Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2002, Page 58

Bruno Berson
that the line of the walls were quite indis-
tinct. A division into three aisles is also a
characteristic shared by all the excavated
byres. The central aisle is almost always
paved and in at least 5 cases it slopes
down towards the entrance which is
always in one of the end gables. This cen-
tral paving allowed for easier removal of
the dung and urine. On either side of the
central aisle there are rows of stalls
which in most cases have some evidence
of division into stalls, either by upright
slabs or wooden partitions. In some cases
the excavators comment that the surface
of the paved central aisle was lower than
the stalls. Where such evidence survives
it seem that the roof was supported by a
double row of posts situated along both
sides of the central aisle.
While there is remarkable uniformity in
the basic shape and construction of the
byre there are some differences as to its
relationship with the barn which is the
building most closely associated with the
byre.
The most common type of arrangement
can be seen at Hvítárholt, Gröf,
Sámsstaðir and Lundur. At these sites the
byre and the barn form a long building in
which the two rooms are built end-to-
end. There is only one door leading to the
byre and the barn can only be accessed
through the byre, except at Lundur where
there was a small room with a side
entrance between the byre and the barn.
A sub-type is found at Þórarinsstaðir and
Laugar where the barn is also only
accessed through the byre but is set at
right angles to it. In neither of those
cases is there sufficient evidence to show
that the bam was roofed and these two
sites are the only ones where the byres
form a part of the dwelling complex. The
other main type is found at Herjólfsdalur,
Gjáskógar, Goðatættur, Aslákstunga
innri and undir Lambhöfða. At these sites
there is no distinct barn, either connected
to or independent ofthe byre. At some of
these sites, especially Herjólfsdalur
(VIII) and Goðatættur, it cannot be pre-
cluded that hay was stored in that part of
the byre where the central aisle was not
paved. In the cases where no bam has
been found it is possible that hay was
stored differently, i.e. in turf-covered
stacks (Orri Vésteinsson 1989). At Stöng
the byre and the barn are built side by
side and each room had its own door fac-
ing the farm. It is possible that there was
a passage between the two buildings at
the back - which has now eroded away.
Bergþórshvoll may also belong to this
type although the nature of the small
room to one side of the byre is really not
well established.
Hvítárholt is the only example of a sepa-
rate purpose-built barn but it is not cer-
tain whether the barn is really contempo-
raneous to the rest of the site, nor indeed
whether it is really a bam.
The layout of the farm
There are two basic types of relationship
between byre and dwelling. More com-
monly the byre is situated some distance
from the dwelling, typically 20-40 m and
usually slightly upslope. Lundur and
Sámsstaðir stand out because of the great
distance between the dwelling and the
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