Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2005, Page 83

Garðar Guðmundsson, Gavin Lucas, Hildur
Gestsdóttir and Sigríður Þorgeirsdóttir
EXCAVATIONS AT HÓLSKIRKJA,
BOLUNGARVÍK
Fifteen burials and a minimum number of 22 individuals, datingfrom the late 18th
to early 20th centuries, were excavated during renovation work at the church in
Bolungarvík in the summer of2003. This article presents the results of the analy-
sis on the skeletal remains and grave furniture, with a broader discussion of bur-
ial rites in Iceland in the later post-medieval period.
Keywords: Burial, post-medieval, coffin, Northwest Iceland
Introduction
Fifteen burials and a minimum number
of 22 individuals, dating from the late
18th to early 20th centuries, were exca-
vated during renovation work at the
church in Bolungarvík in the summer of
2003. In addition, traces of an earlier, turf
structure - probably another church -
were identified; given the limited condi-
tions of excavation, little can be said of
this structure, and this article will focus
on the burials. The church, Flólskirkja, is
part of the original farm called Hóll,
occupying high ground on the southem
side of the present town of Bolungarvík.
Archaeological excavations were
required as part of planning permission
to underpin the current church, which
was built in 1908, but due to the nature of
underpinning, excavation was limited to
small, square pits in which concrete piers
were to be sunk. Five pits were planned
along the north and south sides with two
at the westem end under the tower, each
about 1 m square. In the event, five were
excavated on the northem side but only
four on the south, while a linear trench
was dug along the east and westem ends
(Fig.l).
Given these conditions, excava-
tion and interpretation was made very
difficult, especially as burials rarely fell
neatly within the opened area. It was far
more common for graves to be partly in
and partly out of the hole; in general, if
more than half the coffín fell within the
test pit, full excavation was attempted,
otherwise graves were left unexcavated
wherever possible. In those instances
where excavation was required, as much
of the burial as possible was retrieved,
but in several instances a portion could
not be retrieved due to the constraints of
the test pit size. Most of the graves were
found in the southem (and westem) test
pits, while the northem test pits gave
information about the earlier church/
stmcture. The eastem trench (including
test pits 5 and 6) was very shallow (c.
0.5m) and no archaeology was observed.
Archaeologia Islandica 4 (2005) 81-102