Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1959, Page 108

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ÁRBÓK FORNLEIFAFÉLAGSINS
there is a churchyard in the immediate neighbourhood. It is therefore likely
that the bones are from some persons who were looked upon as intruders and
killed as such by the peasants. One is reminded of the killing of the English
in 1431.
After the bones were discovered the authors of this paper excavated the
socalled Robbers’ Cairns in the summer 1953. The result was quite negative. It
could be shown with absolute certainty that nobody was ever buried in the
cairns. They are heaps of stones which have accumulated there during a long
period, as passing travellers have been in the habit of throwing stones at
the cairn. This custom was followed in many places where executed criminals
were thought to be buried. The killing of the English in 1431 is by tradition
erraneously tied up with the cairns.
However, the investigation of the skeletons found in the vicinity of the cairns
strongly supports the supposition that the bones are from the English sailors
from 1431.
The bones represent 4 moderately well preserved skeletons and a fifth frag-
mentary one. They are most probably all from males, the youngest of whom
was about 20 years of age and the oldest not over 50. Three of the skulls
show lesions which must be effected by edged weapons, and the preserved
cervical parts of two vertebral columns show on atlas and axis some signs,
which make it clear that the persons in question were beheaded.
The maximum mean stature of these men was 168—169 cm, the mean cranial
index 75,4, and all characteristics taken together, the physical appearance of
these men is in accordance with what is known of mediaeval Icelanders but
better still 17th century Londoners. From 4 of the skeletons both jaws and
94 teeth in all are preserved. In none of the mandibles there are signs of torus
mandibularis, but all 4 individuals had carious teeth (10 teeth in all, 6 with
caries collis dentis and 4 with caries of the mastication surface. About 3 out
of 4 mandibles from mediaeval Icelanders present torus mandibularis, but only
about 14% of the teeth from that period (ca 1000—1500 A. D.) are carious
and none with caries of the mastication surface. Torus mandibularis is very
rare in English mandibles from that time whereas carious teeth were far more
frequent in England than in Iceland at the time in question. This makes it
exceedingly unlikely that the skeletons from Skagafjörður could possibly be
from Icelanders of the middle ages. It is, therefore, very likely that we here have
the remains of (some of?) the Englishmen killed in 1431.