Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2006, Qupperneq 34

Steffen Stummann Hansen and John Sheehan
vertical face. At east-southeast an exter-
nal veitir abuts the bank and continues
down towards north for a distance of
about 12 m, and this has resulted in a
narrowing of the width of the bank here.
A short stretch of well-preserved bank
is extant at northeast, but it has been
completely removed at north. This was
caused when an area, measuring c. 10 m
north-south by c.9 m east-west and up to
0.8 m in depth, which incorporated part
of the enclosure at north, was dug away.
This resulted in a low vertical edge to
the site, averaging 0.6 m in height, at
this point. No visible trace of the site’s
enclosing element is apparent at north-
west, though here the line of a curving
veitir preserves its probable course.
The building is centrally located,
approximately, within the enclosure. It is
a rectangular structure, with its long axis
aligned east-west and with an entrance
passageway at west. Internally, it meas-
ures 3.6 m east-west by 2.7 m north-
south, while externally it has dimensions
of 11.4 m east-west by 7.6 m north-south.
Its walls, earthen banks furnished with
coursed stone-facing internally, stand up
to 0.65 m in internal height. Externally,
at west, the long sides of the building
extend for a further 4.6 m to form its
entrance passageway. This averages 1 m
in width and there are some indications
of stone facing evident on its northern
side.
There is a large boulder/outcrop
of basalt located about 1 m southeast of
the building’s corner. It measures 1.6 m
by 1 m and features two bored holes.
These latter are of recent origin.
The North Atlantic context
The essential characteristics of the Leir-
vík site - a small rectangular structure,
oriented east-west, set within a sub-circu-
lar enclosure - suggest that it belongs to
a group of sites interpreted as chapels.
Other examples of sites of this type sur-
vive in the Faroe Islands, including those
at Bonhúsgarður (English: farm of the
prayer-house) in Norðoyri, on the out-
skirts of the town of Klaksvík (Hansen,
1980, 150-156; Trap 1968, 306), at B0n-
húsgjógv (English: prayer-house ravine)
in Famjin on Suðuroy4, at Prestb^toft
(English: ruin in the field of the priest) in
Oyndarfjorður on Eysturoy (Bruun, 1929,
166; Trap 1968, 294), at Bonhúsflotu
(English: the prayer-house at the plain) in
Hvalba on the island of Suðuroy5, and at
a site in Velbastaður on Streymoy (Fig.
4)6. The bonhús place-name element
occurs at approximately thirty other loca-
tions in the Faroe Islands, and is always
attached to settlements. At a number of
these locations there are as yet no archaeo-
logical indications to confirm the pres-
ence of an ecclesiastical site, but there are
no recorded examples of the place-name
element being attached to other types of
site (Stummann Hansen,forthcomingA).
A rather well-preserved bonhús-
site is located close to the settlement
known as Heiman á, on the island of
4 Nothing is visible on this site today. An aerial photograph, taken in 1968, shows a dark structure which probably reflects half
of the sub-circular churchyard wall. This area has a diameter of approximately 20 m. The other half of the enclosure has been
eroded away by the sea.
5Pers. com., Oliver S. Thomsen, Tórshavn. According to Thomsen the ruins of the church site could still be seen here in the
1930s.
6 Archives of the National Museum of the Faroe Islands (Sverri Dahl). No local name exists for this site, despite the fact that
it is very well preserved.
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