Reykjavík 871±2

The Settlement Exhibition Reykjavík 871 +/- 2 is an exhibition on the settlement of Reykjavík, Iceland, created by the Reykjavik City Museum. The exhibition is based on the archaeological excavation of the ruin of one of the first houses in Iceland and findings from other excavations in the city centre. The exhibition is located in 101 Reykjavík, on Aðalstræti 16, on the corner of Aðalstræti and Suðurgata.

The focus of the exhibition is the remains of a hall from the Settlement Age which was excavated in 2001. The hall was inhabited from c. 930–1000. North of the hall are two pieces of turf, remnants of a wall which was clearly built before 871±2, hence the name of the exhibition. Such precise data dating is possible because a major volcanic eruption from the Torfajökull area spread tephra across the region and this can be dated via glacial ice in Greenland. The hall is among the oldest human-made structures so far found in Iceland. Also on display are objects from the Viking Age found in central Reykjavík and the island of Viðey.

The exhibition is held by the City of Reykjavík and run by the Reykjavík City Museum. The exhibition is open daily 9-20.

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.

On the south side of Aðalstræti an old house stood for many years at no. 16, which had seen better days. On either side were vacant lots, used for parking. Old Reykjavík residents remembered a grand building on the corner of Aðalstræti and Túngata, called Uppsalir. It had been demolished in the 1960s, when the Reykjavík urban plan called for a highway to be built through Grjótaþorp. The building to the north had been torn down long before; it was one of the 18th-century buildings which had been built for the Innréttingar, the woollens workshops which marked the beginning of urban development at Reykjavík. 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 old building at Aðalstræti 16 was to be renovated, and new buildings would be constructed on either side. In 1971-75 archaeological excavations had been carried out on the Aðalstræti 14 and 18 lots, revealing relics from the Settlement Age. It was thus known that further relics could be expected to be found at this location, and that archaeological excavations would be necessary before any development of the land could take place. In brief, the Reykjavík City Council decided that the excavations should be carried out, and assigned the Director of the Reykjavík City Museum to supervise the project.

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