Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2013, Page 20

AGUSTA EDWALD AND KAREN MILEK
the only access to the cattle byre was
through this narrow corridor from the
kitchen. The drain was located up against
the thick turf, stone-faced wall that
separated the two rooms (the eastem wall
of the byre). On the westem side of the
drain there was room for three cows. An
irregular cut into the floor on the westem
side of the drain suggests that some stall
stmctures were in place. The byre had two
different organic floor deposits which lay
on top of a layer of turf, which will have
been laid to level and dry out the floor.
Two different deposits were excavated
from the drain in the cattle byre. The
upper fill was dark and organic while the
lower one (which could potentially belong
to an earlier phase of the room) was rich in
peat ash. Peat was one of the main fuels
used at the farm and it is possible that ash
from the stove in the kitchen was scattered
in the drain to dry it out or to extinguish
bad odours (Milek 2012). It may also be
that a fire was lit in the drain to help dry
out the cattle byre, which was often very
damp (e.g. see 1920 inspection report,
table 2), however, there was no clear
indication of an in situ fire in the
excavated deposits in the drain.
Phase 3 of the structure (Fig 5) is
marked by the blocking up of the corridor
between the cattle byre and the kitchen
and the construction of a new entrance out
of the byre to the north. The drain was
filled in with soil and stones and the whole
room levelled with thin layers of turf. It is
likely that the function of this room
changed during this phase, as the blocking
of the drain makes it unlikely that it was
still being used to house cattle. The most
likely function of the room during this
phase was as a storage room.
Phase 2 of the kitchen (Fig 4) is
marked by the construction of a heavy
basalt stone stove (Fig 6) in the northeast
comer of the room. It is likely that before
this occupation phase and the construction
of the stove the room served a different
purpose. According to the inspection
records a former baðstofa was tumed into
a kitchen in 1868. Three floor deposits
were excavated ffom this phase of the
kitchen. They were all very compact
layers, made up of a mix of organic silt,
peat- and wood ash. Two cuts where
placed through the floor deposits. The
smaller of the cuts was a concave cut
which most likely supported a piece of
fumiture, while the larger one was packed
with stone and may have supported a
stmctural post.
The later phase of the kitchen, phase 3,
is marked by a series of stmctural changes
(Fig 5). When the corridor between the
kitchen and the cattle byre was blocked
another course of stones was added to the
northern wall of the kitchen on the
westem side of the stove and to the
westem side of the stove itself. A series of
floor deposits were excavated from this
phase, all similar in makeup to the floor
deposits in the earlier phase, with varying
degrees of wood ash and peat ash
inclusions. A cut feature below the stove
was excavated in this phase. It was filled
with ash and is probably where the embers
were stowed away when the stove was not
in use. An L-shaped cut was excavated in
front of the stove, up against the eastem
wall of the kitchen, which probably
supported a piece of fumiture such as a
box or shelf to keep fuel for the stove.
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