Human Impact at Tjørnuvík in the Faroe Islands Mannaárin í Tjørnuvík í Føroyum

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Published Jan 1, 1998
Gina E. Hannon Margret Hermanns-Auðardóttir Stefan Wastegård

Abstract

The first settlement at the village at Tjørnuvík has been re-dated to 1270 ± 60 BP, using AMS techniques on terrestrial plant macrofossils from a 3 mm sediment sample. The palaeobotanical evidence for settlement is a significant increase in macrofossils of weed species, appearance of Hordeum-type cereal pollen, decrease in shrubs and Cyperaceae and increase in Gramineae pollen. These indicate crop cultivation as well as a major shift in the local vegetation. The exact dating of this phase however, is hampered by the coincidental occurrence of a radiocarbon plateau. The calibrated age range in calendar years, is in the mid AD 700s (age range AD 675-861, 1 G variation), making high resolution dating of this event difficult using the radiocarbon method alone. Several microscopic tephra horizons were observed above the settlement horizon. These included at least one geochemically defined shard from the basaltic phase of the so called 'Landnám' tephra. Several tephras occurring around the time of settlement have been geochemically identified in the Greenland Ice Cores and have the potential of increasing the dating precision of this important event.

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Section
Natural Sciences