“It is as if the buildings had been abandoned yesterday” says archaeologist Bjarni F. Einarsson in Morgunblaðið today. The farm he and his colleagues recently discovered was buried under ash in an eruption in glacially capped volcano, Öræfajökull.
At 2100 meters, Öræfajökull is Iceland’s highest mountain, sticking out of the southeast corner of Iceland’s largest glacier, Vatnajökull.
The farm is close to the town of Fagurhólsmýri and was laid waste in an eruption in 1362. There had long been rumors of an abandoned farm in the Fagurhólsmýri region, and in 2001 Bjarni and his team started surveying the area. The excavation started last summer and the archaeologists soon traced the outlines of several houses. This spring, they have continued their work, mapping out the detailed structure of each dwelling.
When the excavation is completed, the local archaeological society plans to turn the site into a landmark open to visitors.
