Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1965, Blaðsíða 73

FORNALDARKUML Á SELFOSSI
77
Eftirmáli. Eftir að greinargerðin um beinafundinn í Syðra-Krossa-
nesi hafði verið sett, bárust þær fregnir haustið 1965, að enn hefðu
fundizt fleiri mannabein á þessum fundarstað, sbr. Morgunblaðið
14. sept. 1965. Virðist því vera ástæða til að svipast frekar um á
þessum stað. Rétt er að hafa í huga, ef bein halda áfram að finnast,
en engir forngripir, hvort grafreitur þessi kunni ef til vill fremur
að vera frá fyrstu kristni en heiðni.
SUMMARY
Two Vikinp Age Graves.
1. In his report on recent finds oí' Viking Age graves in this issue of Árbók (pp.
9—11) K. Eldjárn describes a grave discovered in 1958 within the limits of the
village Selfoss in the South of Iceland. Another grave was found some 150 metres
east of the first one in 1962 and was excavated by the present author. Unfortu-
nately the grave was already seriously damaged when he arrived on the spot.
It was clear, however, that the body of a young woman had been laid out-
stretched on the back in the grave, head towards SW. Gravegoods (see fig.): 12
glass beads of various colours, one of them on a silver ring, an iron knife, a
sickle, several parts of the mountings of a casket such as a triangular escutcheon
(with the keyhole), a ring, some rivets, a key; finally some remains of cloth
in a lump of rust.
The author suggests that the two women buried at Selfoss very likely had
their home on the nearby farm Rauðholt, which was devastated long ago.
2. In 1963 the author inspected a burial site at Syðra-Krossanes near Akureyri
in the North of Iceland. A bulldozer had gone over the graves so they were
greatly damaged. Bones from three individuals were found, but only in one
case the skeleton was found in situ, though only partly. The body had been laid
°n the left side with slightly bent hips and knees, as shown on photo, p. 75. No
gravegoods were observed. The general appearance of the burial seems to
indicate that it is from pagan rather than early Christian times.