Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1955, Page 82

86
ÁRBÓK FORNLEIFAFÉLAGSINS
um hafa verið rannsökuð meira en nú, má ef til vill vænta nýrra upp-
lýsinga um þessa ókunnu veiðimenn í skútanum við Tungná.
SUMMARY
A Newly Discovered Shelter of Outlaws in Iceland.
In 1936 some shepherds eame upon the ruins of two previously unknown huts
in a cave near the river of Tungná in the neighbourhood of Veiðivötn (i. e. Fish-
ing Lakes). This locality is in the uninhabited and barren interior of Iceland,
some 50 km from the nearest farms. To reach there Tungná must be crossed,
which is very difficult because of the great quantity of water and perilous quick-
sand. The present author excavated the ruins of the huts in 1952 and 1953. It
was clear that one of the huts had been without a roof from the very beginning,
but the walls of the other one reached right up to the ceiling of the cave. This
particular hut has been the living quarters of the people, which is clearly shown
by a 10 cm thick floor layer with charcoal and bones and a sleeping-place. The
bones are mainly sheep-bones and fish-bones, but bones of birds were also noticed.
In two places were found heaps of carpal and tarsal bones from horses. These
bones certainly were used as sinkers on trout-nets. There were two different ty-
pes. In one of the heaps the bones were split from end to end, perforated near both
ends, but in the other the bones were cut over transversely. In this latter case a
thin line holding the sinkers was thread through the marrow hole of the bones.
Undoubtedly trout-fishing was the main occupation of the inmates of the hut-
dwellers, and certainly the abundance of fish in the surrounding lakes was the
very thing which tempted them to settle down, though temporarily, on this deso-
late spot.
In the ruins were found layers of pumice, i. e. volcanic ashes. The author is of
the opinion that they must originate from the volcanic eruption of Laki in 1783.
From this fact and the sandlayers under-lying the pumice the author concludes
that the huts must have been left for good about 1600 at the latest. From the out
of the way situation of the huts the author finds it almost certain that their in-
mates were hiding from other trout-fishers who regularly visited the lakes. Those
would certainly have had their dwelling nearer to the lakes and on a more com-
fortable and accessible spot. So the newly discovered huts in all probability are
the humble shelter of outlaws who for some time fought for their existence neai'
the rich fishing-lakes in the unpopulated inland.