Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2015, Page 36

Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2015, Page 36
Eli'n Ósk Hreiðarsdóttir, Guðrún Alda Gísladóttir, Kristborg Þórsdóttir And Ragnheiður Gló Gylfadóttir Figure 1. A map ofthe research area. Map: Oscar Aldred. south of the river Þverá (Fig. 1). Rangár- vellir has been heavily aífected by soil ero- sion, reaching a peak in the late 19thcentury when many farms were permanently aban- doned. Until recently the archaeology of Rangárvellir has been poorly understood and no major excavations have been car- ried out there. Between 2006 and 2009 an archaeological field survey identified over 1800 sites (Edwald 2008; Þórsdóttir 2010). It was the first comprehensive survey of the district and among other things it revealed a very high number of abandoned farm- steads, 149 in an area which traditionally has supported 60 farms. The abandoned farms seemed to date from diíferent periods and the sites were in a very varied condition; while erosion and other threats had dam- aged or destroyed many, others were very well preserved. An evaluation of threats to the archaeology demonstrates that some of the sites will disappear in the next few de- cades unless drastic measures are taken. The high number of abandoned settle- ments called for further research in order to understand the nature of the abandonment and to what extent it was influenced by eruptions in Hekla and changing environ- mental conditions in the area. In order to do just that and to take the first steps towards a focused research plan, a pilot study was car- ried out in 2011-2012 (Aldred et al. 2012). 34

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Archaeologia Islandica

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