Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2007, Qupperneq 79

A REASSESSMENT OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CATHEDRAL AT GARÐAR, GREENLAND
About 50 Norse structures have
been identified in Igaliku, making Garðar
by far the largest Norse farm in Green-
land. It is, however, unknown how many
of the structures and buildings were con-
temporary (fig. 2). The ruins are spread
over an area measuring more than 900 by
600 metres with the majority located in
the home field (the grey area in fig. 2).
The home field, too, was the largest in
Norse Greenland, measuring more than
15 hectares, and here a system of chan-
nels and dams have been interpreted as an
intricate irrigation system securing water
to the home field in case of dry spells
(fig. 2, nos. 41—43 , 46, 49-52).
The central part of the farm is
located in the middle of the home field
and comprises the church with surround-
ing churchyard (fig 3, no. 1), the main
residence (fig 3, no. 8) and a variety of
outhouses and other structures, includ-
ing two very large byre-bam complexes
(fig. 3, nos. 14 and 9). The walls run-
ning west from no. 10 and northeast from
no. 12 may have closed off this area and
created a somewhat irregular yard (fig.
3). Two large enclosures are found to
the south (fig. 2, 39-40) and parts of
the home field fence have been located
(fig. 2, 47^18). The remaining structures
in and outside the home field have been
identified as various outhouses, but the
actual use of many of these buildings is
still in doubt. A number of ruins lying to
the north of the home field (fig. 2, 27,
30-35) have been interpreted as possible
booths, used in connection with the thing-
meetings which Fóstbrœðra saga claims
took place at Garðar (Halldórsson 1978,
47). Archaeologically, the structures have
yet to be thoroughly investigated and the
claim from Fóstbrœðra saga is therefore
still unconfirmed.
Research history
The research which has taken place in
Igaliku is varied, and has taken place over
a long period of time. Here I will concen-
trate on the research which concerns the
cathedral. No doubt the cathedral is also
the one ruin in Igaliku which has received
the most attention over the years, but I
would like to stress that much other work
has been done. However, it is beyond the
scope of this paper to give a full account
of the research history at the site. The
first description of Igaliku is from 1779
when the site was visited by Aaron
Arctander during a reconnaissance jour-
ney undertaken to find suitable places for
cattle raising (Arctander 1793, 1208-15).
But another 50 years were to pass before
the real exploration of the ruins started.
In 1828 the geologist C.F. Pingel visited
Igaliku and correctly interpreted the func-
tion of the church building. His findings
were published in 1832 (Pingel 1832), but
before Pingel’s article came out another
thing had happened.
In 1830 a fragmented rune stone
was unearthed in Igaliku. Jens Math-
iesen, the colonial manager in Julianeháb
(present day Qaqortoq) was alerted, and
the stone was sent to Copenhagen where
it was identified as a grave marker. Later
the same year Mathiesen went to Igaliku
in an attempt to find the missing part of
the stone. Mathiesen worked in the cem-
etery, inside one of the ruins and suppos-
edly a couple of places outside ruins. In
the cemetery he discovered human bones,
but he did not find the missing piece of
the rune stone (Pingel ed. 1836, 126-
28). The find of the rune stone sparked
interest in the ruins in Igaliku and at the
behest of The Royal Society of Northern
Antiquaries several investigations took
place in the 1830’s. These investigations
77