Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2011, Page 19

ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF SELECTED SUBMERGED SITES IN VESTFIRÐIR
Scandinavia to North America in late 19th
century and it is possible that this
particular ship came to Alftafjörður, even
though no historic reference has been
found supporting this. The fate of
SS/Norway is well known as it sank after a
collision with another ship at Lands End in
Britain. The other ceramic vessel was a
white porcelain saucer and it also was
stamped. The stamp was a red flag with the
letters BDS in the center of the flag. BDS
stands for the shipping line Bergen
Dampskibs Selskap, which also sailed
with emigrants from Scandinavia to
America in the late 19th century (Bonsor,
N.R.P. 1975).
In the south part of the sampling area,
about 20 meters ffom the shore, was a
shipwreck (Fig. 6). The shipwreck lies at a
depth of 6 - 8 meters and is approximately
30 x 8 meters in size. The stem points to
the north but the bow of the ship is buried
into a sandbank to the south. The
superstmcture of the ship is gone and it is
lying on the seabed around the wreck. No
propeller was visible by the stem of the
ship, only fastening for a mdder. This
suggests that the ship had no engine but
was fitted with sails. The anchor chain
extends from the ship in a northeast
direction, which indicates that the ship was
lying at anchor when it was sunk. The size
and shape of the ship suggests that it is the
remains of a three or two masted schooner.
The hull leans about 20 - 30° on
backboard, making most of the starboard
side visible. The hull is made of wood and
the lower part of it is covered with copper
plates which are still in situ. Preliminary
research suggests that the ship is the
remains of a schooner named Bergljót
built in Germany in 1879. It was damaged
beyond repair in 1901 and was transported
to Álftafjörður to be used as foundation for
a new pier. However, the pier was
eventually built elsewhere and the ship has
remained more or less undisturbed since
the early 20th century (DV. 42. 1983)
Area B. Hlíð
The seabed in sampling area B is similar to
area A but is more perturbed by wave
action as it is less sheltered. The
composition of the seabed is predominantly
sand and clay and little marine vegetation is
visible. The epifauna is similar to area A,
crabs, starfishes, etc. The bottom is also
deeper towards the east and the depth is
about 18-20 meters 100 meters ffom the
shore.
No whale bones were recorded in this
sampling area but pieces of broken iron
objects were found in different places. At
the center of the sampling area a large iron
object was recorded which probably are
remains of a boiler ffom a steamship. The
iron wreckage around it and in other places
of the sampling area is probably broken up
pieces of a vessel that sunk there. It is
uncertain what ship it was but preliminary
historical research suggests that it
belonged to an Icelandic merchant, who
was situated in ísafjörður at the beginning
of the 20th century (Jón Þ. Þór 1984).
Önundarfjörður
Önundarfjörður is the second fjord south
of ísafjarðardjúp and it is oriented in an
east to west direction. A trading post was
established there during the Middle ages
at Flateyri and in the early 20th century the
site had developed into a small village.
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