Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2002, Page 73

An Extensive System of Medieval Earthworks
dalur,15 Höfðahverfi,16 Árskógsströnd17
and Fljót; also from Miklaholt in
Snæfellsnes19 and Melasveit in
Borgarijörður. There is every reason to
expect the discovery of similar earthwork
systems in other parts of the country.
Grágás, the collection of laws from
the Icelandic commonwealth preserved
in mid- and late 13th century manu-
scripts, indicates that earthwork con-
struction was an integral part of the run-
21
ning of a medieval Icelandic farmstead.
A standard earthwork had to be five feet
thick at the base and three feet across the
top and reach to the shoulder level of a
man of average height. A standard gate
had to be an ell and a fathom wide (ca.
2.5 m), turning on iron hinges and it was
to be possible to open it from horse-
back.““ Three months a year, two months
in spring and one month in late summer,
earthwork construction was to be given
priority over most other work. In
Jónsbók, the lawbook introduced in
1281, earthworks were still treated in
much the same way as in Grágás, but
according to an amendment (“réttarbót”)
from 1294 the lack of a dyke was no
longer a defense for unlawful grazing on
23
another's property.
Our hypothesis is that the system of
earthworks described in this paper dates
from the Commonwealth period and that
the legislation reflects a countrywide sys-
tem of property divisions and grazing
management which had already become
outdated around 1300.
In this paper we have reported the initial
fmdings of an ongoing project. The next
step will be to collect historical data on
the location and function of individual
earthworks, primarily from place name
inventories and boundary descriptions.
Fieldwork will be needed to look for
earthworks that are not visible on the aer-
ial photographs and to use tephrochrono-
logical methods to determine how and
when the earthworks were constructed.
A final step will be a synthesis of the data
in order to explain the function of the
earthworks and see what light they throw
on the social and economic structure of
medieval Iceland.
A cknowledgements
The study was supported by the Research
Fund of the Icelandic Road Department
(Vegagerðin) and the Icelandic Students'
Innovation Fund. Thanks are also due to
Dr. Guðrún Gísladóttir for access to the
facilities of the Geography department of
the University of Iceland and Professors
Amþór Garðarsson and Christian Keller
who read the manuscript and made many
useful suggestions.
^ Kristmundur Bjarnason 1978, 32-39; ÍSLEIF.
^ SSÞ, 37; ÍSLEIF; Jón Bjarnason 1982, Valdemar Kristjánsson 1983.
17 ÍSLEIF; Helgi Hallgrímsson 1982.
Páll Sigurðsson 1979.
19 FF, 309.
20 FF, 273.
21 Grágás lb, 90-91, 95-96, 120-121; Grágás II, 450-453.
22 Grágás 1 b, 90.
2^ Jónsbók, 282.
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