Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2015, Page 54

Elín Ósk Hreiðarsdóttir, Guðrún Alda Gísladóttir,
Kristborg Þórsdóttir And Ragnheiður Gló Gylfadóttir
Individual eruptions no doubt had negative
effects but more significant in the long run
were the indirect and cumulative eífects
which the volcanic activity (compounded
by land-use and climate change) had on
soil erosion. Despite this the settlement
persisted, continuously adapting farming
practices and land-use to environmental
changes.
The abandonment and re-positioning of
the farmsteads in the district has produced
a substantial archaeological resource,
with a large number of sites awaiting in-
vestigation and large continuous areas of
abandonment providing opportunities for
landscape analysis and environmental re-
construction. To determine to what degree
the abandoned farms in Rangárvellir are the
result of farm movement/relocation rather
than abandonment in the sense that the
farming operation was terminated, further
research is needed. The question of aban-
donment vs. relocation is one that has not
been addressed systematically in Icelandic
archaeology. The focus of future research in
Rangárvellir will be directed towards bet-
ter understanding of these processes in the
vicinity of Hekla which we hope will also
provide new insights into other abandoned
settlements in Iceland.
The relocation and abandonment of
farms in Rangárvellir probably started in
the first period of settlement, and it con-
tinued until the 20th century leaving an
archaeological trail that, aided by a dense
tephra sequence, gives a great opportunity
to trace the history of settlement in the area
and detect changes in settlement patterns
and farming practices.
Research opportunities in the area
around Hekla are vast. Out of the 149
known abandoned farmsteads 82 were
classified as having good potential for fur-
ther investigation. They have one or more
of the following in common:
a) Very little is known about their origin/
abandonment or overall history
b) They are at a high risk of being destroyed
in the near future
c) They were abandoned before the end of
the 19th century and did therefore not
suffer from modern construction or
farming practices.
In the future our aim is to investigate more
closely the sites classified with the highest
research value with the help of aerial recon-
naissance. The results of detailed mapping
and photography will be used to select a
smaller number of sites for more detailed
investigations, including trenching.
Even if a part of the abandoned farm-
steads close to Hekla is still in good condi-
tion the remains of some have completely
disappeared in the last decades. Continued
erosion, soil movement and forestry pose
a great risk to some of the most notewor-
thy places, including scheduled sites (Icel.
friðlýstar minjar).
This paper marks the beginning of a
larger scale investigation of the settlement
52