Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2007, Page 62

Arne Espelund
Figure 5. A map showing ironmaking sites and trade routes in Iceland. They are grouped in four
regions. Fnjóskadalur lies in the north and Þjórsárdalur in the south. After Friðriksson & al
(1991).
For ironmaking by the bloomery
process two materials were needed: ore
and wood, both of which were present in
Iceland during the settlement period. As
only 1% of the country now is covered
by forests, a modern person would rule
out ironmaking. However, at the time of
the Landnám some 25% of the area was
wooded. Deforestration is above all due to
sheep-raising, in addition to climatic cri-
sis and volcanic activity. In many places,
such as ditches, the formation of brown
ochre can be observed. This ochre con-
sists chemically of mainly FeOOH. When
properly mineralized it corresponds to
goethite (i.e. brown iron ore).
There is hardly any live tradition
for ironmaking in Iceland, but the sagas
refer to blacksmiths and ironmakers, both
as facts and fiction. They were written
around year 1200, but cover events back
in time to the landnám of the late 9th cen-
tury. There are numerous finds of ancient
bloomery sites in the country. One of the
first studies was presented by the Dane
Niels Nielsen (1926) while a new com-
prehensive account was given by Friðriks-
son & al. (1992). Their map of production
sites and trade routes is presented in fig-
ure 5. On this map the Fnjóskadalur sites
with four possible trade routes are shown
in the north.
It is reasonable to expect iron
production during the period c. 900-1400
AD. The skill needed was probably brought
to Iceland with the settlers from Norway.
In Norway three diíferent and consecu-
tive technologies have been documented,
beginning in Pre-Roman times (Espelund
1995, 1999/2005). As expected, the tech-
nique used in Iceland has a clear parallel in
Norway, represented by finds írom about
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