Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2002, Page 85

Brattahlíð reconsidered
Fig. 3. The large farms andfarms with churches, arranged according to size. The numbers used
here correspond to the system of registration used in earlier works.
Locating Brattahlíð.
The map showing the distribution of the
Norse sites in South Greenland (fíg. 2)
reveals that the Tunulliarfik fjord was
quite densely populated in Norse times.
The distance between the individual
farms was just one or two kilometres. In
addition to these, a large number of
saeters are found in the highlands.
It is small wonder that Eric the Red
chose this fjord as his domain. It is prob-
ably one of the best-suited places for
husbandry in the entire country, being far
away from the outer coast. The climate is
continental with relatively warm sum-
mers and steady weather. It is the only
place in Greenland where the inner parts
of the southem fjords are forested with
birch trees and willow bushes reaching
heights of six to eight metres. Today,
Greenlandic families operate a large
number of modern sheep farms in this
region.
But where exactly in this region is
Brattahlíð to be found?
In Qassiarsuk?
On the western side of the fjord, near the
modem settlement Qassiarsuk, lie the
ruins of a rather large farm with a church
(number 0 29/29a). According to the old
theories, this place was the ancient
Brattahlíð.
As most of the ruins were excavated
by Norlund and Stenberger in 1932
(1934), we have a detailed and exact
knowledge of the Iayout of the buildings
(see fíg. 4). The ruins, however, have
been known for centuries, and the church
was discovered (and partly excavated) by
Reverend Jorgensen as early as 1840
(Jorgensen 1841).
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