Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2010, Síða 120

OSCAR ALDRED, ELÍN ÓSK HREIÐARSDÓTTIR AND ÖSKAR GÍSLI SVEINBJARNARSON
smaller impact on the archaeology than
in many other European countries, it
nonetheless has transformed former
urban hinterlands.
As mentioned above, much of the
archaeology in Iceland consists of
earthworks, and for the most part,
negative features which produce
cropmarks (crop growth in ploughed
fields that shows the underlying negative
features such as ditches and pits) and
soilmarks (plough marks that have
scorched the underlying features), do not
constitute any appreciable component that
is observable on aerial photographs in the
country. Although buried archaeology
does exist, especially in the wake of home
field levelling after the war, it rarely
constitutes infilled negative features (e.g.
systems of ditches etc.) which are
characteristic of lowland areas in other
parts of Europe. Thus parchmarks
(differential vegetation growth relating to
underlying features) and related
phenomena are also of limited value and
the condition under which these types of
sites are visible from the air depends on
suitable longer term weather conditions,
such as droughts which do not readily
occur in Iceland. However, little research
and systematic testing of areas have been
carried out and therefore one cannot
dismiss the presence of this type of aerial
feature until more experimental and
comparative studies have been made. It is
likely that, under the right conditions in
Copyright FSÍ & DigitalGlobe Incorporated, Longmont CO USA 80503-6493
Figure 4. Part of the area of Garðar, south-west Iceland, mapped for the Kortlagning fomleifa af
gervihnattamyndum project - mapping of boundaries and other linear features using
DigitalGlobe satellite imagery (Copyright DigitalGlobe Incorporated Longmont CO USA
80503-6493).
118