Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of two long wooden houses filled with treasures dating back to the Viking era in eastern Iceland.
The settlement is estimated
to have been built in the 800s, decades before refugees arrived in Iceland and settled permanently on the island. The remains of two old houses were found beneath green grass in the tatkuink clothing Stöð area, near Stöðvarfjorður bay.
The largest structure is about 75 m long and 6 m wide and is divided into several small rooms. Several families may have lived here, according to archaeologist Bjarni Einarsson, leader of the excavation team. A stone fireplace is also found along the center of the house.
The second
structur is about 40 meters long and is believed to be the home of a Viking chieftain. The team unearthed many valuable treasures inside, including Roman and Middle Eastern coins, silver bars, jewelry, or small pieces of gold. The Vikings may have traded in local resources such as whale and seal skins and meat for this treasure.
The wooden houses at Stöð are similar in size and function to the approximately 1,000-year-old Viking settlements discovered in Newfoundland in Canada. "This is a pattern of common Skull hoodies settlements on islands in the Atlantic Ocean," emphasized Einarsson.
Einarsson has operated
a private archeology firm for more than 20 years and began searching for Viking settlements on the Icelandic coast in 2009. The ruins of Stöð's longhouses have been known since. excavated for a long time but only started to be excavated in 2015.