Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2015, Page 55

Abandoned Settlements at the Foot op Mt Hekla
close to Hekla. This research will answer
several crucial questions in the coming
years about the establishment, develop-
ment and abandonment of the settlement
of Rangárvellir. The investigation will not
only throw light on the history of the dis-
trict but will also contribute to the more
general study of volcanic impacts on settle-
ment and human-environmental interac-
tion in general.
Acknowledgements
The initial survey work this article is based
on was conducted on behalf of the local
community of Rangárþing Ytra. Without
that work we would have limited knowl-
edge about the eroding settlements in
the area. The pilot study was funded with
grants from Þjóðhátíðarsjóður, Fornleifa-
sjóður and Menningarsjóður Suðurlands
for which the authors are grateful. The au-
thors would like to thank Skógasafn and
the National Museum for granting access
to material from Rangárvellir and Þórður
Tómasson for information about stray
finds in the area. Ihey would additionally
like to thank other team members for their
contribution, Oscar Aldred for producing
maps and Orri Vésteinsson for useful com-
ments. The article has also benefitted from
the valuable insights of and comments
by Gavin Lucas. The authors would like
to thank them as well as the anonymous
reviewers.
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