Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.1998, Page 139

Archaeological Sediments and Site Formation at Hofstaðir, Mývatn, NE-Iceland
depressions rather than post holes
because the lowest layer of the fill of
two of them is Hekla-3, which appears
to have been pushed downwards and
compressed by a weight from above. In
plan they were circular or ovoid, with
Hekla-3 forming the outer ring. It was
possible to determine that these
features sloped downwards on an angle
because the cup-shaped depressions in
the profile were reflected in circular
features c.2cm away from and shifted
to the south-east of the base of the
profile. Although they are difficult to
interpret, it is possible that these fea-
tures were formed by the legs of a
piece of furniture that was placed on
and was pressed down into the original
floor surface. Since Bruun does not
seem to have excavated all of Area D
down to the natural soil, it will be
possible in future excavations to
uncover more of the horizontal plan of
these features. Their interpretation
will also be aided by the analysis of a
micromorphology sample that was
taken from one of them (Pr. 3/4; fig.2).
In thin section, it will be possible to
study the boundary between the fea-
ture and the natural soil/tephra below,
as well as the composition of its fill.
Above Hekla-3 and capping the hol-
es and depressions, was a dense black
layer (5YR 2.5/1) with a very fine
platy structure, which was designated
„Context 52”. Although very hetero-
geneous and often containing smaller
laminae, this layer was generally com-
posed of silt loam, decomposed organic
matter, and very small inclusions of
charcoal and bone (and possibly egg
shell?). These characteristics suggest
that cooking refuse accumulated and
was trampled in situ, and therefore
that the structure had once had a
domestic function. In order to deter-
139