For the 1998 field season, Jesse Byock and several students did a preliminary survey of the Helgafoss area in the near highlands, where clear remains of buildings can be seen.
We tested phosphate techniques throughout the area and undertook an exploratory excavation on the northeast corner of the hay meadow (tún) at Hrísbrú.
At the Hrísbrú site, the team unearthed small sections of well-defined walls from a medieval building within which were collapsed roof materials.
These turf walls showed signs of the medieval tephra or ash layer (early thirteenth century). Radiocarbon dating of a small wood chip found in the turf walls produced a date of 650 ± 50 years and was inconclusive.
