Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2005, Page 23

Archaeological Excavations at Vatnsfjörður 2003-04
the surveyed sites (21 sites) were within
or just outside the old homefield bound-
ary. East of the farm, near the sea, were 4
sites, 3 more just north of the fíeld
boundary, 3 about a kilometer north of
the farm, 1 further west of the farm on a
small peninsula called Sveinhúsanes and
1 site in the hills west of the farm. Two of
the surveyed sites were turf-cutting areas
where material for house building was
collected.
The surveyed sites date mostly
to the late 19th to early 20th centuries
and provide an idea of the distribution of
houses prior to the 20th century agricul-
tural revolution. It has been noted during
fíeld surveys in Iceland that houses are
often built on the same place as older
buildings, creating a small mound over
time. The location of houses, as they
were at the beginning of the 20th centu-
ry, offers a usefúl guide about the siting
of various buildings on an Icelandic
farm, at least for the past 200 years. It is,
however, important to point out that
occasionally houses changed their func-
tion over time (e.g. a late 19th century
sheep house may well be standing on an
earlier smithy structure).
Two farm mounds were record-
ed, one at the Vatnsfjörður farm itself and
one on the island of Borgarey where a
farm stood in the 18th century. The island
of Borgarey is part of the Vatnsfjörður
farmland but it was not always so; prior
to the 17th century it was an independent
farm but became the property of
Vatnsljörður probably in the 16th or 17th
century. The Borgarey fann was not sur-
veyed in 2003 but further research on the
island would be fruitful as it has been
abandoned since the 18th century
(Á.M.VII, 215-216). The Vatnsfjörður
farm mound is relatively undisturbed as
the mound was abandoned in 1950 and a
new house built just east of the farm
mound.
Various ruins were surveyed
west of the Vatnsfjörður farm mound. All
were outhouses and all were standing on
top of large mounds suggesting continu-
ous activity on each of these sites. North
of the farm two sites were surveyed
which are believed to be þurrabúð, i.e. a
place where poor families lived and were
totally dependent on the main farm. This
interpretation was based on the location
and the general layout of the site. These
houses were quite common on church
farms in the 18th and 19th centuries.
One large boathouse was sur-
veyed, measuring 13x8 meters and open
at one end. From the dimensions, it
would appear that this boathouse was
built for a large vessel, much larger than
the fishing boats that were common in
the Vestfírðir region prior to the 20th cen-
tury. It would be possible for a boathouse
of this size to hold a boat used for the
transport of cargo from different farms
belonging to Vatnsfjörður.
One circular graveyard was sur-
veyed just west of the modem farm. The
graveyard is old and has been in continu-
ous use for the past 200 years, and possi-
bly since the Medieval period. No
archaeological research has been con-
ducted on the churchyard except for a
small excavation on the north side just
outside the yard itself in 1997
(Sveinbjamardóttir et al. 1997). The local
priest noted that during the placement of
new graves in the center of the yard, the
gravediggers found remains of strac-
tures. (Vilhelmsson, pers. comm.) These
structures could well be remains of the
oldest church at Vatnsfjörður as churches
at that time were usually placed in the
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