Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2005, Page 73

Eyri in Skutulsfjörður
Figure 2. Photograph of thefarm Eyri and the church. Facing northeast (c. 1867) (Museum of
Isafjörður).
c. 3.5 m above sea level. Further trunca-
tion of the site may have occurred during
the building of the hospital in c. 1925,
when local tradition suggests that the
farm mound was levelled to create the
hospital gardens.
An archive photograph (fig. 2)
of the site, dating to c. 1867, suggests
that as well as the one main farm build-
ing, associated out-houses may also have
been present at this time. These appear to
have been situated to the rear of the farm
(the northem end of the main building)
and with one further structure, apparent-
ly adjacent to the southeastem comer of
the main farm building.
A print (fig. 3) showing the
promontory of the embryonic town of
ísafjörður, dating to 1890, clearly shows
that the farm was already ruinous by this
time, although a mound which appears to
represent the midden is clearly visible to
the east of the home-field in both pic-
tures.
Apart from the mounds them-
selves, no obvious evidence demonstrat-
ing the complexity of these remains are
apparent in the current topography of the
area, suggesting that the area was at least
partially tmncated or levelled. A study
area focusing upon the region of high
archaeological potential around the visi-
ble farm mounds thus encompasses an
area of approximately 2000 m2.
2003 Investigations
In the first year of research in 2003 an
effort was made to gauge the research
potential of the site. It represented the
first stage of a process of investigation
which may help to shed light on the
development of the earliest known settle-
ment in the area. Targeted trenching of
the visible farm mound revealed exten-
71