Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2005, Page 19

Archaeological Excavations at Vatnsfjörður 2003-04
peninsula between Rcykjaíjöröur and
Mjóifjörður in the fjord of ísaijarðardjúp
(see map). The farm is situated at the bot-
tom of a fjord by the same name. The
oldest written sources mentioning the
farm are from the 12th and 13th centuries
AD. As the farm is recorded in most of
these oldest sources, it is probable that
the farm was settled early in the lOth cen-
tury or possibly earlier (Harðardóttir
2003).
The Book of Settlements states
that Snæbjörn, the son of Eyvindur
Austmann, settled the area between
Mjóifjörður and the river of Langidalur
(ísl.sög.I., 112). The settlement of Snæ-
bjöm was quite large, from Skálavík in
Mjóifjörður to Nauteyri in ísafjörður.
Between AD 900-1100, Snæbjörn's orig-
inal settlement farm began to split into 22
smaller farms. The farm of Vatnsfjörður
was Snæbjörn's main farm and the core
of his settlement. It is clear that very
early in its existence this farm became
one of the most important and largest
seats of power in Vestfirðir as it was the
main farm of the most powerful chief-
tains in Iceland from AD 1000 to approx-
imatelyAD 1300.
A church was built on the farm
in the 12th century and it is likely that a
chapel had already been built there short-
ly after the christianization of Iceland c.a.
AD 1000 (D.I.XII.,14). The church at
Vatnsfjörður continued to be a rich and
important church throughout the Middle
Ages; and remained so until after the Re-
formation in the mid-16th century. After
which, it was a parish church until the
latter part of the 20th century.
In the beginning of the 13th cen-
tury there were two families in power in
Vestfirðir. The Vatnsfirðingar family ml-
ing the northem part of the Vestfírðir
peninsula, including Strandir; and the
other was the Seldælir family mling the
southern part of the peninsula
(Sigurjónsson 1975, 12). During the Age
of the Sturlungs these families fought for
power but neither managed to gain com-
plete control (Thorsson, 1988). The bal-
ance of power had not changed between
these families through most of the 14th
century. During this time, the Seldælir
family had more power than the
Vatnsfjörður family. However, at the
same time, the power and influence of
the Vatnsfjörður family was increasing
slowly until the 15th century when in AD
1433 Bjöm Þorleifsson came into posses-
sion of Vatnsfjörður and the farm
became, along with Skarð at Skarðs-
strönd, the base of his economic and
political power. (D.I.IV., 133-135) Bjöm
Þorleifsson was the richest and most
powerful individual in the area in the
15th century and owned a large number
of farms in the Vestfirðir peninsula (Sig-
urjónsson 1975, 114-116).
The Vatnsfjörður farm lost its
position as the most important seat of
power in Vestfirðir after the death of
Bjöm Þorleifsson in 1467. In the begin-
ning of the 16th century the power in the
region had shifted to the farm of Ögur,
which is located a few kilometers west of
Vatnsfjörður (see map). Even though
Vatnsfjörður had lost its position as the
main seat of power in the beginning of
the 16th century, it continued to be an
important farm with holdings still evi-
dent in AD 1700 in such regions as ísa-
fjarðardjúp, Hornstrandir and Strandir
(Á.M.,1940). The farm remained an
important farm and a parish church into
the late 20th century when the parish
church was moved to the town of
Súðavík.
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