Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2002, Qupperneq 67

An Extensive System of Medieval Earthworks
TABLE 1. Total lengths (km) of earthworks seen on aerial photographs of the study area.
Earthworks surrounding hayfields in the immediate vicinity of farmhouses are excluded. /
Samanlögð lengd garða sem sjást á loftmyndum af rannsóknarsvæðinu. Túngarðar ekki teknir með.
Area/Svæði Length/Lengd (km)
Tjörnes North of Húsavík 20.2
Tjörnes South of Húsavík 10.7
Reykjahverfi East of Reykjakvísl 18.3
Hvammsheiði 20.7
Múlaheiði - Þegjandadalur 11.5
Fljótsheiði 38.2
Narfastaðafell - Reykjadalur 13.0
Laxárdalur 18.2
TOTAL 150.8
southem (higher) part of the study area
were more fragmented than those in the
northern (lower) parts of the area.
The pattem that emerges is a system
of more or less square enclosures, appar-
ently surrounding individual farms (Figs.
3-5). A distinction can be made between
earthworks that run parallel to the con-
tours of the landscape and those that go
perpendicular to the slopes. These can be
termed horizontal and transverse earth-
works respectively. The horizontal earth-
works typically follow the edges of the
moorlands and tend to fence the farms off
from the overlying moors, whereas the
transverse earthworks form boundaries
between adjacent farms. One exception
to this system is found in Hvammsheiði,
where a number of earthworks run across
the moorland from one river (Laxá) to the
other (Reykjakvísl) (Fig. 4). In Tjömes,
Fljótsheiði and Reykjadalur there are
also examples of two horizontal earth-
works running side by side without evi-
dence of a farm between them. This may
indicate a more complex function or two
systems of a different age.
The transverse earthworks seem more
poorly preserved than the horizontal
ones, probably because by running
downhill transverse earthworks are easi-
ly eroded by water and soil slumping.
Where the transverse and horizontal
earthworks enclose abandoned farm-
steads (as in Þegjandadalur) the farm-
stead homefield is normally enclosed by
a smaller dyke. A variation occurs at sev-
eral farms in the upper reaches of Laxá
river where a much larger area than the
homefield is enclosed by a separate dyke.
Many of the more fragmented dykes
observed in the lowland areas seem to be
of this kind. These home- and infield
dykes are as a rule less substantial than
the earthworks on the moorlands. From
the still rather limited field observations
we have made, it seems that a typical
earthwork is about 6 m wide, 0.7-0.8 m
high with a 2-7 m wide trench on one or
both sides (Table 2, Fig. 6). The total
width of the construction, including the
trenches, may therefore reach 18 m.
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