Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2015, Page 39

Abandoned Settlements at the Foot of Mt Hekla
Year Duration Preceding inactive period Direction of tephra-fall Destruction
1104 ? >200-300 N Great
1158 ? 53 years NA Minimal
1206 ? 46 years ANA Minimal
1222 ? 15 years ANA Minimal
1300 12 months 78 years N Moderate
1341 ? 40 years S Moderate
1389 ? 47 years SSA Moderate
1510 ? 120 years SV Moderate?
1597 >6 months 86 years SA Minimal
1636 12 months 39 years NA Minimal
1693 7-10 months 56 years NNV Great
1766 24 months 72 years N Moderate
1845 7 months 77 years SA Minimal
1947 13 months 101 years S Minimal
1970 2 months 22 years NNV Minimal
1980-81 1-2 weeks 10 years N Minimal
1991 52 days 10 years NA Minimal
2000 12 days 9 years N Minimal
Table 1. Major eruptions ofHekla, their duration and impact. The table is based on a table that was
first published by SigurSur Þórarinssons in 1968 (Þórarinsson 1968, 171) buthas been updatedand
enhanced based on subsequent studies (Sólnes ed. 2013).
of Iceland than in other regions due to the
prevalence of southerly winds (Hjartarson
1995,143).
The area southwest of Hekla most likely
became populated during the first few dec-
ades of settlement of Iceland when farms
were built quite close to the volcano. The
íirst documented eruption of Hekla in his-
toric times was in 1104 and since then over
20 eruptions have occurred (see table 1)
making Hekla one of the most active vol-
canoes in the world. In the 900 years fol-
lowing the 1104 eruption the settlement
pattern in Rangárvellir has changed signifi-
cantly, most farms seeing either abandon-
ment or relocation, sometimes repeatedly.
The scale of the eruptions of Hekla has
varied and not all of them had an impact
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