Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 03.01.1987, Page 101

FORNAR LEIÐSLUR í REYKHOLTI í BORGARFIRÐI
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In Scptcmber 1984, as a large sewage pipe trench was bcing dug in Reykholt south of
the above mentioncd dwelling by an excavation machine (trench G), the rcmains of an
old construction appearcd unexpectedly at a depth of ca 2 m. Work was ceased and the
parson of Reykholt made the National Antiquary known of this. Thc two curators, Guð-
mundur Ólafsson and Þorkcll Grímsson, arrived the following day and invcsdgated the
area. The nrachine had struck against the stcam conduit found in 1964 and practically des-
troyed a ca 14 m long portion of it.
At the eastern end of thc pit it was intact for a span of ca 2 m. The ditch above it was
to some effect V-shaped, 0.6 m deep, with a width of 0.7 m at top. The conduit had a
cover of stone slabs with small stones for support on both sidcs. A section at this placc
appears as:
1. 0.00-0.06 m Sod.
2. 0.06-0.76 m Fill with humus and gravel. Am'ong finds here a nail, sherds of ccramic
plate and porcelain.
3. 0.76-1.26 m Humus with clear remains from settlenrcnt. Ncar the centre a hunrus
layer with bits of sod and some spread charcoal.
4. 1.26-1.90 m Fill of humus. Admixture of grey Icc age clay.
5. 1.90-1.96 m Clay from thernral area on top of cover of stone slabs.
6. 1.90-2.10 m Steam conduit.
7. 1.45 m and beyond Ice age clay.
Tlre steam conduit with its end ncar the farm site leaves room for more than one hypo-
thesis as to purpose. One possibility is that thc issuing steam was used for cooking and
baking. Also it could havc servcd to warmen up a dwclling house. Lastly, and this is thc
most probable explanation, there nray havc been a batlr at the opening, where pcrhaps the
inhabitants only raised a tent.
Refcrences are known to thcrmal steam baths in Iceland before the nrodern cpoch.
Oddur Einarsson, in his description of the country, dating fronr the lattcr lralf of 16th c.,
gives an account of such a bath in the vicinity of Reykjahlíð, district of Mývatn, and
points out the salubrious effects which the stcam has. A small hut with a layer of sand
insidc was at the place. Bjarni Pálsson and Eggcrt Ólafsson dcscribe this same place near
Mývatn in their book of travels, in which is also a reference to a bath of this kind at
Þjórsárholt, region of Árnessýsla. The latter, mcntioncd by Sveinn Pálsson as wcll, app-
arcntly resemblcd a cave. Þorvaldur Thoroddsen indicates a former thermal steanr bath
at Grafarbakki in sanre region.
Some rcmarks go in the articlc to deplore the inrpairnrcnt wrought by thc excavation
machine on rclics in Reykholt in 1984.