Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2011, Page 22

RAGNAR EDVARDSSON • ARNAR ÞÓR EGILSSON
this area during the whaling season. The
side-scan sonar survey did only show a
sure sign of an underwater site in one
place.
A number of dives were carried out in
Hveravík, mostly in the shallow area
closer to the whaling station. The seabed in
Hveravík is composed mostly of sand and
clay but is heavily silted because of river
sediments ífom the river Hverá. Marine
vegetation was primarily along the
shoreline and became scarce with
increasing depth. The epifauna was sparse
with only a few crabs and starfishes
recorded. Systematic line search did not
reveal any artifacts but in one place a
whale bone was recorded protmding out of
the sediments. It is therefore likely that
whale bones belonging to the whaling
station have been covered in sediments
throughout time and it would take some
effort to locate them and dig them out. The
survey in Hveravík is not completely
fmished and it still remains to dive on the
location where the side-scan sonar
suggested an underwater object.
Area E. Paradís
Paradís is a small bay west of the Hveravík
bay and the farm Kleifar is located just
above the bay. Archaeological survey
suggests that the farm was occupied ffom
the settlement and until the 20th century
but there is no farming there today (Ragnar
Edvardsson 2002) (Fig. 8).
Legends and local stories mention a
17th century ship stranding and sinking in
the bay and in other countries such
legends and stories have often shown
their importance when it comes to
locating shipwrecks. It was therefore
decided to test the bay with side-scan
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