Excavations at Glaumbær - Fiske Center

More documents

Recommendations

Info

uilding were only exposed in sufficient detail to define context boundaries. In a small number of cases, deposits directly overlaying walls were removed to expose the walls. In most cases these were lenses of midden material, primarily peat ash. In some areas, for example the east wall of the skáli, it was possible to define the orientation and approximate boundaries of the turf wall without fully exposing it based on patterns in the overlying Hekla 1104 ash layer. In general inside boundaries of turf walls were not fully exposed. This was done to leave as much of the internal deposit undisturbed as possible so that there would be limited truncation of any of the intramural deposits which might compromise future excavations. Selected contexts, primarily thin midden deposits overlaying the longhouse walls, were sieved using 4 mm mesh. Very few contexts were removed during the excavation and the site remains relatively complete for future excavations. A 5x5 meter grid of reference stakes was established with a total station after the removal of turf and topsoil. These reference stakes were used for all context drawings while elevations were measured with the total station using an arbitrary 0.00 meter height established from the surface at grid E: 569000; N: 7277550. Hand-drawn contexts also noted turf construction methods where they were identifiable. At the end of the excavation the turf walls outlining the longhouse were mapped a second time with the total station. Post-excavation all hand-drawn contexts were georeferenced and digitized in a GIS. The result is two – very similar – records of the site architecture: one based on hand drawn individual context and a second outline of the walls recorded directly with the total station. Additionally, all contexts were photographed. Previous Research The 2005 excavations at Glaumbær follow work at the site from 2001 and 2002. In 2001 the site was initially identified based on anomalies in electromagnetic survey and a concentration anthropogenic material in soil cores. A test trench identified a wellpreserved turf wall under the Hekla 1104 tephra. An expansion of the test trench revealed a floor deposit east of the wall. Remote sensing and coring data indicated a large domestic building aligned north to south, presumably a Viking Age longhouse (Steinberg 2002). Additional test excavations were conducted in 2002. A test trench [15] was placed perpendicular to the predicted long axis to the building and the 2001 test trench was extended to the north and west [19]. An additional north-south oriented test trench [16] was opened with the intent of identifying the southern end of the longhouse. These excavations confirmed the presence of a Viking Age longhouse at the site. The trench bisecting the skáli revealed raised platforms on either side of a central aisle but no central hearth. The north-south trench revealed collapsed turf overlaying floor deposits but did not expose the end of the house, which the 2005 excavation showed is further south (Steinberg 2004). Objectives of the 2005 Excavation The principal objective of the 2005 SASS research season was to test the utility of ground penetrating radar (GPR) in producing subsurface maps of sufficient detail to target openarea excavations. Glaumbær was chosen as a test site for the GPR to complement previously obtained electromagnetic conductivity and resistivity datasets and because the basic shape of the longhouse was already established. GPR-Slice imaging software was 4
used, which reconstructs multiple horizontal plans at successive depths from individual GPR transects. There has been limited previous GPR work on archaeological sites in Iceland, which has utilized low frequency antennas and relied on vertical radargrams for the identification of archaeological features. GPR is a highly experimental remote sensing technique in Icelandic archaeology and there remains a great deal of research to explore the full range of methodological concerns and potentials. The correspondence between GPR-Slice images and archaeological features revealed in the excavation is discussed briefly here but the full results of the GPR survey will be discussed in a separate report. Contributors and Acknowledgements The research was funded by the National Science Foundation with additional support from Byggðasafn Skagafirðinga and Skagafjarðarsýsla. John Steinberg, Tara Carter, John Schoenfelder, Rita Shepard, E. Paul Durrenberger, Susan Erem, Linda Rehberger, Nancy Marie Brown, Dean Goodman, Brian Damiata, Guðný Zoëga. As always we appreciate the continued warm support of Byggðasafn Skagfirðinga Glaumbæ, Sigríður Sigurðardóttir, and Herdís Sigurðardóttir. The research would, of course, been impossible without the support of Gísli Gunnarsson and the family at Glaumbær. Area A: the Longhouse The longhouse is approximately 39 meters in total length as measured from outer edge of the walls along the central axis of the each room – the skáli, middle room, and south room. This figure is an estimate as the limit of the south room was never defined in excavation but remote sensing data suggests that the building ends just south of 2005 exposure. The skáli is approximately 9 meters in breadth at its widest extent as measured from the outer edge of the walls. The interior dimensions of each room are provided below. Site Organization and Room Function Because excavation during the 2005 season only exposed the uppermost layer of preserved architecture at the site any discussion of room function is highly tentative. The thin deposits overlaying preserved architecture in some parts of the site consisted of collapsed turf and midden deposits, almost certainly associated with post-occupational activities and, in all likelihood, unrelated the use of the domestic spaces. Therefore the tentative identifications outlined below are based on architectural form, remote sensing of underlying deposits, and the information from the limited test excavations conducted in 2001 and 2002. The Skáli [25] The primary hall measured 23.5 x 5.25 meters as measured from the interior contact of the walls. Excavation was not of sufficient depth to positively identify the construction method of the turf walls. A test trench [19] excavated in the 2001 season exposed a crosssection of the western turf wall. In profile the wall appears to be composed of strengur (Steinberg 2002). It is not possible to extrapolate from this single location to the rest of the skáli walls but the fact that turf construction in the skáli was not identified in plan 5
Page 1 and 2: Excavations at Glaumbær 2005: Prel
Page 3: Introduction The 2005 investigation
Page 7 and 8: Figure 3. North end of the skáli s
Page 9 and 10: peat ash were also found in the 200
Page 11 and 12: medieval house conducted in 2002 sh
Page 13 and 14: Appendix 1: Context Descriptions CO
Page 15 and 16: Appendix 2: Finds No. Context East
Page 17 and 18: 15 16 18 1 4 1104 11 9 20 21 equal
Page 19 and 20: 7 35 39 40 33 45 25 44 37 36 equal
Page 21 and 22: 48 equal to: above: 25 contemporary
Page 23: References Einarsson, Bjarni. "Hlí

Excavations at Glaumbær - Fiske Center

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?