Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2010, Page 113

OSCAR ALDRED, ELÍN ÓSK HREIÐARSDÓTTIR AND ÓSKAR
GÍSLI SVEINBJARNARSON
ON THE PRECIPICE:
AERIAL ARCHAEOLOGY IN ICELAND
This paper outlines the history behind the use of aerial sources (photographs and
satellite imagery) in archaeology in Iceland. While aerial archaeology is an
established and routinely used practice alongside other prospection techniques and
non-intrusive surveys in many other European countries, in Iceland it is relatively
under-utilised. Even so in the last few years it has begun to emerge as tool to
understand the context of individual sites, as well as broader landscape
connections. In this article it is argued that even if archaeology in Iceland differs
in some ways ffom the archaeological landscape in most European countries, aerial
archaeology still has a lot of potential and should be used to a much greater extent
than it is today. To show this the authors try to identiíý some of the potential of
aerial survey for archaeological research and heritage management in Iceland.
Oscar Aldred, Department of Archaeology, University of Iceland, 101
Reykjavík, Iceland.
Email: oscar@hi.is
Elín Osk Hreiðarsdóttir, Fornleifastofnun Islands, Bárugata 3, 101 Reykjavík,
Iceland.
Email: elin@instarch.is
Oskar Gísli Sveinbjarnarson, Fornleifastofnun Islands, Bárugata 3, 101
Reykjavik, Iceland
Email: ogs@simnet. is
Keywords: Aerial archaeology, Landscape, Heritage management, History of
practice
Aerial photographs in Iceland
The history of aerial photography in
Iceland can be traced back to 1919. From
that time, oblique aerial photographs
were sporadically taken, most often of
the capital Reykjavík and its environs,
and usually by Icelandic portrait
photographers. However, in the summers
of 1937-38 the fírst aerial photographs of
Iceland for cartographic purposes were
taken. These photographs, which were
mostly oblique shots, were of the interior
and taken to complete the first detailed
published scale 1:100,000 maps of the
country undertaken by the Danish
Cartography Institute, (Geodætisk
Institute). The Second World War
marked the beginning of expansion in
aerial photography in Iceland and in the
next years the German, British and
American military took aerial
photographs of towns and the countryside.
Not only do these photographs have
historical significance as artefacts of the
ARCHAEOLOGIA ISLANDICA 8 (2010) 111-121