Hofstaðir: uppgröftur

The FSÍ in 1991 secured funding to carry out a research evaluation of a possible pagan temple, hof site, at Hofstaðir in Mývatn, NE Iceland which was originally excavated in 1908, with further investigations in 1965. The main aim of the FSÍ project has been to reinvestigate the nature of the site using the most recent archaeological methods. The Hofstaðir excavation has subsequently become the flagship of a wider umbrella project, Landscape of Settlements; an international team of archaeologists, historians and geographers from England, Iceland, Poland, Scotland and USA examining the landscapes of Mývatn. The project has been funded by grants from the Icelandic Research Council (Rannís), the NSF project Landscape of Settlements, the NOS-H project Vestnordisk byggeskik i vikingtid og middelalder and the National Geographic Society.

The focus of the Hofstaðir excavations has been on the area around the Viking skáli and its associated structures including sunken featured buildings, attached and detached ancillary buildings, and related external deposits. Also there has been evaluation of the medieval to post medieval farm mound. Excavation of the chapel and cemetery is still continuing (though funding was not given to continue the work in 2005). The overall aim of the present excavations is to excavate a community who are buried in the cemetery at Hofstaðir.

Gögn / data: click here