Eiríksstaðir, Iceland
We visited this turf house where we saw how people have lived in Iceland for generations. I concluded it was a tough life with poor ventilation and the ever present threat of death from cold or pulmonary disease.
Eiríksstaðir in Haukadalur is believed to be the birthplace of Leifur Eiríksson, or “Leif the Lucky”, who is said to be the first European to set foot in North America around the year 1000 C.E.
Archaeologists first studied this site in the mid-20th century, and excavations in the late 1990s uncovered a 10th century longhouse. Leifur Eiríksson was the son of Eirík the Red, the famous Norse explorer who founded settlements in Greenland.
Eiríksstaðir, Iceland
We visited this turf house where we saw how people have lived in Iceland for generations. I concluded it was a tough life with poor ventilation and the ever present threat of death from cold or pulmonary disease.
Eiríksstaðir in Haukadalur is believed to be the birthplace of Leifur Eiríksson, or “Leif the Lucky”, who is said to be the first European to set foot in North America around the year 1000 C.E.
Archaeologists first studied this site in the mid-20th century, and excavations in the late 1990s uncovered a 10th century longhouse. Leifur Eiríksson was the son of Eirík the Red, the famous Norse explorer who founded settlements in Greenland.