Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1965, Blaðsíða 64

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ÁRBÓK FORNLEIFAFÉLAGSINS
Viking Age graves, destroyed (unintentionally) by road workers, some very well
preserved human bones and horse bones. Nothing is known as to the form of the
burials. Gravegoods: a spear head, bridle bit, strap buckle, iron fragment.
16. Svínadalur, Kelduneshreppur, Noröur-Þingeyjarsýsla: A find of human bones
in a wind eroded area, probably the remains of a Viking Age grave.
17. Gömlu Grímsstaöir, Fjallahreppur, Noröur-Þingeyjarsýsla: See Þ. Grímsson’s
report on this find, pp. 84—86, and English summary there.
18. GauksstaÖir, Jökuldalshreppur, Noröur-Múlasýsla: A find of a skeleton,
which may or may not be from Viking times (fig. 29).
19. Hrifunes, Skaftártunguhreppur, Vestur-Skaftafellssýsla: In 1957 the author
excavated a horse grave in this locality. The grave was as shown on figs. 30 and
31. It was covered by a thick layer of accumulated soil, in which there were
distinct layers of volcanic ash; four of them are identifiable as resulting from
eruptions in Katla in the years 1416, 1625, 1755, 1918 (fig. 32). The grave was
exposed by the river Hólmsá breaking down its steep banks. The horse grave is
remarkable because of a peculiar oblong stone setting around it. A bridle bit and a
strap buckle, as well as the position of the grave deep under the accumulated soil,
would show that it is from the Viking Age. The horse must be supposed to
have accompanied a buried man or woman, though no traces of such a grave
were found.
In an appendix the author states, that the finding places of Viking Age
grave finds in Iceland are now 145 in all, but the number of individual graves
287. They are all inhumation graves and no traces of cremation have hitherto
been observed in Iceland.