Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2010, Page 116

OSCAR ALDRED, ELÍN ÓSK HREIÐARSDÓTTIR AND ÓSKAR OÍSLI SVEINBJARNARSON
oblique shots in both conventional and
infra-red format. This programme
however was short-lived.
In 1995 the first paper that presented
the explicit use of aerial photographs in
archaeology in Iceland was published. It
was an article that discussed the use of
different aerial techniques in relation to
archaeological features on a couple of
old home fields around Reykjavík and
particularly highlighted the advantages
of photography under conditions of light
snow (Sigurjón Páll ísakson and Þorgeir
S Helgason 1995). Photographs were
taken of the same site under different
conditions, using both conventional and
infra-red film and these methods were
discussed in the article. The authors also
dealt with the specific nature of aerial
survey in Iceland and promoted its more
systematic use in archaeology.
Archaeological survey has had a long
tradition in Iceland, beginning in the
nineteenth century (Adolf Friðriksson
1994). More recent survey, driven by new
legislation in 1989 has aimed to achieve
total survey of districts and regions. Such
surveys have been conducted by
independent archaeological units, the
largest being the Institute of archaeology
in Iceland (www.instarch.is). Between
1995 and 2009 the Institute alone
surveyed over 90,000 sites using
documentary sources and recorded over
28,000 sites in the field. In the same
period, usage of aerial photographs during
archaeological surveying in Iceland
multiplied and today most archaeological
Figure 2. One of c. 800 oblique aerial photographs taken by Arni Einarsson for the project Fom
garðlög í Suður Þingeyjarsýslu / A system of earthworks in NE Iceland. The view is towards the
north-west at Flatagerði, south of Húsavík and north of Laxamýri (2003_1 _101036). The
photograph shows multiple events, the double ringed enclosure, the modern road running
through it, and the hot water pipe as a linear earthwork below the road in the photograph.
114