STANOWISKA ARCHEOLOGICZNE NA PRZYLĄDKU RENARDA, SPITSBERGEN

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1 Y. F. STARKOV Institute of Archaeology Russian Academy of Sciences Ulianov Moscow, RUSSIA Wyprawy Geograficzne па Spitsbergen IV Zjazd Geomorfologów Polskich UMCS, Lublin 3-6 czerwca 1998 A R C H A E O L O G I C A L SITES ON R E N A R D O D D E N, SPITSBERGEN STANOWISKA ARCHEOLOGICZNE NA PRZYLĄDKU RENARDA, SPITSBERGEN Since 1992 archaeological exploration of Renardodden has been performed by a joint Polish-Norwegian-Russian expedition. The exploration is of a complex nature as in addition to archaeologists geomorphologists are involved and thus provides for a deeper understanding of its results. Old trade settlements located along 580 m of the shore line on Renardodden include three sites: Russian settlement Renardodden-1 and two Dutch whalers settlements Renardodden-2 and Renardodden-3. The shore where the sites are located is a low terrace sloping down to the sea where its height does not exceed 2 m. The terrace surface has a number of swells, two of them containing remains of trade settlements. Renardodden-1 can be vaguely traced from the slope of the first swell found 25 m from the water edge and Renardodden-2 and 3 are located on the adjacent swell, another 50 m from the water edge (Fig. 1). Renardodden-1. The settlement is represented by remains of two structures, one of them (No.l) 47 m from the water edge at a height of 1.9 m above its level. Structure No. 2 is found on the sea level 66 m from the sea and is overlaid by a layer of pebbles. An accumulation of finds, brought by the sea from the soil, was traced in a gully between the swells 75 m from the shore edge. No overlaying pebbles were found there (Fig. 2). Renardodden-2. The site includes remains of eight tent dwellings looking like pebble bolsters and a foundation of a fat rendering oven also destroyed by the sea. The dwellings are as far as 105 m and the oven foundation 70 m from the sea edge. Renardodden-3. The site contains remains of a large whalers settlement and includes five tent d wellings, seven fire places, an accumulation of kitchen waste, a badly preserved foundation of a fat rendering oven destroyed by tides and storms and foundations of two separate tents, all of them located close to each 251

2 other. The distance from the sea edge to the settlements is 120 m, the separate dwellings 100 m and to the oven 80 m. Low level of the sites' location explains an intensive impact of the sea and floods manifested primarily in decomposition and accumulation. Our investigations showed that the abrasion area stretches to about 80 m inland, its impact traceable within Renardodden-1 (to approximately 75 m from the shore) and, irregularly, within Renardodden-2 (the destroyed fat rendering oven 70 m from the sea edge) and Renardodden-3 (the destroyed fat rendering oven 80 m from the sea edge). Remains found 100 m (separate tents at Renardodden-3), 105 m (Renardodden-2) and 120 m (Renardodden-3) from the shore do not reveal any traces of destruction by the sea. Accumulation of shore deposits may be clearly traces at Renardodden-1 where, the overlaid soil protrudes to about 70 m inland, no such layer is to be found at other sites. The processes of decomposition and accumulation were not concurrent. Excavations at Renardodden-1 showed that initially it had been washed by the sea and then overlaid by shore deposits. The excavation site of dwelling No. 1 offers the following stratigraphic picture. The upper layer is formed be pebble-and-sand deposits up to 5 cm thick (accumulation level), the middle layer by a washed out mixed fill of the dwelling up to 8 cm thick (destruction level) and the lower layer by the in situ soil resulting from a positive impact of accumulation (Figs. 3, 4, 5). The opinion of geomorphologists that the 19th century accumulation process was intensive in this part of Spitsbergen (Jasiński and Zagórski 1996) reflect processes that occurred in shore areas close to the sea during the late accumulation period. Sites located 40 m and more from the shore edge could have been overlaid earlier. Erosion processes may be traced at Renardodden-2 and Renardodden-3. Spring floods wash down slopes of the swell facing the 30 m second terrace. The processes resulted in a considerable destruction of two dwellings at Renardodden-3 and the soil being washed out. The morphological features of the sites location on Renardodden described above show that no selective approach to factors explaining their present state may be applied. The phenomenon is based on general concurrent natural processes, the extent of the sites natural destruction depending solely on how far they are located from the modern sea edge. As we know that Dutch whalers settlements on Renardodden existed in the middle of the 17th century, Renardodden-1 may not be dated later than the 17th century. This statement is confirmed by finds discovered during its excavation. 1. A neck of an archaic and primitively made glass bottle typical for the Russian material culture of the early 17th century. 2. A brick with a poorly legible mark, 252

