Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 2015, Blaðsíða 35

ÁRBÓK FORNLEIFAFÉLAGSINS34
the mound within the Hrífunes burial ground and its similarity to other graves in
the area means that it is possible to identify this as a kuml with some confidence.
Two loose finds within the erosion surface, a whetstone and a smooth pebble were
possibly associated with this grave.
Kuml 7 was better preserved, although its eastern end had been damaged by
erosion. It consisted of a sub-rectangular structure, 1.7 x 2.8 m in size, marked
by a single row of stones surrounding a low turf mound. The mound had been
reopened in antiquity and the burial disturbed. Within the recut of the grave
were recovered skeletal remains of a woman aged 60±13 years at the time of her
death as well as artefacts, including a whetstone, a spindle whorl, rivets from a
comb, several beads and part of an iron necklet (Thor‘s hammer ring), the first
of its kind to be found in Iceland. The excavation was hampered by the fact that
groundwater levels in the area had risen since the burial was placed there, so all the
artefacts were found underwater. Several structural elements were found around
the burial, post-holes and timber remains, suggesting that there was some sort of a
structure contemporary with the original interment. In addition several postholes
were found cut into the mound which covered the burial, although their function
is not clear.
Both kuml 6 and kuml 7 post-dated the 871±2 landnám tephra and predated the
tephra from the 934±2 eruption in Eldgjá. It is quite significant that it is not only
the initial burial which predates 934±2, but also the disturbance of kuml 7. This
means that the burial and subsequent re-opening 0f the grave in kuml 7 both took
place within a c. 60 year period. It is suggested here that this, accompanied with
the structural remains associated with the initial interment, indicates that burial
practices in Viking Age Iceland were perhaps more complicated than previously
discussed.