Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2011, Qupperneq 24

RAGNAR EDVARDSSON • ARNAR ÞÓR EGILSSON
before it sank. The other drifted along the
coast until it struck a reef and broke in two,
with the stem section stuck on the reef but
the forward section disappeared into the
depths. Finally the third ship also broke
from its mooring and was beached right
below the farm Naustavík, with damaged
hull and a broken mdder (Kristjánsson,
Jónas ed. 1950).
It is clear from this description that
only one ship and the forward section of
another sank. These ships were already
badly broken up when they sank and it is
therefore unlikely that there is much left of
them after 400 years. The environmental
conditions in the fjord are also bad for
preservation of wood, there are strong
currents and the fjord is high in salinity. It
is also very likely that Icelandic farmers in
the vicinity used the wood from both the
ship that was beached and the stem section
of the one that broke in two on a reef.
Area F Naustavík
It was decided to survey with sonar
selected areas in front of the Naustavík
farm and along the coast towards the east.
The Reykjarfiörður fjord is very deep and
in most areas beyond the reach of divers
with ordinary scuba equipment. An
underwater (ROV) camera was also used
for this survey to get information about
the seabed and environmental conditions
(Fig. 8).
The sonar survey did neither locate
any whole nor parts of shipwrecks within
the selected survey areas. The underwater
camera did not show much marine
vegetation and the seabed consisted of
gravel and sand. The epifauna consisted
mostly of mussels and starfishes and the
fauna was dominated by crustaceans. The
bottom of the fjord grows rapidly deeper
towards the south and only about 100
meters from the shore the depth was about
60 meters.
Even though it is likely that nothing
remains of the whaling ships it cannot be
concluded from this survey that they have
completely disappeared. If the remains of
the whaling ships are found it would be
extremely expensive and time consuming
to examine them in detail.
PatreksQörður
Patreksfjörður is the southemmost ijord
on the Vestfirðir peninsula and it opens
towards the Denmark Strait. A trading
post was established at Vatneyri in the
Middle ages and in the 13* and 14*
centuries it was probably a flourishing
Hanseatic trading post. In the 17* century
it became an important Danish trading
center and remained as such until the 20*
century. Today there is a small fishing
village at Vatneyri, called Patreksfjörður
(íslenskir annálar 1847).
The importance of the trading post
from the Middle ages to the present
suggests the possibility of a number of
underwater sites in the fjord. Preliminary
historical research found evidence for
shipwrecks, two trawlers that sunk around
1920, two French fishing schooners from
the 19* century and a possible 15*
century trading ship (Isafold, Mbl.,
8., 105., íslenskir annálar 1847, Annálar
1922).
Four areas were selected for survey,
the first on the east side of Vatneyri and
the second on the west side, the third on
the east side of Þúfiieyri and the forth in
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