Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2015, Page 52

Elín Ósk Hreiðarsdóttir, Guðrún Alda Gísladóttir,
Kristborg Þórsdóttir And Ragnheiður Gló Gylfadóttir
Period Number of new farms esta- blished No of farms established in earlier period Total No of farms abando- ned in the period Combined increase/ decrease of settle- ment Estimated overall impact of eruptions in the period
900-1300 46 X 46 (46) 6
1300-1650 37 39 76 7 30 9
1650-1800 31 53 84 24 7 6
1800-1900 24 56 80 28 -4 1
1900-2000 X 23 23 57 X 5
Undatable 33
Table 3. Summary table of established/abandoned farms in Rangárvellir, by period. The estimated impact (final
column) is created by evaluating effects ofeach eruption (minor=l, moderate=2 and great=3) and adding up ofall
eruptions in each period.
and the number of abandoned/relocated
farms. This could suggest that the direct
influences of the eruptions were not the
primary driving force behind farm aban-
donment/relocation. It should be noted
however that the periods used in the pilot
study are too long to pick up the immediate
irnpact of the eruptions.
The low number of known farms in the
earliest period is explained by the fact that
written sources are limited for the period
and survey information and stray finds do
not provide sufficient information to allow
a full reconstruction. The table shows that
despite new farms being established and old
ones abandoned in all periods, the number
of occupied farms/farmsteads stays fairly
stable from 1300 until 1900. This suggests
that a high proportion of abandonment/
establishment of farmsteads in fact repre-
sents relocation. What appears as a large
scale movement of the farmsteads might be
taken as an indicator of the resilience of the
settlement. When erosion or other factors
put the settlement under pressure the farms
were not simply abandoned but rather
moved as far as was believed necessary. The
human settlement of Rangárvellir seems to
have been constantly adjusting to the envi-
ronment. This negotiation between settle-
ment and the environment seems to be one
of the major characteristics of the area and
one of its most fascinating features.
Discussion
The area southeast of Hekla most likely be-
came densely populated in the settlement
period and many farms were built close to
the volcano. The first eruption of Hekla in
historical times was in 1104 and since then
the volcano’s impact on its neighbouring
district has been substantial. The results
of this preliminary study of Rangárvellir
indicate that the influence of Hekla on set-
tlement patterns, economy, landscape and
vegetation was considerable throughout.