Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2010, Page 26

ORRI VÉSTEINSSON
7. Hofstaðir farm-mound photographed in 2005, looking west. The extent of the mound is
indicated by the distribution of the buttercups. Trench of the chapel and cemetery excavation
in the foreground.
Another example of limited accumu-
lation is Laufás in the central north. An
excavation inside the still standing turf
house revealed that in the long central
passage the cultural deposits total only 40
cm in thickness (Fig. 8). There is good
documentary evidence that this farm-
complex with its central passage has been
on the same spot at least since the 16th
century (Hörður Ágústsson 2004, 73-
103) and the earliest deposits in the pas-
sage certainly are at least that old,
judging from the absence of glass, pot-
tery and clay-pipes frequent in the upper
layers. The surface of the passage floor
was up to 40 cm lower than the floor in
adjacent rooms, suggesting that the
deposits could be up to 80 cm thick under
the farm. Furthermore it was clear that
the front row of rooms in the complex
covered deeper stratigraphies as pre 17th
century remains were situated in a cut, at
least 30 cm deep. The accumulation in
the front row can therefore be as much as
1,5 m whereas at the rear it nowhere
exceeds 1 m (Orri Vésteinsson 2000).
There is documentary evidence for the
Laufás farm from the 12th century
(Sturlunga saga I, 123) and every reason
to believe that it was established much
earlier, in the settlement period, either
side of 900 AD. At Stóraborg the rate of
accumulation was some 40 cm per centu-
ry and even if the more turf friendly cli-
mate of North Iceland is taken into
account and a 20 cm accumulation per
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