Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2010, Page 24

ORRI VÉSTEINSSON
6. Schematic representation of the location of farmsteads in a typical N-Iceland valley.
noteworthy that organic preservation is
as a rule rather good in the Icelandic
farm-mounds, even if soil conditions in
the vicinity of the sites are not conducive
to the preservation of organic materials.
Such localised conditions are created by
materials compacting to a degree where
aerobic breakdown does not occur or
only very slowly. The compacting of
floor layers, turf collapse and middens on
site therefore contributes to the retention
of volume in a farm-mound, i.e. instead
of breaking down to its mineral compo-
nents organic materials remain intact.
This is primarily significant for turf
which can have a high organic content
(roots) and to a lesser degree for animal
bones and wood.
Another local variable that affects the
accumulation of farm-mounds is land-
scape morphology. Icelandic farmhouses
are as a rule situated on high ground, on
small rises or breaks of slopes (Fig. 6).
The reasons for this may be several, but
easier drainage and less snow accumula-
tion seem to be the most important con-
siderations although defensive and
aesthetic reasons may also be significant.
Early settlements like Hofstaðir,
Hrísheimar and Skallakot, situated in
sheltered conditions at the foot of hills,
are atypically located and their disadvan-
tageous location may have played a part
in their early abandonment. When the
hillock or small rise is situated on flat
land the conditions for farm-mound accu-
mulation are good. When however - as is
very often the case - the farm site is on a
slope the outcome may be very different.
In such conditions intentional removal of
disused turf and refuse from the site is
made much easier by the slope - the
excess material is simply thrown out the
doorway and will then slide down the
slope (creating perhaps diagonal strati-
graphies and accumulations at the foot of
the slope). In such conditions rainwater
will also move matter more easily and
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