The Settlement Exhibition
Open excavation of a Viking-age longhouse hearth, dated by volcanic ash to before the island's official settlement.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Settlement Exhibition in Reykjavik centers on a question the sagas never answer: who was already living here before the island's official founding? It follows a volcanic ash layer that settled across Iceland around the year eight hundred seventy one, the archaeologists who excavated beneath this street ahead of a hotel project, and the longhouse hearth they found resting beneath that ash. Along the way you'll hear the saga of the chieftain Ingolfur Arnarson and his drifting high seat pillars. Look down through the glass floor at the turf walls left exactly as they were found.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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