Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2002, Page 127

Enduring Impacts: Viking Age Settlement in Iceland and Greenland
Hjaltastaðaþinghá were single estates
with a number of small cottages. The
estate of Saurbær for instance had up to
20 cottages at one time or other either
scattered around the main farmstead or
on the peripheries of the estate. The
other estates at Hagi and Brjánslækur
were smaller, and at Brjánslækur the
majority of the cottages were in a valley
belonging to the estate at a considerable
distance from the main farmstead. The
topography of this area has to a large
extent dictated the way in which the land
outside the large estates was divided up.
Large simple settlements dominate the
region as a whole, occupying most of the
small inlets and river estuaries whereas
smaller evenly sized (planned) settle-
ments occupy the thin coastal strips (Orri
Vésteinsson & Sædís Gunnarsdóttir
1997, 20-28).
In both Hjaltastaðaþinghá and
Barðaströnd-Rauðasandur the landscape
is dominated by large complex settle-
ments and large simple settlements
whereas planned settlements are relative-
ly few and restricted to marginal areas. If
we look at an area with larger continuous
farmable land and more favorable condi-
tions for agriculture the pattem becomes
very different. In Borgarfjörður, large
complex settlements and large simple
settlements dominate the wet and low
lying areas bordering on the major river
Hvítá. The narrower river valleys
branching oflf into the highlands are dom-
inated by small or middle sized farm-
steads, regularly spaced and with more or
less evenly sized properties. The two
narrower valleys, Skorradalur and
Lundarreykjadalur each have their large
settlements, a large estate and a large
simple settlement in the former and a
group of large simple settlements in the
latter but most of the land is divided
between small or middle sized properties
(Orri Vésteinsson 1996, 12-25).
As far as current research is able to
determine these pattems are repeated all
over the country. The proportion of each
type of settlement varies between
regions, usually governed by the restric-
tions of topography where the land most
favorable for cattle based agriculture is
dominated by large complex settlements
whereas narrow valleys and stretches of
coast tend to be dominated by regularly
spaced and evenly sized settlements.
A model of North-Atlantic Settlement
processes
In the Book of Settlements there is a
story about a chieftain who bought a
large piece of land in Borgarfjörður:
“Blund-Ketill was a very rich man; he
had the forest cleared in many places and
established settlements there.” (Jakob
Benediktsson ed. 1968, 84 - authors’
transl.) This is a tradition related to that
of Skallagrímr, the common theme being
that the landnám was organized by pow-
erful men. It also suggests that in the
13th century there were traditions to the
effect that medium sized or small farm-
steads were in origin planned settlements
organized by the chieftains of the land-
nám period. These traditions are in good
accordance with the settlement patterns
observed in both Greenland and Iceland.
In both countries the richest farmland is
occupied by either large estates (Sandnes
and Garðar in Greenland, Saurbær and
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