Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2005, Page 105

Birna Lárusdóttir, Gavin Lucas, Lilja Björk
PÁLSDÓTTIR AND STEFÁN ÓlAFSSON
KÚVÍKUR
AN ABANDONED TRADING SITE
In August 2004, a small excavation was conducted on a midden at the abandoned
trading station of Kúvíkur in Reykjarjjörður, Strandasýsla. The midden proved to
date largely to the last phase of the site, from the mid 19th to mid 20th century,
and a substantial assemblage of artefacts was recovered, indicating the range of
material culture available during this period. In addition, evidence of earlier
activity was also found, both beneath the midden and adjacent to the merchant 's
house, which dates from the late 18th and early 19th century. Although the station
was established in 1602, no remains of the earlier phases were found in the inves-
tigated area.
Keywords: trading station, midden, 19th and 20th century
Introduction
In August 2004 a small rescue excavation
was carried out in a midden in Kúvíkur,
an old trading station in Reykjarfjörður
bay, Strandasýsla, northwest Iceland.
The midden was observed during archae-
ological fíeld survey in the area in the
summer of 2003. It was found to be seri-
ously threatened because of erosion,
mostly caused by sheep that seek shelter
under it, trample the ground and rub up
against the midden, causing it to erode
and disintegrate bit-by-bit. For this rea-
son, the whole westem side of the mid-
den was eroded, leaving a 7 m long and
up to 1 m high strip of exposed deposits,
mainly consisting of peatash and other
midden deposits.
South from the small coves
which are called Kúvíkur (Cows’ cove),
there is a grassy hollow, marked by a
river to the west but cliffs to the east.
This is the old Kúvíkur homefíeld and
the main min area. This hollow is, with-
out a doubt, one of the most inhabitable
places on the southem shore of Reykjar-
fjörður bay which, in general, does not
have much lowland at all. Above the hol-
low there are, on the other hand, barren
rocks and gravel hills with bog areas in
between where peat was cut, at least in
the early 20th century.
Kúvíkur in Written Sources
As far as we know Kúvíkur was estab-
lished as one of Iceland's trading centers
after the Danish trade monopoly was
established in 1602 (Aðils 1971, 259-
298). There is no evidence of settlement
there before that time but results from
Archaeologia Islandica 4 (2005) 103-118