Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2015, Page 14

JORIS COOLEN AND NATASCHA MeHLER
ISrfaker
•irastada
!’•::t(i. t-1:'
H ng'eyr.as jandujr
lattí
sandur
’flatir
‘ ~Q%f2 0 ^rirauit
~:í nf
rin gdyrowippgi
irnew
ibj<fj'iuirn#s)
Figure 1. Map oflceland showing the location and topography ofÞingeyrar (map data Landmælingar íslands).
Today, the site hosts a stone built
church (Þingeyrakirkja) surrounded by
a small graveyard, a visitors’ centre and a
horse farm, which consists of several build-
ings and horse training facilities. A circular
structure measuring approximately 25 m in
diameter can be observed in the homefield
between the farm and the modern church.
The structure is known as a dómhringur
(transl. court circle) (Fig. 2) and has been
interpreted as an enclosure that belonged
to a former assembly site (Jónsson 1895;
Friðriksson et al. 2005, 22-25; Zoéga et al.
2006, 28-30). Between the dómhringur and
the farm is a concrete platform with a group
of 19th-century gravestones. Ihe latter
monument marks the site of the previous
cemetery that was abandoned in the early
20th century. It has been assumed that the
preceding church was located somewhere
inside this old cemetery area. However, the
area has been widely levelled, and neither
the extent of the cemetery nor the location
and layout of the church was known in de-
tail prior to our survey.
Historical background
According to written sources, Þingeyrar
is the location of one of Iceland's region-
al assembly sites and also that of one of
Iceland's earliest monasteries. Ihe assem-
bly site is mentioned in various sagas and
annals, including Landnámabók, the Sagas
12