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Project Details: Breiðafjörður Islands

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Project Description

Title: Breiðafjörður Islands
Description The islands of Breiðafjörður are unique, geographically bounded spaces, but often maintained, organized and owned from the mainland. Living on islands was a balance between surviving and living through farming and fishing. However, the communication between the islands created strongly knitted and vibrant communities. It is thought that the islands were settled early and had many good qualities for primary settlement such as easy access to wild resources, e.g. seal and birds; self-contained pasturing areas; as well as good vantage points for a variety of purposes, such as for harbouring and shelter, views and defence. The main archaeological interest is on investigating the community dynamics of the area as seen from its natural and cultural landscape. It is scheduled to investigate many aspects of the islands, for instance how the land was used, its agriculture and food production, access to wild resources, landing spots and harbours, and the impact made by people on vegetation and soil. More generally, the project is investigating farm locations and the farm communities, fishing activities, communications and routes between islands, and non-Christian burials and churches.
Country Iceland
Project Start Year 2007
Project End Year Ongoing

Project Contact

Contact: Fornleifastofnun Íslands
Address Bárugata 3, 101 Reykjavík, ICELAND
Postcode 101
Telephone 00354-5511033
Website http://www.instarch.is
Email fsi@instarch.is

Project Content

Framvinduskýrsla um Fornleifarannsóknir í Öxney á Breiðafirði 2007
In 2007 Öxney, an island in Breiðafjörður, was surveyed thoroughly and four trial trenches excavated. Eiríksbær, the alleged farm of Eiríkur the red, was the subject of one trench. No substantial floor layers were found and it was assumed that the ruin is an outhouse or a sheep-fold. Additionally a boundary associated with the ruin was trenched and proved to be earlier than the ruin. However neither was dateable due to the lack of finds and tephra. The third trench revealed the wall of a possible outhouse and the fourth one was dug into a part of an irrigation system, most likely...

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