Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2006, Page 52

Steffen Stummann Hansen and John Sheehan
Figure 15. a: wooden cross from Toftanes in a length of 38.5 cm; b: fragment of wooden cross from
Toftanes preserved in a length of 35.0 cm. Photo: Haldane Joensen/Foroya Fornminnissavn.
world. In this context, it would not be at
all surprising to find Irish elements in the
archaeology of the period, such as the fea-
tures of the Leirvík Bonhústoftin.
Conclusions
The authors propose that the fíonhús-
toftin in Leirvík is a fine example of a
North Atlantic form of ecclesiastical
site that has its ultimate origins in Early
Medieval Ireland. Irish influence on the
Scandinavian settlers of the North Atlan-
tic may have been mediated through
the Hiberno-Scandinavian communities
during the second half of the ninth and
the tenth century, though it remains a
strong possibility that the form of these
early sites was due to the iníluence of
pre-Viking papar in the Faroe Islands,
the presence of whom is most strongly
indicated by the archaeological evidence
frorn Skúvoy. The implication of this
study is that the initial Christianisation
of the North Atlantic region owes more
to Ireland than to Norway, and may have
occurred significantly earlier than is con-
ventionally accepted.
Acknowledgements
The authors want to express their thanks
to Hákun Andreasen of Foroya Fornmin-
nissavn, who helped plan the site and pro-
vided useful information, to Anna Katrin
Matras, likewise of the Foroya Fornmin-
nissavn, who kindly provided information
on other sites in the Faroe Islands, to Gud-
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