Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2005, Síða 20

Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2005, Síða 20
Ragnar Edvardsson & Thomas H. McGovern Settlement patterns of Vestfirðir In this paper it is argued that the initial settlement patterns of the Vestfirðir peninsula, in general, appear to be con- siderably dissimilar to the rest of Iceland. This may be a result of the landscape as it consists mostly of narrow f]ords with high mountains and little agricultural land. Most areas of the peninsula are ill- suited for agriculture and, therefore, other resources were of greater impor- tance to the inhabitants of this region than a farming economy. Thus, it would seem obvious that initial settlement pat- tems and the development of the settle- ment in this region must be examined with a different set of criteria in order to draw a more accurate depiction of the economic situation of Vestfirðir, includ- ing farm economy. The hypothesis presented here examines the beginning of the settlement and its development with the idea that the sea was the most influential factor. This hypothesis further indicates that the first settlers of Vestfirðir came by sea and would, without a doubt, have based their first settlements close to safe harbors for their ships. Thus, the choice of initial set- tlement was dictated by the sea and not land. Land-based factors only played a secondary role in the location of the first settlement. This appears to be the case for example in Bolungarvik where long- houses have been located close to a safe anchorage and the location of these long- houses can only be explained from a marine perspective (Edvardsson 1996). Later, other factors became important and the original settlements were aban- doned and moved to a new location. This can clearly be seen in various places in Vestfirðir, such as Bolungarvík, Kaldrananes- and Arneshreppur. However, the sea continued to play the primary role in the development of the settlement as farms were placed in such a location that it would enable them to maximize the exploitation of marine resources. It has long been stated by schol- ars that Vestfirðir was settled last because it was an agriculturally poorer region compared with other regions in Iceland. There is little evidence to support this, except for a few passages in Land- námabók (The Book of Settlements). In the same written source there is equally strong evidence to support the fact that certain settlers came to the region look- ing for an area such as Vestfirðir to settle. The settlers that preferred to settle an area such as Vestfirðir were people who came from a similar environment and came from an economy that based its main income on the exploitation of marine resources. Landnámabók men- tions a few settlers who came from areas in Norway that have fjord systems simi- lar to Vestfirðir. One such settler was Þuríður sundafyllir who came from Hálogaland in northem Norway and set- tled in Bolungarvík. She was known in her home in Norway for knowledge of fishing and fishing grounds and one of the first things she did when she settled in Bolungarvík was to locate fishing grounds and establish a fishing station. This passage in Landnámabók makes reference to a person who is applying her acquired knowledge to a new , but simi- lar, environment. Other settlers of the northwest such as Þórólfur fasthaldi from Sogn and Geirmundur heljarskinn from Rogaland in Norway also came from environments in Norway that were simi- lar to Vestfirðir (ísl.sög. I., 109, 91, 116). The suggestion here is that any person 18
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Archaeologia Islandica

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