Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1943, Page 120

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band við vígin 1551. I viðbæti við sóknarlýsinguna (Landnám Ing-
ólfs III, bls. 184) segir hann enn hið sama og sömuleiðis í greininni
frá 1868 (Baldur, 6. blað, 1868, bls. 23—24), og þar leiðir mis-
skilningurinn til hlálegra ályktana. Enn er sömu skoðun haldið fram
af Magnúsi Grímssyni 1854 (Fornminjar um Reykjanesskaga, Land-
nám Ingólfs II, bls. 247). Hins vegar sá Sigurður Guðmundsson þeg-
ar, hvernig í öllu lá.
SUMMARY
A VIKING BURIAL-FIELD. AT HAFUP BJARNARSTAÐIR.
The farm Hafurbjarnarstaðir is situated on the toe of the Reykjanes
peninsula in Soutliwest-Iceland, near the beach, where, owing to the action
of tlie wind, much soil has been l)lown away, forming big sand dunes
witli clear spaces between them. As early as 1828 the wind unearthed some
lmman bones and ancient relies, sucli as a finger-ring of silver. In 18(18,
however, many more antiquities appeared and a sort of excavation was
undertaken by tlie landowner, who sent tlie skeletons and other relics to
tJie newly founded Colleetion of Antiquities in Reykjavík. In 1947 the
present autlior made a final investigation on the place and found two
graves quite undisturbed, one of them containing a skelelon of a grown-up
voinan and the other tliat of an infant cliild. As more finds are nol lo be
expected, it is time that a general survey of tlie finds from Hafurbjarnar-
staðir should be made. It is worth mentioning that the preserving nature
of the beacli sand is excellenl.
Grave 1. Tliis is the grave exeavated in 1947. There was no real grave-
mound, but a layer of stones covered the tomb, and 45—50 cm below the
stones the skeleton was found in a grave, which was 1,10 m long and 80
em wide. No traces of a coffin were found, but the corpse had been covered
whit a flal piece of whale-bone and a big flag-stonc. Tlie posilion and
orientation of the skeleton is seen on fig. 1, as well as the arrangement of
the buried objects. Tliey are:
a. Bronze ring-headed pin with a quadrilateral liead willi engravings on
both sides. Ring missing. Fig. 2.
b. Bronze trcfoil brooch witli a peculiar ornamentation in some respeets
reminiscent of the Jelling style. Apparently a specifically Icélandic
variety. Fig 2.
c. Iron lmife. Fig. 2.
d. Bone-comb, fragmentary, the common Viking type.
e. 3 big shells, probably plates or food vessels of some kind.
Grave 2. Here an infaiit cliild had been buried in a coffin with iron
rivets, bordered by some stones set on edge. Position and orientation is
seen on Fig. 1. No objects. This is the only child-grave from pagan time as
yet found in Iceland.