Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1962, Side 108

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ÁRBÓK FORNLEIFAFÉLAGSINS
SUMMARY
The above article treats the results of an excavation which the autlior
carried out in June 1901 on homefield ruins at the farm Gröf in the commune
Hrunamannahreppur of Árnessýsla county in South Iceland. The ruins were
on a low mound to the S-W of the farm. Tliey were known as the former
gathering place of the local court. Remains were found of a long and
narrow enclosure, with walls of turf and stones. It lias had no permanent
cover. From the west side and the N-E corner there lay similar earthen
walls that joined to form a large yard. Notliing in tlie ruins can be said to
give a date. The court, the author points out, may liave assembled in the
narrow enclosure, perhaps under a tent or an awning, whereas the yard
may he a square for horses or a place where people gathered at sess-
ions. In the Ancient Period (A.D. 874—1262) the local assemhly is to
have been held at Grafarbakki, in the vicinity. At some unknown date
Gröf became the seat of a court of law for the same commune. This court
is first mentioned, as far as is known, in a document from the beginning
of the 16th century. By the first half of the 19th century it is obvious that
tlie court meetings are no longer in the open, as there is then a particular
court house at the farm. No court meetings are recorded at Gröf after 1894.