The excavation of the Viking Longhouse which was unexpectedly discovered in a down town parking lot earlier this summer will be completed sometime next week.
Ruins of a longhouse will be replaced with a hotel
Lísabet Guðmundsdóttir, archaeologist at Fornleifastofnun Íslands, who oversees the excavation, told local newspaper Morgunblaðið that the team is currently finishing the excavation of the floors of the longhouse. No indication of earlier habitation has been found or previous layers of remains beneath the longhouse.
Read more: One of the largest Viking longhouses in Iceland has been found in downtown Reykjavík
When the excavation is finished the remains which have been recovered will be evaluated and a decision made about what will be done with the remains and the site. A hotel is planned for the site where the longhouse was discovered. All stones from the structure, including the stone floors and the long fire hearth, have been numbered and preserved, so that the structure could be re-assembled.
However, excavation in the area is not done
A second site, underneath a parking lot just to the south of the current excavation remains to be explored. Preliminary excavations in the area have indicated archaeological remains from the age of settlement. Lísabet told Iceland Insider that the site which remains to be explored has been disrupted far more over the years than the site which she is currently exploring.
Read more: News report: The Viking Age settlement that is emerging in downtown Reykjavík
The excavation of the Viking Longhouse which was unexpectedly discovered in a down town parking lot earlier this summer will be completed sometime next week.
Ruins of a longhouse will be replaced with a hotel
Lísabet Guðmundsdóttir, archaeologist at Fornleifastofnun Íslands, who oversees the excavation, told local newspaper Morgunblaðið that the team is currently finishing the excavation of the floors of the longhouse. No indication of earlier habitation has been found or previous layers of remains beneath the longhouse.
Read more: One of the largest Viking longhouses in Iceland has been found in downtown Reykjavík
When the excavation is finished the remains which have been recovered will be evaluated and a decision made about what will be done with the remains and the site. A hotel is planned for the site where the longhouse was discovered. All stones from the structure, including the stone floors and the long fire hearth, have been numbered and preserved, so that the structure could be re-assembled.
However, excavation in the area is not done
A second site, underneath a parking lot just to the south of the current excavation remains to be explored. Preliminary excavations in the area have indicated archaeological remains from the age of settlement. Lísabet told Iceland Insider that the site which remains to be explored has been disrupted far more over the years than the site which she is currently exploring.
Read more: News report: The Viking Age settlement that is emerging in downtown Reykjavík
