Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1975, Page 74

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ÁRBÓK FORNLEIFAFÉLAGSINS
SUMMARY
A ruin excavated in Hegranes, Skagafjördur
During the time of the ancient Icelandic republic (930—1264 A. D.) the
local assembly for the district Skagafjörður in the north of Iceland had its
regular meeting-place in a locality called Hegranes. The area is now preserved
as a historic site. In the 1880’s D. Bruun counted as many as about 80 house
ruins or booth ruins on the spot, most of which have survived undamagad as
well as the area as a whole.
However, in 1974 a road-builder’s bulldozer happened to touch and partly
remove a barely visible ruin just outside the preserved area. The National
Museum of Iceland was notified and in due course the remaining part of the
ruin was excavated by the authors of this paper.
The excavation revealed the plan of an oblong structure, orientated NNW-
SSE. The north gable and the east long wall were completely missing, but the
following observations could be made: Of the walls only the foundations were
left. They consisted of rough stones in two rows, marking the inner and outer
edges of the walls, the thickness of which was 1,7—2,0 m. Remains of turf
walls on top of these foundations were observed in a few profiles, 30—40 cm
high.
On the south gable a gap in the stone foundation indicates the place of a
doorway. Of the east long wall only a few stones in the inner row were left,
enough to show that the width of the house had been 4 m. Of the opposite wall,
i. e. the west wall, 7 m were intact, but an aerial photograph of the area seems
to show that the building was somewhat longer, 10—12 m at the most.
The building seems to have been rebuilt or extended to the south on some
occasion. No stamped floor was visible, only a few scattered stains of char-
coal, burnt bones and turf-ashes.
Two rows of posts, 5-—7 cm in diameter, have supported the roof. The post-
holes are 15—20 cm wide and 40 cm deep, full of sand. Obviously they have
not always been in exactly the same place, a fact which confirms the suspicion
that the building was not intended for permanent habitation.
Near the south gable there is a kind of box of stones, set on edge (þró),
20—30 X 70 cm. It was empty and its use is unknown. Ashes above and be-
neath the foundation stones indicate some form of habitation close to the
building both before and after it was erected.
Finds were few, except for a good deal of animal bones. Noteworthy is a
pin of bone, simple but of a well known mediaeval shape; besides there is a
piece of a whetstone, an iron nail and some amygdales (for fire making?).
Almost certainly this building was not a real house, but a „booth“, a
temporary shelter with walls of turf and stone but no permanent roof. During
the session of the assembly a tent served as a roof. Booths of this kind are
frequently referred to in the mediaeval literature.