Report of Archaeofauna from Undir Sandmúla and Undir Bálabrekku, Bárðdælahreppur, N Iceland

Small archaeofauna from two highland sites located above 400 m above sea level, over 100 km inland in the upper reaches of the Skjálfandafljót river valley indicate the early presence of human settlement in this far inland area. While heavily deflated, the site of Undir Sandmúla produced an archaeofauna from stratified context directly above the Landnam sequence tephra, probably dating to the late 9th or early 10th century. This collection is from a highly burnt ”fireplace cleaning” deposit which limits the survival of fish and bird bones, but a quantifiable number of mammal bone fragments could be identified. The domestic mammal assemblage strongly indicates the presence of a full farm with some variant of the mix of species associated with the Settlement Age in Iceland (cattle, horse, pig, sheep).

斯基尔凡达河（Skjálfandafljót）河谷上游的两处高地遗址，海拔均超400米且深入内陆逾100公里，其出土的小型考古动物群（archaeofauna）证实，这片偏远内陆地区早在早期便已有人类定居活动。尽管翁迪尔桑德穆拉（Undir Sandmúla）遗址的堆积层遭受严重侵蚀，但紧邻兰德南层火山碎屑沉积物（Landnam sequence tephra）的层积埋藏环境中，仍出土了考古动物群标本，其年代大概率为9世纪末至10世纪初。该批标本采自一处经强烈焚烧的“壁炉清理”堆积，这类堆积环境不利于鱼类与鸟类骨骼的保存，但仍有可量化的哺乳动物骨碎片得以识别。这套家养哺乳动物组合清晰表明，这片区域曾存在一座完整的农场，饲养有与冰岛定居时代典型物种组合存在一定变异的家养牲畜，涵盖牛、马、猪与绵羊。