Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2011, Page 86

DOUGLAS J. BOLENDER, JOHN M. STEINBERG AND BRIAN N. DAMIATA
In theory, the difference between, farm
abandonment and farmstead relocation is
straightforward, but it can be quite
complicated in practice. Abandoned farms
often continued in social memory as
distinct places only to be reoccupied at a
later date and the short-term abandonment
of farms, usually associated with the
demographic impacts of famine or disease,
was a common occurrence in the historical
record (Vasey 1991). Also the
abandonment of a fann property did not
mean that the land was no longer in use.
The land associated with many abandoned
farms came under the control and
productive use of other farms. For
example, in Langholt the farm
Meðalheimur appears to have originated as
an early independent farm that was later
incorporated into the property belonging to
Glaumbær as a hjáleiga (dependent fann),
and finally abandoned as a farm around
1700 only to be used into the 19th century
as a sheep house (Sigurðardóttir 2011). In
these cases farm abandonment often
indicates not the abandonment of the land
but the dissolution of the farming
household while the land was incorporated
into other properties where it - with its
ruins, fields, and boundaries - could
continue to shape pattems of land use and
travel (Aldred and Lucas 2010).
In the survey area we found evidence
for two relatively straight-forward
farmstead relocations: Stóra-Seyla and
Glaumbær. At each site, there is temporal
continuity between two discrete farmstead
locations. Both moves appear to have
occurred in the second half of the llth
century and the new farmsteads were
placed within 150 meters of the old sites,
less than a third of the distance to their
nearest contemporary neighbors
(Torfgarður and Marbæli respectively).
There is no reason to think that farmsteads
could not have relocated over longer
distances; however inferring such a move
may be more ambiguous, especially when
the original boundaries of the farm are
uncertain and the two farmsteads could
easily represent different farm properties.
Ideally, archaeologists could point to
similarities in the layout or practices
between relocated farmsteads but this is
practically difficult as most relocated
farmsteads are at the bottom of
farm-mounds. When compared to the
overall settlement pattem in the survey
area, these two farms exhibit certain
similarities that provide some insights into
farmstead relocation.
The definitions for farmstead
abandonment and relocation used here are
derived from archaeological survey and
are largely concerned with basic
descriptions of the farm or farmstead as a
whole and not the sequencing of
individual elements of the farmstead.
They largely ignore the complex issues of
farmstead maintenance and reorganization
apparent at many Viking Age sites. For
example, excavations at Keldudalur in
Hegranes show that the Viking Age
fanuhouse was moved and later became
the site of a Christian cemetery (Zoéga
2008). The reorganization of the site was
all within the footprint of the
contemporary farm-mound. Similarly, site
relocation may have been a complex
process taking place in increments as
buildings and activities were moved
piecemeal from the old location to the
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