Gäddan & fisket i Ringsjöholm : en osteologisk metodstudie i säsong & bevarande

This paper presents the results from an osteological method study of the Ringsjöholm fishbone material. Ringsjöholm is located in Scania, southern Sweden and is 14C dated to 5960-5200 B.P. The aim of this paper is to critically analyse methods used on fish bone material in estimations of season. Three different approaches were used to estimate the fishing season at the Ringsjöholm settlement; 1) identified species, 2) size estimations of the pike based on Enghoffs (1994-95) regression formulae of os dentale, and 3) growth rings of the pike vertebrae. The identified species and the size estimations of the pike points to the fishing being active both during spring and summer. Growth rings analysis of the pike vertebrae didn?t give any quantitative results because of fragmentation. Comparison with fish bone material from the mesolithic settlements Skateholm I, II, Tågerup I, II. III, Ageröd V and the medieval settlement Blekhagen shows that the Ringsjöholm fish bone material is in a too poor state of preservation, which makes a growth ring analysis difficult. To use growth ring analysis in estimation of season, the fish bone material has to be in excellent state of preservation and the analysing researcher must be a person with experience in growth annuli. Through my own experiments with archaeological and modern bone material, I experienced the difficulty of determining the last growth ring, which shows the season of death on the vertebra. In conclusion, the use of identified species, size estimation of fish and growth ring analysis combined together gives the best results in estimation of fishing season at a settlement