Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1998, Page 137

FYLGSNIÐ í HELLINUM VÍÐGELMI
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McCormac, F.G., v.d. Plicht, J., and Spurk, M. 1998a. Radiocarboti 40:1041-1083.
Vilhjálmur OrnVilhjálmsson. 1991. Kolefnisaldursgreiningar og íslensk fornleifafræði. Ar-
bók hins íslenzka fornleifafélags Í99Í, bls. 35-70.
Þorsteinn Þorsteinsson 1953. Arbók Ferðafélags Islands 1953. Mýrasýsla.
Summary
A Viking age hideout in the cave Víðgelmir
A key to the dating problems of the settlement of Iceland
The 1.5 km long cave of Víðgelmir is located in the Hallmundarhraun lava flow in West
Iceland, and is one of the largest caves in Iceland. The lava flow is dated by tephra-
chronology and 14C dating to the beginning of the lOth century confirming that the
flow was formed a few decades after the first settlement of Iceland. An extensive iceblock
had accumulated in front of the narrow entrance and blocked the way for most of this
century. Members of the Icelandic Speleological Society (ISS) managed to break through
the ice in 1991.
When ISS members were exploring the cave in June 1993, an old fireplace was
discovered on a 40-50 square rnetre ledge three or four nretres above the main cave floor.
Animal bones, some beads and something that looked like a leather wallet were also
found. The National Museum of Iceland was notified and in December 1993 a research
expedition was sent out. The site was planned and mapped and the artifacts and samples
were collected and brought to the National Museum for conservation and dating.
The beads of glass and bone are of well-known Viking age types and were used in
necklaces, while the leather object may have been a small purse, but it is still in
conservation and its function has not yet been established. A few splinters ofjasper were
also found that may have been used for lighting a fire and a small piece of a bronze
thread, possibly a fragment ofa chain.
Judging by the lack of floor layer and accumulation of debris commonly found in
human habitats, the site must have been used only for a very short period of time, maybe
a couple of days or a week at the most. It is a one event site.
The beads date this site to theViking age or around the year lOOO.Two samples have
been 14C dated by the AMS Aarhus/Reykjavik dating laboratory. One of the samples
(AAR-3962) is a piece of charcoal (Betula sp.) from the hearth and dates rather surpris-
ingly to 1225+ 30 BP or calibrated to 720-880 AD with 1 standard deviation (68.2%
confidence) and AD 690-890 with two standard deviations (95.4% confidence).
This date is extremely interesting. The sanrple was coflected in a fireplace believed to
be frorn the lOth-llth century but the 14C date indicates a much earlier date, c. 100-150
years before the lava was formed. This shows that the date of the fireplace in the cave
cannot be the same as the date of the charcoal sample.
A wefl preserved cow bone from the site was then dated for comparison, a nruch
more suitable material, especially as cow bone is not disturbed by the rnarine reservoir
effect. The bone dated to 1088±20 BP or calibrated to 900-960 AD with 1 standard
deviation (68.2% confidence) and AD 890-1020 with two standard deviations (95.4%
confidence) or c. 100-200 years younger than the charcoal sample.
The dates from Víðgelmir may hold a unique key to the debate about the reliability
and interpretations of the dating of the Settlement of Iceland.