Date of Award

8-31-2026

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Historical Archaeology

First Advisor

John M. Steinberg

Second Advisor

Douglas J. Bolender

Third Advisor

Stephen A. Mrozowski

Abstract

Icelandic sagas and archaeological research suggest that Viking Age Icelandic assembly sites or things (þing) were generally occupied for brief periods of time during annual gatherings. One of the archaeological manifestations of repeated temporary occupation around assembly sites is small booths. At Hegranesþing in North Iceland, besides multiple booths that cover the site, there is also evidence of long-term occupation and farming. The Skagafjörður Church and Settlement Survey conducted geophysical and coring surveys, excavated three test pits into middens from different periods of occupation, and excavated one test trench into the homefield enclosure (tún) wall. The results suggest Hegranesþing, besides being an assembly site, was also a farmstead with remains typical of domestic occupation, beginning in the early 10th century v until sometime after AD 1104. There is no indication of permanent domestic activity after AD 1300. If the middens related to the domestic structures at the site were only temporary, there would have been distinct layers of sterile windblown soil or sand between layers of refuse, as identified at other seasonal sites, but these layers were not observed. Rather, the middens indicate a sequence of continuous occupations.

The Hegranesþing assembly has a documented history. It is mentioned in at least seven medieval texts and sagas and was designated a regional assembly site for the Northern Quarter of Iceland. However, the location itself seems to have been lost. Antiquarians went in search of these storied places in the 19th century using what they knew to be typical assembly features as seen not only abroad, but also from the largest and most famous of all assembly sites in Iceland, the Alþing. Because the site sits at the north end of Hegranes and possesses some of those attributes (e.g., booths), it was associated with the storied assembly of Hegranesþing. However, Hegranesþing also exhibits several farmstead-like structures (e.g., tún wall, church, potential longhouse). Thus, domestic features may be important aspects of assembly sites. The new discoveries made at Hegranesþing, and their analysis presented here, illustrate how complex these sites can be and how a nuanced approach is necessary to get a more complete understanding of temporary assembly and permanent domestic activity at this assembly site.

Comments

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