Fornbyli Landscape and Archaeological Survey on Hegranes (FLASH) Final Report 2017

• Main Author: Kathryn Catlin
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Arctic Data Center 2018
• Subjects: archaeology; Hegranes; Iceland
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.18739/A2NG4D

This report describes survey, excavation, and environmental analysis carried out at outlying ruins and archaeological places (fornbyli) on Hegranes, Skagafjordur, North Iceland in 2017, as well as updates to work carried out in 2015 and 2016. The FLASH research had two primary purposes: first, to locate, date, and characterize the nature of the activities performed at the fornbyli locations; and second, to describe and understand the sequences of soil erosion, sediment deposition, and landscape change that have occurred on Hegranes since the settlement of Iceland ca. 870 AD. Preliminary interpretations suggest that many fornbyli were inhabited early, that the sites were reused for multiple purposes after habitation ceased, through the medieval period and later, and that the overall landscape of Hegranes has been subject to significant erosion and alteration over the course of its history. Most of the fornbyli were inhabited prior to ca. 950 AD, and several of them were relatively large during the 10th and 11th centuries, comparable in size to farms that would later become much larger and more successful. Others seem only to have been inhabited for a short time, perhaps as a temporary or seasonal work site. None show evidence of habitation much after ca. 1104, and from that time until after the late 18th century, many of the sites were rebuilt as farm infrastructure for livestock management (stekkir and beitarhus, constructed between 1104 and the 19th century, are often still visible), only to be finally abandoned and fall to ruin before the 20th century. Preliminary environmental analysis suggests two significant periods of erosion: prior to 1104, and after 1766, roughly corresponding to the periods when the use of the sites was changing. Preliminary analysis of carbon content at nearby mires further suggests that wetlands were more likely to persist through time close to the sites than farther away, perhaps a result of intentional preservation to support wetland exploitation. Indeed, coring further shows that wetlands near most of the sites were exploited for peat and turf through most of their history.