Náttúrufræðingurinn - 1990, Page 37

SUMMARY
A rockslide in the Age of the
Settlement in East Iceland.
Árni Hjartarson
National Energy Authority
Grensásvegur 9
IS-108 REYKJAVÍK
Iceland
In the Book of Settlement there is a sto-
ry about a rockslide in Skriðdalur valley,
East Iceland that took place late in the
Age of the Settlement (i.e. 870-930 AD).
The great rockslide Haugahólar in Skrið-
dalur was Iong considered to be the one
mentioned but later studies have shown
that the Haugahólar slide is prehistoric.
After that the story in Book of Settlement
has been thought to be a legend. New in-
vestigations have shown that the Hauga-
hólar rockslide is probably about 4000
years old and that a much younger rock-
slide has occurred elswhere in Skriðdalur,
coming from the mountain Hallbjarnar-
staðatindur. This slide is 2,9 km2 and
overlaps the northernmost part of the
Haugahólar slide. Tephrocronological
studies indicate that it may be from the
Age of Settlement. If this is correct, the
farm Haugar on the southern border of
the young slide, cannot have been there
from the early beginning. Old farm ruins
that have been found in the southern part
of the Haugahólar slide have been consid-
ered to show an older site of the farm. Te-
phrocronological studies indicate that the
ruins are of a farmhouse that was built
around 1500 and lasted to about 1600
AD.
The main conclusion is that there is a
good reason to belive that the story in the
Book of Settlement about the rockslide in
Skriðdalur has a core of truth.
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