Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2011, Page 20

RAGNAR EDVARDSSON • ARNAR ÞÓR EGILSSON
N
t
5 meters
Figure 6. Plan of the schooner Bergljót.
Norwegian whalers built a whaling station
at Sólbakki, south of Flateyri, in the late
19th century and it was in use until the
early 20th century (Einarsson, T. 1987).
A sampling area was set up just below
the present day house at Sólbakki, where
the whaling station had been located. The
area has been heavily damaged by
constmction and it was therefore decided
to focus the main search towards the east,
away from the damaged areas. The
sampling area was approximately 100 x
200 meters. The same survey approach
was used as in Álftafjörður, e.g. line
search, following parallel lines (Fig. 4).
Area C. Sólbakki
Marine vegetation was more or less absent
in area C and the composition of the
seabed is sand and clay but the westem
part of the sampling area was more
disturbed by constraction around the
harbor at Flateyri. In this area the seabed
was almost entirely composed of sand and
cobbles and the epifauna is dominated by
mollusks and gastropods. Towards the east
the seabed changed and was more similar
to the sampling areas in Álftafjörður.
A number of whale bones were
recorded in this area and as in Álftafjörður
these bones were of different types, ribs,
vertebrae, baleen, etc., No bones were
recorded on the westem side of the
sampling area and that is probably because
the area had been damaged by constraction
and some bones may have been buried in
the silt. The survey also revealed a number
of artifacts on the seabed, e.g. bottles,