Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2009, Page 13

SOCIAL AND SYMBOLIC LANDSCAPES IN LaTE IrON AGE ICELAND
tural landscape point in the same direc-
tion: frequently, burials are found in
locations which are inherently chosen
with reference to the farmhouses, such as
at the crossroads between the main road
and the home track leading towards the
farm. In some cases, burials have been
found on or near to boundaries between
two farms (Friðriksson 2004a, b).
Whether such sites served either one or
both adjacent farms remains ambiguous,
but in those cases where the boundary is
also a natural feature, and an obstacle,
such as a glacial river, it is unlikely that
the burials belong to the farm on the
opposite river bank.
Perhaps the strongest argument for the
single-farm grave fíeld pattem is the
small number of graves found at each
site. The great majority of Icelandic
grave fíelds would be considered minis-
cule in comparison to many other
European Iron Age societies. Whilst
graveyards in Northern Europe may
count dozens, hundreds or even thou-
sands of graves, the largest ones in
lceland have only 10-13 graves, but over
90% of the Icelandic sites have less than
five graves!
This however may be a question of
nucleation; thus, was there one grave
field at each farm, or perhaps several
grave locations within the same proper-
ty? There are some 330 graves that have
been uncovered in the country so far (at
these 160 sites), but the available reports
for most of them are lacking in detail, as
the sites were frequently chance fmds,
and many have limited value as evidence
for various aspects of burial practices.
Although many of the reports are mea-
gre, the location of these sites can by and
large be verifíed and confímied. Despite
these shortcomings, it appears to have
been the overarching mle to have only a
single grave fíeld at each farm1.
However, while the grave fíelds may
have been in a logical, spatial relation-
ship to a single farm, it does not exclude
the possibility that the grave site served
for a larger community. The distribution
of burial sites can be informative in this
respect. Pagan graves are found in most
habitable regions of Iceland, and without
doubt, more graves will come to light in
due course. It is interesting to look at the
distances between any two burial sites.
The loneliest and most isolated fínd is
that of Bakki on the eastern coast of
Iceland. This is the sole find for a large
area, some 55 km away from any other
known burial site. A single grave was
found at Bakki farm during construction
work and the site has never been investi-
gated. But this information is of little
value for our understanding of the rela-
tionship between communities and grave-
yards. The east coast is the area where
there has been the least archaeological
activity since the beginning of antiquari-
an work in the country, and more graves
are bound to be uncovered there sooner
or later. At the other end of the scale,
there are a few adjacent farms, each with
a known burial site within their propeity-
Perhaps the best cases are those of the
burial sites in Berufjörður in the
Westfjords and Dalvík in N-Iceland. In
Beruljörður alone, there are four known
sites, and there are four farm settlements
at the end of the ijord. At the bay of
Dalvík there are three sites, possibly
belonging to the three farms at the coast
of the bay. The shortest distance between
any two burial sites in these areas ranges
from c. 300 m to 500 m. There are some
1 There are vague execeptions, with incomplete
records, such as the sites of Selfoss and Alfsstaðir,
S-Iceland.
n