3 its type traced back to the so called "large sovereign's brick of the 17th century. 3. Ceramics finds containing a few fragments of black-glossed pottery also typical for Russian archaeological sites of the 17th century. The above dating of Renardodden-1 is also confirmed by earlier archaeological observations tracing remains of old settlements on Spitsbergen on two hypsometric levels, i.e. in lower shore areas not exceeding 2 m in height and close to brows of first terraces 5 to 6 m high (Starkov 1994:124). The first group of sites represented mainly by Russian settlements bears certain traces of a disastrous destruction by intensive storms and tides. Their absolute dating is derived from construction timber and relates to the period between 1548 and 1648 (Chernikh 1996). Some whalers settlements of the period may be found in a similar environment. Structures of the second group could be constructed between 1717 and It should be emphasized that no dated structure of the 18th century (17 structures have absolute dates) can be found lower than the 5 m terrace. Therefore it is quite obvious that the 17th-18th century structures were erected during a period when the shore sites were higher and inaccessible to destructive storms and tidal water. Their modern poor state may be explained by a change of environment resulting in a modification of the initial surface and sea levels. It is not quite clear so far what caused the descent of certain shore areas on Spitsbergen in the near past. According to Prof. K. Pękala it resulted from environment changes during the so-called Little Ice Age when glaciers considerably grew on the background of general cooling off which, according to a number of scholars, started early in the 14th century and lasted to the middle of the 19th century. This climax the minor glacial period relates to the 17th-19th centuries being particularly severe in the 1660s-1670s when a considerable growth of glaciers was observed on Spitsbergen. Of course, the conclusion that late in the 17th century Russian Renardodden-1 and Dutch Renardodden-2 and -3 experienced equally unfavourable geomorphological conditions does not suggest their concurrent functioning. Based on preliminary data obtained from the incomplete excavation of dwelling No 1 at Renardodden-1 we may suggest that the structure had been erected before any Dutch whalers appeared there in the middle of the 17th century. First of all, it is surprising thet actually no construction elements can be found except for a corner pillar dug in the soil. Even at the more severely destructed Mosvatnet-3 and Langstranda some wooden structures may be found on the shore. On the other hand, if the destruction of dwelling No. 1 at Renardodden-1 was so heavy that even dig in pillars did not survive, then how can we explain that the loose soil with scattered wood chips remained undisturbed? It may be suggested that initially the destruction was started by whalers 253

