Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 05.01.1986, Page 38

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ÁRBÓK FORNLEIFAFÉLAGSINS
as follows: A kitchen (H) with a woodcn front gable, not connected by a door witli the
adjaccnt room (A), a longhousc which was a living room. Next to A is anothcr longhousc
oricnted in the samc way as A, whcre you fmd botli B and C, which wcrc dividcd by
a wainscot. B was a hall, and C was an cntrance. Wcst of thc cntrancc thcrc was a storage
room (D). Farthest to west was another storage room (J), corrcsponding to thc kitchen
and built in the same fashion with a woodcn gablc. Bchind this row of houscs thc passagc
(E) leads to a lavatory (G) on thc lcft hand and a bathroom (F) on thc right, through a
little passage. A drainagc was bcneath the floor of thc passage, leading through the
entrancc to the pavcment in front of the farmhousc.
Postholcs werc in the floor of A along thc walls. A door appcarcd in thc centcr of thc
western wall lcading to thc hall. Rcmains of wainscot wcrc by thc wcstcrn wall on both
sidcs of this door. Benchcs havc bccn along the longcr walls and traccs of thc sidcs of a
bcnch wcrc in thc north westcrn corncr. A platform, pallur, has bccn in thc castcrn part
of thc housc. In thc door bctwecn thc living room and thc hall thcrc was found a piccc
of wood with a hole in it. Thc door hingc may possibly have rotatcd thcrc. Thcsc wcrc
thc only rcmains of a door-casc. The floor was grcyish and with considerablc remains of
bones.
Thc main part of thc next house to the west is callcd B, but C lics in thc same ruin.
These two houscs wcre separatcd with a wall of timbcr, of which nothing, however, rem-
aincd. A timber floor has becn in thc cntrancc ovcrlying thc aforc-named drainagc. In thc
hall B thcrc wcre four rows of postholcs, thc cxtcrnal oncs by thc walls, and thc internal
ones at the outcr cdgc of thc seats, built mostly of carth and turf. Thc proper floor of thc
hall was bctwecn thc scats, and it was much tramplcd on. Thc surfacc of thc scats was
uncvcn making it probablc that it has bccn covercd with timber. Thc castcrnnrost part
of thc northern scat, thc part which was bchind a piccc of wood which has becn namcd
seat bcam, setstokkur, was diffcrcnt. Thc surfacc was even but not tramplcd, and it secmcd
that various things and rubbish had bccn dutnpcd thcrc. That part may havc formed a
closct, klefi, and it was possibly closcd by a sliding door. Thc roof has bccn carricd by
four rows of posts. Thc outcr posts wcrc clcarly stoutcr than thc inncr oncs and it is also
likcly that thcy wcrc lowcr.
In the storagc room (D) therc wcrc stonc slabs, foundation for thc posts along thc
walls. Traces left by wooden vcsscls werc itt thc floor and thc bottom of a vcsscl was
found in one of thcm. A remarkable circular closct was adjacent with thc north wcstcrn
corncr of thc house with a vesscl dug into thc ground. Rcmains of a hcarth wcrc dis-
covcrcd in thc floor, which was uncven and higher towards thc walls. Assumably therc
was a tablc along thc walls.
Thc passage (E) led to thc north. Its floor was covcrcd with slabs. Inncrmost front thc
passage to the right thcrc was anothcr passagc lcading to thc bathroom (F). Thc soutli
wall of thc bathroom was of turf with a datablc ash-laycr in it, but thc northern wall had
been dcmolishcd by watcr. Stone slabs for post wcrc along thc walls. In thc middle of
thc eastern wall thcre was a firc-placc with crackcd stones, coal and ashes. A thick black
floor-layer lay bctwcen the firc-placc and thc door, growing thinncr towards thc cnds of
thc house. Thcre has been a platform, pallnr, in the south of thc housc and cvcn also in
thc north.
Oppositc thc passagc towards thc bathroom was a door lcading to the lavatory (G).
Thc walls werc built of stoncs and in thc northcrn wall thcrc was a drain and a narrow
ditch outsidc it lcading to thc north. Thc floor was vcry uncvcn and it is possiblc that