Landscapes at Landnám: Palynological and Palaeoentomological Evidence from Ibftanes, Faroe Islands

Abstract

Toftanes is a Viking age farmstead in the coastal village of Leirvík, Eysturoy. Excavations in the 1980s revealed four buildings, thousands of finds and radiocarbon dates which extend back to perhaps the 9th century AD. This is the first complex farmstead of the Viking Age landnám settlement to have been completely excavated in the Faroe Islands. Organic remains from floor layers were subjected to pollen and insect analyses in an effort to reconstruct land use associated with the farm and thewiderlandscape. The taphonomy of the deposits and their contained fossils presents diffículties for the interpretation of results.It is clear, however, that a mainly open landscape was associated with a largely pastoral economy, but cereal-type pollen is also present. The insect faunas are enigmatic in showing a very muted anthropogenic signature, yet one which displays obvious signs of anthropochorous habitats. Future palaeoecological research will include the investigation of many more samples and the analyses of seeds.