Reykjavík Grapevine - 31.07.2015, Blaðsíða 16

16 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 11 — 2015
After reaching Iceland, Ingólfur de-
cided to “let the gods decide” where
he would settle—in other words, he
took the pillars from his high seat and
tossed them into the ocean, then sent
out a couple of his slaves to go find them
in perhaps the most obnoxious game of
fetch ever. Three years later, the slaves
finally found them. They were unim-
pressed with the pillars’ landing spot,
but Ingólfur was having none of their
sass, and it is there that Reykjavík was
born.
It’s strange to imagine, traipsing
about the colourful Reykjavík streets,
that there was ever anything else here
besides bars and restaurants and shops
with plush puffins from China… but
think again! We’re literally walking on
top of centuries of history, and though
modern conveniences may distract you,
sometimes a few reminders are un-
earthed.
Recently, several historical bread-
crumbs have been dug up, largely due
to the continuing increase in construc-
tion to make way for hotels and other
buildings meant to siphon money from
tourists. Almost ironically, while Reyk-
javík pushes itself to satisfy the needs
of tourists with heavy wallets, pieces of
Icelandic history seem to keep stepping
in as if to say, “not so fast—we were here
first.”
Early in July, in a lot designated for a
new hotel off Lækjargata, a Viking-age
longhouse even larger than the one at
Reykjavík 871±2 was unearthed during
construction. While the archaeologists
working on the site expected to find
and take away the remains of a 1799
turf house (which they did), they had
no idea that a Viking treasure from as
early as the 10th century was lurking
deeper below.
Knock, knock
The Lækjargata excavation site is mod-
estly sized, and to my untrained eyes,
didn’t look like much besides a bunch of
dirt and rocks, but with the guidance of
archaeologist Lilja Pálsdóttir, the long-
house came into shape before my eyes.
I was surprised to realize that the
roughly 20-metre-long house extends
into the property next to the excava-
tion site, serving as a reminder that
there is still so much history under
our feet yet to be uncovered. “People
need to be aware that we have history
everywhere,” Lilja said. “The earliest
archaeological findings we have in Ice-
land are more spread out in Reykjavík
than previously thought, and we need
to think about that in a new way.”
Lilja walked me around large rocks
that formed the base of the house,
pointing out the various sections of the
house, like the 5.2-metre long-fire in
the centre of the house as well as the
doorways. She also called my attention
to an area with reddish dirt where a fire
apparently had taken place, suggesting
that perhaps this particular residency
had ended in tragedy.
The sidewalk next to the site was
quite crowded with passers-by stop-
ping to peer inside the wire fence and
watch the excavation. “Generally we
find that people are very interested,
and are thrilled to be able to watch us
from the sidewalk and ask many ques-
tions. They are curious about what will
happen to all the finds and to the house
itself,” Lilja said.
While all the findings will go to the
National Museum rather than remain
on site, Lilja emphasised how impor-
tant of a find the longhouse is for Reyk-
javík history. “The information we are
getting now about possibly the first set-
tlers in Reykjavík is invaluable! And it’s
adding so much to the knowledge we
already have.”
Ahoy, Reykjavík
During another excavation currently
taking place in Reykjavík, located in the
lot across from Arnarhóll (a grassy hill
named after the legendary Arnarson
himself!) where shops, houses and a
parking garage are to be built, the team
working on the area made another sur-
prising discovery: walls from the Old
Harbour of Reykjavík still standing,
more or less intact.
Pétur H. Ármannsson, the section
director at Minjastofnun (the Cultural
Heritage Agency of Iceland), sounded
really excited about the harbour walls,
particularly because of the excellent
condition they are in. “It’s an important
discovery. It’s much more complete
than expected. People knew that there
were some remnants there, but not the
entire piece,” he said.
He elaborated on the historical
importance of the walls, which date
back to 1913. “That was the biggest
engineering undertaking at that point
in the history of Iceland,” Pétur said.
“It’s a remnant of the old coastline of
Reykjavík. This used to be the edge of
Reykjavík, and this pier used to be the
gateway into, well, not just Reykjavík
but also Iceland! Everyone who arrived
in Iceland, arrived in Reykjavík, came
by ship.”
He sounded somewhat regretful
that the walls were ever covered up in
the first place. “It’s a
remnant of an impor-
tant part of Reykja-
vík’s history, which
is now forgotten be-
cause of all this con-
struction. The pier
and the wall are hid-
den behind landfills.”
At the excava-
tion site, right near
Hafnarstræti (“Har-
bour Street”—makes
sense, right?), Sólrún
Inga, one of the ar-
chaeologists working
on the site, showed
me around the walls.
“We didn’t expect to
see this structure so
complete,” she said.
“Maybe we expected
to see pieces of it here
and there, but it has been preserved
quite nicely under the modern surface.”
In addition to the walls, they’re
also excavating a late 19th century “ice
house” (a house used to freeze and pre-
serve fish). Among the rubble, they’ve
also found various artefacts, includ-
ing some beautifully designed sherds,
an old coin and an old bottle—“maybe
whiskey: someone out drinking on the
docks,” Sólrún shrugged.
The future of
Reykjavík’s past
Because the pier walls are more than
100 years old, they are protected by the
National Heritage Law. While the exca-
vation team has been documenting ev-
erything it can, the Cultural Heritage
Agency of Iceland will determine what
exactly will happen to the walls.
“We want this piece—at least in
part, but preferably the whole thing—to
remain visible in the urban landscape
of Reykjavík,” Pétur said, “and it is pos-
sible to do so, but it will require some
changes in the planning proposal for
the projects for this
particular site.”
R a g n h e i ð u r
Traustadóttir, the ar-
chaeologist in charge
of the excavation,
agreed that the walls
should be preserved,
although she un-
derstood the poten-
tial issues that may
cause for develop-
ers. “I think it’s very
important that we
try to preserve part
of history,” she said,
“although you cannot
preserve everything,
as the city has to de-
velop as well.”
She also consid-
ered what implica-
tions discoveries
such as the pier walls might have for
future construction in Reykjavík as
the city continues to build and evolve
to adapt to the pressures of tourism.
While excavations are required be-
fore constructing large buildings like
houses or hotels, Ragnheiður seemed
to think developers could be even more
precautious. “Maybe it would be better
to excavate first and plan afterwards.
Yeah, that would be smart,” she said.
“That could be something for Reykjavík
to think about, because we know that in
the centre of Reykjavík, there are a lot
of remains.”
What will happen to the walls and
the planned construction at the site
has yet to be fully determined, but in
the meantime, Pétur had one word of
advice for people who happen to take
a stroll by the water: “I would urge ev-
eryone to go downtown and look at this
thing, because it’s very beautiful.”
Around 870 A.D., a Viking named Ingólfur Arnarson
bravely sailed off from Norway (possibly because of a
blood feud, but that’s another story), and eventually land-
ed on this rocky little island. He wasn’t the first guy to
inhabit Iceland—actually, Celtic monks and other Norse-
men had already stuck around for awhile, but then real-
ized this country was damn cold and near-uninhabitable,
and only an idiot would stick around longer than the time
it takes to drive the Golden Circle.
Words by Katie Steen
Photo by Art Bicnick
Digging Up
Reykjavík’s Roots
Excavations around the
city reveal stories of Iceland’s past
Politics | Bright?Reykjavík Ancient history
Almost ironi-
cally, while Reykjavík
pushes itself to satisfy
the needs of tourists
with heavy wallets,
pieces of Icelandic
history seem to keep
stepping in as if to
say, “Not so fast—we
were here first.”