a pioneering and still valuable zooarchaeological report of the early excavations, which like many of the period were not carried out stratigraphically. The current cooperative project was aimed at providing a modern stratigraphically controlled collection of bones and artifacts and to assess conditions of preservation at this major site. While both the 1932 work and subsequent digging caused significant disturbance of the midden deposits, the NKA/NABO team was able to recover a substantial archaeofauna from intact stratigraphy. A final report will include the unstratified collections deriving from the post-1932 spoil and will include a fuller discussion of taphonomy, deposition, and comparative questions. This report will be incorporated within a larger interim report by Ragnar Edvardsson to the Greenland National Museum and Archives.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Brattahlid E29 NKA 2629

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Thomas McGovern

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