Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2011, Page 95

FARMSTEAD RELOCATION AT THE END OF THE VIKING AGE.
RESULTS OF THE SKAGAFJÖRÐUR ARCHAEOLOGICAL SETTLEMENT SURVEY
of farni-mound occupation through either
excavation or geophysics. In most cases
we have comparative information on the
extent of the Viking Age component of
farm-mounds as a concentration of
buildings and middens, the timing of
farmstead establishment, and small
samples of faunal and flora remains írom
the middens. However, we know little
about the architectural layout of the earliest
phases of the farm-mounds, including the
relocated farmsteads. Even with these
qualifications, the available evidence from
the small survey suggests several
important caveats for our understanding of
the Viking Age in Iceland.
First, and perhaps most significant is
that farmstead relocation appears to be
relatively rare in the Viking Age and
completely absent ffom other time periods.
Most fanusteads were established where
they are today and no farmsteads relocated
after approximately AD 1100. Farmstead
relocation appears to be a phenomenon
associated with the Viking Age.
Neither the timing of farmstead
establishment nor the duration of
occupation appears to be a significant
factor in fannstead relocation. Stóra-Seyla
was one of the first farms established
within the survey area and quite possibly
one of the original landnám farms along
with Reynistaður. The Lower Seyla
farmstead was occupied for well over a
century before moving and has a complex
architectural history. Lower Glaumbær
was established relatively late in the
overall settlement sequence in the survey
area, around AD 1000, and shows only one
major phase of occupation before it
moved. As Lucas (2009:398) points out,
the multi-generation occupations evident
at many relocated Viking Age sites
suggests that movement is not obviously
related to the life cycle of resident
households although it is certainly possible
that relocations were coincident with
major transitions, such as intergenerational
transfers, within the family.
Both Lower Stóra-Seyla and Lower
Glaumbær were large farmsteads during
the Viking Age. However, there are other
large farms whose farmsteads do not
relocate. Size, in of itself, does not appear
to be predictive of farmstead relocation.
However, we have no evidence that any of
the medium- or small-sized farmsteads
relocated. Thus, while large size is
probably not a cause of farmstead
relocation, large size does seem to be
associated with farmstead relocation.
Other scholars have posited environmental
change and Christianization as possible
motivations for farmstead relocation.
Given the commonality in fann size, we
add household status as a potential
dimension in relocation and address each
in the context of the Langholt evidence.
Environmental change
Cataclysmic or severe degradation of the
local environment resulting from volcanic
eruptions or massive erosion has been a
common explanation of highland farm
abandonment (Bruun 1897; Stenberger
andRoussell 1943; Þórarinsson 1977). For
other highland farms environmental
changes may have been an important, if
not a cataclysmic, factor in farmstead
abandonment (Sveinbjamardóttir 1992).
Clearly regional environmental change is
not an explanation for the relocated
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