Mergsogin bein - ein aldargamal matsiður

Abstract

A short presentation of evidence of an ancient food custom which does not seem to have been registered previously in the Faroes. In 1994 some bi-perforated sheep metatarsi were found during an archaeological research at "í Uppistovubeitinum" in Leirvík. These bones indicated that people have sucked the marrow out of the bones just as has recently been pointed out on the Shetland Islands as well as on Iceland. Close examination now displays the fact that this habit is known by certain people at some places and that it is actually still being performed by at least one person: the hair on the sheep-'s legs was burnt off and then the legs were boiled along with the sheep's heads. An informant has explained that with a dagger one hole was drilled down through the upper end and one through the side by the bottom end of the leg. Then the upper end was put into the child's mouth, and an adult would blow into the other hole, thus the marrow emerged as soft butter. But the custom does not seem to have been described earlier in any literature on Faroese ehtnology or cultural anthropology, and few seem to know about it. Neither has the custom influenced the language except in a figurative sense. Now the custom has been archaelogically confirmed by the above mentioned excavation in Leirvík. There the custom has been dated back to 1100-1200 A.D., whereas last spring similar bones were found during an excavation at in "í Reynagarði" at Tinganes in Tórshavn. Those bones were dated back to 1600-1700 A.D. Yet another cultural element has been confirmed whích the Faroes have in common with their neighbours to the south and to the north. However, further investigation of this interesting phenomenon is required.