Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2011, Page 17

ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF SELECTED SUBMERGED SITES IN VESTFIRÐIR
Dvergasteinn in Álftafjörður, Sólbakki in
Önundaríjörður, Höfðaodda in
Dýrafjörður, Hesteyri in Jökulfírðir,
Meleyri in Veiðuleysufjörður and at
Suðureyri in Tálknafjöður. ín the
beginning of the 20th century the Icelandic
govemment had become concemed about
over hunting and in 1915 it banned
whaling in the waters around Iceland
(Einarsson, T. 1987).
Álftafjörður
The Álftafjörður fjord is located in the
southem part of ísafjarðardjúp and on the
west side of the ijord lies the village of
Súðavík. The modem village was built
around a small peninsula, Langeyri, where
a trading post was probably established in
the middle ages. Two Norwegians, Svend
Foynd and Lars Mons, built a whaling
station on Langeyri in 1883 and few years
later established another station at
Dvergasteinn, approximately 2 kilometers
south of Langeyri. These stations were in
use until 1915 when the Icelandic
govemment banned whaling (Einarsson T.
1987, ísafold X. 30).
Two sampling areas where set up in
Álftafjörður, one in a small bay north of
the Dvergasteinn whaling station and the
second south of Langeyri, by the farm
Hlíð. The first area was approximately 100
x 120 meters and the second 50 x 50
meters. Side-scan sonar was not used
during these surveys, instead line search
was used. In both areas divers followed a
compass heading, for a pre-defined
distance and then tuming back for a
Figure 4. Sample sites in Alftafjörður and Önundarfjörður.
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