Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2009, Page 46

Richard E. Hughes and Gavin M. Lucas
with the goal of reconstructing continui-
ties and contrasts in obsidian convey-
ance, mobility pattems, and differences
in social ranking. To our knowledge, no
comparable research has been published
on Icelandic archaeological specimens,
so we conducted and report here a pilot
study on obsidian artifacts recovered
from the Viking age settlement of
Hofstaðir in northeastem Iceland.
Background to the Site
Hofstaðir lies in the Laxá valley in the
district of Mývatn, northeastem Iceland;
the Viking period settlement lies about
lOOm northeast from the Medieval and
Modem farm and was excavated between
1992 and 2002 by the Institute of
Archaeology, Iceland (Friðriksson &
Vésteinsson 1997; Friðriksson et al.
2004; Lucas 2007)'. Prior investigations
in 1908 removed much of the abandon-
ment layers but left most of the occupa-
tion and structural deposits intact (Bmun
& Jónsson 1909; 1910; 1911). The Viking
settlement consists of a long hall or skáli,
38m in length with turf walls surviving to
a height of nearly a meter with numerous
The investigations at Hofstaðir began as part of a
wider project surveying all temple or hof sites in
Iceland in 1991 to assess the coherence of such sites
purely in terms of their archaeology (Friðriksson
1994). In the context of the 1991 hof project,
Hofstaðir was thus the obvious example to select for
further investigation and so in 1992, a trial evalua-
tion was conducted on the site which led in 1995 to
the establishment of a full research excavation proj-
ect. The project subsequently became an intemation-
al collaboration between the Icelandic Institute of
Archaeology (Fornliefastofnun íslands) and the
North Atlantic Biocultural Organization (NABO),
with members from North America, Scotland,
Iceland and England all participating in the investi-
gation. Funded from various sources including the
Icelandic Science Council (Rannís), the US National
Science Foundation (NSF) and the Nordic Council
(NOS-H programme) enabled the project to mn a
large team every year as well as a field school for
students on Icelandic archaeology. Preparation of the
final monograph is underway.
<2>
10m
Figure 2. The Viking Settlement at Hofstaðir.
postholes and post pads marking out the
timber load-bearing frame for the build-
ing (Figure 2). There are numerous sub-
divisions within the hall which had a
central hearth and two cross-passageways
at either end leading outside and/or to
other structures. The floor, though tmn-
cated in parts by the earlier excavations,
survived to a substantial thickness along
the centre of the building. Around the
long hall are seven associated structures:
one deep sunken featured building, two
shallower, semi-sunken featured build-
ings and four turf structures. Sheet mid-
den deposits encircle all the buildings
with more discrete dumps in certain
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