Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1959, Page 84

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ÁRBÓK FORNLEIFAFÉLAGSINS
The bottom of the stove is not paved with flagstones. The fire place in the
pantry is as insignificant as all the others.
The arrangement of the houses at Gröf can be looked upon as a natural
development of the fann type of the llth century, known from the devastated
farms in the Þjórsárdalur valley. The most remarkable innovation is the pas-
sage. The well known type of farm which was common in the north of Iceland
until about 1900 and even into the 20th century seems to have developed naturally
from farms of the Gröf type.
Behind the back gable of the pantry (VII) there was a small house for
drying corn, a kiln of the Orkney type. The building consisted of two parts.
One of them is a square house with an outer door and another door in tho
opposite back wall, a somewhat higher level. That door leads into a small
circular building, in which the corn was dried. Under the door there is a
stone channel through the wall. In the mouth of this channel fire was made
from which heat and smoke were carried into the circular building. The fuel
seems to have been birch, not peat. — The discovery of this house is re-
markable as it so far is the only evidence of this corn drying method in Iceland.
The byre or cow shed at Gröf is situated some 50 m east of the farm itself.
There are 5 stalls along the west wall divided by big flagstones on edge, stall
stones, but at the east wall there are no stail stones. The milk cows probably
were in the stalls at the west wall, but the dry cattle, the bulls, on the other
side. The stalls are so wide that they must be intended for two cows each.
The floor (drain) of the cow shed extends into a door at the back end,
leading into a 12,6 m long bam. On the floor there are stone slabs in two
parallel rows, foundations for the posts which supported the roof. Barns of
exactly the same shape and construction are still in use in the district. Under
the door of the barn there is a stone channel to drain off ground water.
All the walls at Gröf were built of rough stones, but the outside was only
partly uncovered and it is possible that it consisted of turves to a certain
degree. As usual the filling between the outer a'nd inner shells of the walls
consisted of earth. The maximal height of the walls is 2 m. The foundation
stones of the outer walls were heavy blócka, but otherwise the size of the
stones varied not a little.
Inner posts supported the roof of tbe barn and probably also the byre and
the hall. These roofs therefore must have had three longitudinal main beams.
In the other houses there were no inner posts and it is therefore likely that
the roofs were supported by couples or possibly by only one longitudinal beam,
the ridge pole.