4 taking w o o d from t h e deserted dwelling which is partially confirmed by a find a t the fire place at R e n a r d o d d e n - 2 of b u r n t w o o d with i r o n nails similar t o t h o s e discovered in dwelling N o. 1 a t R e n a r d o d d e n - 1. M e t a l l o g r a p h i c analysis of t h e nails confirmed their s t r u c t u r a l similarity. I n a d d i t i o n we should r e m e m b e r a fragment of a D u t c h p i p e found stratigraphically higher t h a n t h e soil in dwelling N o. 1 at R e n a r d o d d e n - 1. Investigation of t h e a r c h a e o l o g i c a l sites o n R e n a r d o d d e n will b e c o n t i n u e d p r o v i d i n g for the clarification of o u r conclusions of which m a n y are only preliminary. REFERENCES JASIŃSKI M. E., ZAGÓRSKI P., 1996: Significance of archaeological sites for estimating coastal plain development in the Renardodden Area, Bellsund, Spitsbergen. Wyprawy Geograficzne na Spitsbergen, UMCS Lublin, STARKOV V. F., 1990: Khronologiya i periodizatsiya russkikh pamyatnikov na Shpitsbergene. Moscow. CHERNIKH, N. В.,1996: Dendrokhronologiya i arkheologiya. Moscow. STRESZCZENIE Badania archeologiczne prowadzone w południowej części Bellsund u wchodziły w zakres problematyki naukowej wypraw organizowanych przez Instytut Nauk o Ziemi UMCS na Spitsbergen. Podczas badań terenowych prowadzonych w pobliżu bazy wypraw w Calypsobyen rozpoznano trzy duże stanowiska archeologiczne położone na przylądku Renarda (Renardodden). Dwa z nich (Renardodden 2 i Renardodden 3) sklasyfikowano jako pozostałości po osadach holenderskich łowców wielorybów, a trzecie (Renardodden 1) jako resztki osady rosyjskich myśliwych polujących na zwierzęta morskie. Wszystkie trzy stanowiska leżą w poziomie pierwszej, najniższej w tym rejonie terasy morskiej, o wysokości 4 m ponad średni poziom wód wfiordzie. Terasa ta jest nieznacznie nachylona i obniża się w stronę wybrzeża, gdzie jej wysokość nie przekracza 2 m. Taka lokalizacja stanowisk stworzyła warunki sprzyjające niszczeniu zabytkowych materiałów archeologicznych przez działalność morza oraz erozję (luwialną okresowych cieków płynących od strony martwego klifu Calypsostrandy. Zwłaszcza dotyczy to abrazyjnego podmywania brzegu przez atakujące go fale morskie oraz erozję i akumulację zachodzące wzdłuż linii brzegowej, powodowane przez lokalnie płynący tu prąd morski. Wpływ procesów morskich na pozostałości starego osadnictwa wyraził się w dwu postaciach: destrukcji poziomów kulturowych i akumulacji na nich osadów morskich. Aspekt destrukcyjny dotyczy obiektów położonych stosunkowo blisko morza. Należą do nich: stanowisko Renardodden 1 (leży w odległości 47 m od morza), byćmoże obiekt nr 2 tejże osady (66 m od morza), piec do wytapiania tłuszczu w osadzie Renardodden 2 (71 m od morza) oraz piec w osadzie Renardodden 3 (84 m od morza). Ślady akumulacji morskiej sięgają do 70 m w głąb lądu, a żwiry wałów burzowych częściowo przykrywają pozostałości osad. Procesy erozyjne, związane z wodami powodziowymi, działały przede wszystkim w osadzie Renardodden 3, w mniejszym stopniu w Renardodden

5 Zakładając, że wszystkie stanowiska na przylądku Renarda były pod wpływem tych samych procesów przyrodniczych, uwarunkowanych wspólnymi czynnikami geomorfologicznymi, można przypuszczać że pochodzą one z tego samego okresu: XVII wieku. Datowanie to oparte jest na dwu podstawowych przesłankach: 1. Obecność stacji łowców wielorybów na Spitsbergenie nie wychodzi poza lata sześćdziesiąte XVII wieku, 2. Badania na Spitsbergenie doprowadziły do odkrycia licznych stanowisk określanych jako stacje wielorybnicze o zbliżonej lokalizacji. Wszystkie są datowane na okres znacznie wcześniejszy niż XVIII wiek. Niewątpliwie współczesne położenie podobnych stanowisk jest uwarunkowane zmianami środowiska przyrodniczego. Według prof. К. Pękali obniżenie strefy wybrzeża Spitsbergenu można wiązać z najbardziej zimną fazą Małej Epoki Lodowej, końca XVII i początku XVIII wieku.

6 Fig. 1. Layout of archaeological sites on Renardodden Rye. 1. Plan stanowisk archeologicznych na Renardodden 256

7 Fig. 2. Layout of Renardodden-1 and its section Rye. 2. Plan i przekrój stanowiska Renardodden-1

8 A - fl Ai 120 [cm] B-B- Ы L E G E N D ^f-ттгатп moss (turf) j j l III soil section 0 о pebbles disturbed soil (dumps) bedrock layout of logs layout of boards sectional view of logs and boards ^ О fragmented bricks, brick crumbs sand Fig. 3. Renardodden-1 sections Rye. 3. Stanowisko Renardodden-1, przekroje 258 soil layout

9 Fig. 4. Renardodden-1, dwelling No 1, 1 - upper soil layer, II - lower soil layer Rye. 4. Stanowisko Renardodden-1, dom No 1, 1 - górna warstwa gleby, II -dolna warstwa gleby 259