Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1988, Blaðsíða 183

SUMMARY
187
the floor, indentified a Larix sp. and Betula sp. (v-4014) was dated by C-14 giving, at ± I9, a
date between the 9th and 11 th centuries, and the Ö 1362 volcanic ash was found to have been
deposited over the ruin some time after it had been abandoned. No objects were found.
The evidence shows that the building was occupied by humans. One interpretation of
the structurc is that it was a bathhouse becausc of the fircplaces and the nearness to a
watersource, another that it was a separate kitchen, but the difficulty with thcse interpre-
tations is that it is not near a farm-site, to which it could belong. Its size and possible carly date
makes it the best candidate for possible early Christian activity on the island, but this
must remain no more than an hypothcsis.
Chapter 6. Goðatœttur.
Two ruins, placed on a low ridge on thc north-western part of the island, were fully
excavated. Goðatættur I is a rectangular structure, measuring about 12 X 3.6-4.4 m intern-
ally (fig. 32), orientated approximately southwest-northeast, with the one entrance placed
in the western gable. Walls were made partly of upright basalt columns in the inner face.
The eastern half of the structure had a lcvcl floor covered with pink pcat-ash and a firc-
place towards the centre of the building. Traces of iron-working were found there. West
from there the floor sloped towards the door by about 60 cm with the central part of it
densely paved. The lay-out has parallcls elsewhere in Iceland and has been interpreted as
a byre, with the inner half used for some other human activity.
Several objects were found, including an oval stone object with perforations at each end
and an animal figure carved on one side (figs. 35 & 36), a large spindlc-whorl (fig.37),
a baking-plate (fig. 38), whetstones (fig.39), an ingot-mould (?) (fig. 40), and a small axe
ofjan Petersen's type K, dated to the lOth century (fig. 41). A charcoal sample (St3605) from
the floor was identified as birch and dated to between c. 1000 and the 13th century. The Ö
1362 volcanic ash was found to have been deposited over the structure some time after it had
been abandoned.
Pink peat-ash was found to cover the whole floor of the building and domestic objects
were found in the western as well as the eastern half of it. The author explains this as
possibly indicating a second phase in the use of the building, as a domestic onc after its
initial use as a byre.
Goðatœttur II lies about 17 m north of Goðatættur I, oricntated approximately south-
east-northwest. The rectangular, bow sided structure measured 15 X 3-3.8 m internally
(fig. 43). The walls were largely made of turf with a paved cntrance towards one end of
the northern side-wall, the building had a centra! longhearth of a typical early typc, and
concentrations of stones in both ends indicate foundations, perhaps for benches. The
floor, which was highest opposite the door, slopcd down to both ends and was covered
with pcat-ash.
Several objects were found in the building, including a large gaming piece of stone (fig.
47), a steatite spindle-whorl (fig. 48), a piece of stcatite with a cross and other lines incised
in it (fig. 49), a baking plate (fig. 50), stone-lamp (fig. 51) and whetstones. A charcoal
sample (St3604) from the floor, identified as birch, was dated to the lOth to 12th centuries. Here
also the Ö 1362 volcanic ash had covered the structure somc timc aftcr it had been abondoned.
This hall has several parallels among the earliest Norse settlements in the North Atlandc.
Some distance to the west of Goðatættur a rectangular enclosure (fig. 54), measuring
about 17 X 13 m externally, and dated to beforc 1362 by tephrochronology, was found;
it probably belonged to the occupation at Goðatættur.