Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2006, Page 37

ThE LEIRVÍK “B0NHÚSTOFTIN” AND THE EARLY CHRISTIANITY OF THE FaROE ISLANDS, AND BEYOND
Figiire 6. Photograph of the ancient church site at Hvalvík on Streymoy. Photo: J. Sheehan 2006.
archaeological excavation, nor do they
have any forrn of independent dating
evidence for their construction or use.
However, there are a series of similar
ecclesiastical enclosures known from the
Shetland Isles, Iceland and Greenland
and some of these can be dated. Indeed,
the similarities that exist between all of
these sites may be taken as indicators of
the cultural connections that joined these
parts of the North Atlantic world during
the Early Medieval period.
In Shetland, an ecclesiastical site
at Kirkaby on the island of Unst, should
be considered in this context. This con-
sists of a sub-circular enclosure, measur-
ing approximately 27 m in diameter, con-
taining a church with internal dimensions
of approximately 10 m by 5 m (Brady
and Johnson 2000, 22-25, figs. 7-8). The
unpublished circular churchyard walls at
Hillswick, on mainland Shetland, and on
the small island of Uyea, off the coast of
Unst, should also be noted.
A number of ecclesiastical enclo-
sures of sub-circular form also occur on
Iceland. Lárusson has discussed these and
has proposed that they are earlier in date
than the rectilinear ones that also occur
there (Lárusson 1963, 399—401; see also
Sigurðsson 2000). There is a problem in
dating these sites, but it seems to be clear
that several examples predate the Hekla
eruption of 1104. Otherwise it is usu-
ally assumed that such circular sites are
“early” rather than “late”, if only because
several of them are associated with sites
that were abandoned before c.1700 and
are otherwise very rare in early modern
contexts (pers. comm., O. Vésteinsson).
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