Excavating the unexpected: Findings from Reynistaður

Excavating the unexpected: Findings from Reynistaður

Brenda Prehal

In Summer 2024, a small excavation took place at the farm of Reynistaður in Skagafjörður, Northwest Iceland. The results of the excavation were rather unexpected. A large portion of a substantial, but eroded midden was excavated near the modern farmhouse, as well as several test trenches within the homefield. The midden extends from modernity until the initial settlement of Iceland around AD 871 and yielded unexpected amounts of textiles and preserved wood. The test-trenching took place on a small rise in the southern homefield called "Langhúshóll," meaning Longhouse Hill. The project expected to find the remains of a Viking Age dwelling on Langhúshóll, but instead found a Viking Age pagan burial.

Fyrirlesturinn er hluti af Nýjar rannsóknir í fornleifafræði 2025, fyrirlestraröð Félags fornleifafræðinga og námsbrautar í fornleifafræði við Háskóla Íslands. Fyrirlesturinn fer fram í stofu 202 í Odda, Háskóla Íslands.