Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1970, Page 45

KIRKJA FRÁ SÍÐMIÐÖLDUM AÐ VARMÁ
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the foundations of the turf-walls are by far the most carefully constructed of
these house-remains. They also suggest that the church has been repaired several
times. Some graves were observed on both the north and the south sides of the
church. Probably the floor of the church was made of wood as no clear floor-layer
was found. No building-remains were beneath the church.
2. Written sources about a church at Varmá.
The main literary sources about the church are of episcopal provenance, books
of church inventories (máldagabækur) and the postreformational books of
bishop-visitations (vísitaziubækur). The registers of the bailiff at Bessastaðir
(fógetareikningar) can also be used and a copy of a little register obviously
emanating from the now mostly perished archives of the monastery of Viðey.
From these sources it can be seen that a church existed at Varmá about the
middle of the fourteenth century. It was then a private property but shortly
before the year of 1395 it became a property of the monastery of Viðey. With
the Reformation the king confiscated the monasteries in Iceland. In these
changes the small private church (Eigenkirche) at Varmá lost its cattle some-
where between the years of 1554 and 1584. This indicates that there is no church
in use at Varmá after 1584. A book of visitations from about the year 1600
explicitly states that a church is no longer at Varmá at that time.
3. Some finds and the dating of the house-remains.
Most of the finds were measured with regard to their position in the excavated
mound. They can be projected on the horizontal drawings and a little less can be
co-ordinated both vertically and horizontally as shown in the table (p. 45),
the difference being shown in the table in material categories. What was measu-
red horizontally only was all from the uppermost part of the mound. Not all the
finds are described as many are just fragments and only the bigger ones and
those which have helped dating the house-remains are dealt with. Among copper
objects found an ale-tap and a screw from a similar object are mentioned,
both found in the smithy or younger. From the church a fragment of a copper
cauldron was found. The numerous and rusty iron fragments are probably
remnants of nails. A somewhat larger iron fragment is of a scythe or possibly of
a sickle found in the church. All the pieces of glass except one fragment of a
blue bead are from the smithy or younger. They are fragments of window-glass
and bottles. A soapstone spindle whorl was found in the church. The fragments of
pottery are certainly Danish and found in the smithy. They are most likely
from the eighteenth century. The fragments of pottery and glass point to the
eighteenth century as a date of the smithy. A table is constructed to show the
depth of the vei'tically measured finds with the depth measure of the flooi'-
layer in the smithy as registered on the profile drawings. Thereby it clearly
stands out that no glass or pottery fragments can belong to the church (except
for the glass bead). The volcanic ashlayer belonging to the smithy is also shown
in the table. As ash from the volcano Hekla can be excluded in the eighteenth
century in this area, the volcano Katla is the likely one. In the year 1721 there
was a fall of volcanic ash from Katla in the Reykjavík area. It must be ash
from this eruption which was found at Varmá. Hence it can be concluded that the
church was a ruin in 1721 and shortly after that the smithy was built on the spot.
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