Eiríksstaðir () is the former homestead of Eiríkr Þorvaldsson, known as Erik the Red, in

Haukadalur Haukadalur ( Icelandic: , from non, Haukadalr , "hawk dale" or "valley of hawks") is a valley in Iceland. It lies to the north of Laugarvatn lake in the south of Iceland. Geysers Haukadalur is home to some of the best known sights in Iceland: t ...

in the

Dalasýsla Dalasýsla () was one of the pre-1988 traditional Counties of Iceland, located in the Western Region of the country. Its only town is Búðardalur. The county had a rich history dating back to the first settlers of Iceland. Leif Erikson grew ...

region of

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. It was the birthplace of his son Leif Eiríksson, the first known European discoverer of the Americas. A site thought to be that of the original farm has been investigated by archaeologists and remains of two buildings dating to the 9th–10th centuries have been identified. An

open-air museum An open-air museum (or open air museum) is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts out-of-doors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is “the unconfined atmosphere� ...

has been established nearby.

Historical record

According to ''

Landnámabók (, "Book of Settlements"), often shortened to , is a medieval Icelandic written work which describes in considerable detail the settlement () of Iceland by the Norse in the 9th and 10th centuries CE. is divided into five parts and ove ...

'' and the ''

Saga of Erik the Red The ''Saga of Erik the Red'', in non, Eiríks saga rauða (), is an Icelandic saga on the Norse exploration of North America. The original saga is thought to have been written in the 13th century. It is preserved in somewhat different version ...

'', after first settling in

Vestfirðir The Westfjords or West Fjords ( is, Vestfirðir , ISO 3166-2:IS: IS-4) is a large peninsula in northwestern Iceland and an administrative district, the least populous administrative district. It lies on the Denmark Strait, facing the east coas ...

, Eiríkr married Þjóðhildur Jǫrundardóttir and established the farm of Eiríksstaðir near the Vatnshorn in Haukadalur. His son Leifr was born there, but Eiríkr had to leave the area after killing two men in revenge for the deaths of two of his

thrall A thrall ( non, þræll, is, þræll, fo, trælur, no, trell, træl, da, træl, sv, träl) was a slave or serf in Scandinavian lands during the Viking Age. The corresponding term in Old English was . The status of slave (, ) contrasts wi ...

Archaeological investigations

A number of archaeological investigations have been carried out at what is thought to be the site of Eiríksstaðir (now on the land of Stóra-Vatnshorn farm). In 1894 made a plan of the visible signs of old buildings and they were excavated the following year by

Þorsteinn Erlingsson Þorsteinn Erlingsson (1858–1914) was an Icelandic poet. He graduated from Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík in 1883 and went to Copenhagen to study law. He never finished law school but during his time in Copenhagen his poems became known in Icelan ...

. made a further investigation in 1896. An excavation in 1938 by uncovered a building of the

longhouse A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from timber and often rep ...

type with a long central firepit. In 1997–2002, at the request of the Eiríksstaðanefnd (Eirísstaðir committee), Guðmundur Ólafsson conducted a further investigation for the

National Museum of Iceland National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

Main building

The main building was of a longhouse type, and was measured in the 1997 dig at approximately in area and long. There was a central fire-pit; this and rows of stones indicate that people sat along the walls. In the initial investigation in 1895, Þorsteinn Erlingsson thought there had been an attached bake-house at the rear, but the 1997 dig confirmed Mattías Þórðarson's belief that the rocks there were from a natural landslide. The walls were turf set on a base of rocks, and were about thick; stones in the south wall indicate that it had been repaired. The building was simple in construction and indications are that it had not been occupied for long. C-14 dating of charcoal from an undisturbed area of human habitation deposits in front of the ruins yielded a date of the 9th–10th century.

Pit-house

In 2000 a pit-house was excavated next to the main building. Among other finds in the floor were carved stone spindles of Norwegian manufacture. Guðmundur Ólafsson interprets this as having been a ''dyngja'', a "bower" or women's work-room. It had previously been viewed as a bath-house or sauna (by Þorsteinn Erlingsson) and a kitchen or smokery (by Matthías Þórðarson).

Open-air museum

The Eiríksstaðanefnd created an open-air museum based on the 1997 archaeological investigation. It aims to reproduce Erik the Red's home as accurately as possible; the longhouse was built in imitation of the excavated building, using

driftwood __NOTOC__ Driftwood is wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves. In some waterfront areas, driftwood is a major nuisance. However, the driftwood provides shelter and fo ...

and replica tools. The museum was created in 1999 and formally opened in 2000 in association with the celebration of the thousand-year anniversary of the discovery of

Vinland Vinland, Vineland, or Winland ( non, Vínland ᚠᛁᚾᛚᛅᚾᛏ) was an area of coastal North America explored by Vikings. Leif Erikson landed there around 1000 AD, nearly five centuries before the voyages of Christopher Columbus and John ...

."Eiríksstaðir"
''Upplifðu Vesturland'', retrieved 6 September 2016
"Eirik the Red´s homestead"
''Visit West Iceland'', retrieved 6 September 2016. It is located approximately 100 metres (yards) from the actual ruins, which are a protected archaeological site.

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eiriksstadir Leif Erikson Open-air museums in Iceland Museums in Iceland Western Region (Iceland)