Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2005, Page 70

James Taylor, Guðrún Alda Gísladóttir, Andrea
Harðardóttir and Gavin Lucas
EYRI IN SKUTULSFJÖRÐUR
The farm of Eyri in Skutulsfjörður is known as one of the major settlements of the
area, from the medieval period up to the time it was abandoned in the late 19th cen-
tury. It is believed to be the fírst farm in Skutulsíjörður and a church was probably
established at the site soon after the Christianization of Iceland. It is not clear
whose property Eyri was in early times but probably both the church and the farm
early on became part of the diocese of Skálholt. The farm was occupied until 1874,
and, although levelled in the early 20th century, the site has not been subsequently
built over despite lying in the middle of the town of Isaíjörður. In 2003 archaeolog-
ical investigations started and both the nature and date of the deposits found suggest
excellent potential for preservation of earlier remains on the site.
Keywords: Vestfirðir, center, farm mound, church, trading site, commune ministres
Introduction
In the summer of 2003, an archaeological
project was started at Eyri in Skutuls-
fjörður. The farm of Eyri is known as one
of the major settlements of the area, from
the medieval period up to the time it was
abandoned in the late 19th century. The
investigations are being undertaken by
the Institute of Archaeology (Fomleifa-
stofnun íslands) on behalf of the town of
Ísaíjörður in cooperation with The
Maritime Museum in ísafjörður (Sjó-
minjasafn-Byggðasafn Vestfjarða) and the
University of Iceland (Háskóli íslands -
Hugvísindastofnun).
The Eyri farm mound is located
within the grounds of the old hospital
building (now the town museum and
library) in the town of ísafjörður, and
within the playground of the adjacent
playschool Eyrarskjól to the northeast. It
is set on the landward (northwestem) end
of the promontory, which lends the farm
its name. The farm remained in use until
1874 and after abandonment, while strac-
tural timber was reused in the town, the
mins were otherwise left alone until a
hospital was constmcted in the homefield
c. 1925. Shortly after this, the mins were
flattened and grassed over. It is remark-
able that the area has never been built
upon during the subsequent growth of the
town. Archaeological investigations
began in 2003 and a contour survey cen-
tred upon the farm mound and its imme-
diate vicinity has recorded in detail the
local topography, and revealed two prob-
able foci of activity on the site.
Brief history
Historically Eyri was very important in
the area. It is believed to be the first farm
in Skutulsíjörður and medieval sources
suggest that the farm may date to the set-
Archaeologia Islandica 4 (2005) 68-80