Archaeologists found a small stone in one of the walls.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out that one of the residents had carved a drawing in the stone, which may be the oldest image ever found in Iceland.
Dated with ash and carbon-14
It was not difficult to show that the longhouse at Stöðvarfjörður predates the oldest permanent settlements in Iceland.
The Vikings settled permanently on Iceland from 874, after Ingólfur Arnarson arrived on the island from Norway. But the two longhouses found are both under a layer of volcanic ash from 869-873.
In addition, C14 dating of the wood of the houses shows that they were built around 800.
“My theory is that the longhouse was a seasonal hunting camp of a Norwegian chieftain who organized trips to Iceland to collect valuables and bring them back to Norway by sea,” said archaeologist Bjarni F. Einarsson, who led the excavation.
In 2019, DNA analyzes showed that a now-extinct walrus species existed in Iceland during the Viking Age, among other things. Researchers believe that the Norse Vikings moved here to hunt these walruses.
One of these Vikings may have carved an image of a ship in a small stone and hid it in the house. Such drawings are known from many other places in Scandinavia, but this is without a doubt the oldest in Iceland.
2023-07-16 05:27:49
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