The Settlement Exhibition
[1] In 2001 archaeological remains were excavated in Aðalstræti, which turned out to be the oldest relics of human habitation in Reykjavík, from before AD 871±2.
The findings included a hall or a longhouse, from the tenth century, which is now preserved in its original location as the focal point of the exhibition about life in Viking Age Reykjavík.
Old Reykjavík residents remembered a grand building on the corner of Aðalstræti and Túngata, called Uppsalir.
In the summer of 2000 the City of Reykjavík concluded a contract with Minjavernd (antiquities preservation) on the construction of a hotel on the Aðalstræti 14, 16 and 18 lots.
The find reawakened debate on the beginnings of Reykjavík, on settlers Ingólfur and his wife Hallveig and the site of the first farmstead.
In 1986–94, extensive excavations were carried out on the offshore island of Viðey, which added yet more to knowledge of the early history of Reykjavik.
It also confirms that during the early years of habitation at Reykjavík, people did indeed live where tradition says, at the south of Kvos, the gravel ridge that divides the Lake from the sea.
A visit by the managing director and a board member of ICOMOS (International Council of Monuments and Sites) to Reykjavík provided an opportunity to discuss the significance of the finds and the possibility of conserving them.
The project has called for collaboration between scholars and specialists in many fields: archaeologists, conservators, natural scientists and historians, museum staff, architects, designers, engineers, technicians, craftsmen, politicians and officials.
The tephra layer has proved a boon to archaeologists, and it plays a crucial role in dating finds from the early years of Reykjavík history.
Thus a dark-blue oval exhibition wall was constructed around the hall, sloping slightly inwards or outwards.
A photograph was set into the wall, showing the view in all directions from Reykjavík, as it is believed to have been at the time of the settlement.
Conditions meant that it was necessary to excavate the floor of the exhibition space down below the surface of the gravel ridge on which the hall stood.
A well-preserved Viking-Age hall was unearthed here, along with fragments of wall structures which are some of the oldest signs of human habitation in Iceland.
Archaeology aims to examine the object of study, analyse it by all available means, and glean from it as much as possible about the society and individuals who left the relics.
Today's archaeologists apply a variety of hi-tech scientific approaches, in order to uncover the secrets of the smallest traces found.
Their methods are not unlike the techniques of forensic scientists, familiar to us from TV and film, where traces invisible to the naked eye can yield vital evidence of past events.
Archaeological finds from the Settlement Age cast light on the people who lived here, their way of life and society.
Only a small area of the western part of the house had a timber floor or platform, called a bench or set.
The most interesting objects found in the excavations are exhibited in glass cabinets, which are recessed into the oval wall below the landscape photograph.
[2] A hands-on children's area is also a part of the exhibition where replicas of Viking Age toys are provided along with ancient boardgames and other activities.
A second multimedia table provides information about daily activities such as iron-work and carpentry along with findings from a later excavation across the street that concluded in 2011.
Two touch-screens give information about cultural affinities between different North Atlantic nations, in addition to the Vikings' expansion and how they settled new countries.
