We are excavating a site named Kolkous upon a peninsula which juts out into the mouth of a river.  If one where to travel north across the Atlantic from our site one would make land in Siberia.   Kolkous was a seasonally occupied trading settlement associated with Holar where we are staying.  The area is likely to have been occupied from the settlement period until the 16th c.  As well as the human material there is also several layers of volcano ash in the assemblage.  In the earlier period, which we are excavating, Kolkous was associated with the bishopric of Holar.  The region was the richest and most densely populated in Iceland.  Consequently it is likely that rich finds will be made on site; past finds include human bone and an ornamental, iron box for needles.

I am working on the outermost area of the site, furthest into the river.  Our area is the most recent currently being excavated; it is known to post-date 1104 as it lies above a layer of tephra associated with an eruption of Mount Hekla.  On Wednesday I found a bronze nail.  Today, a whale bone was recovered.  Near to our site the sea has revealed a fireplace.  The nail and fireplace are shown below.

The sight can be an uncomfortable working environment; although we haven’t had much rain yet it is generally cold and overcast and always windy.  The mountains which run along the bay opposite our site fade in and out of sight and the temperature hovers in the region of six.  Happily we have been provided with dungarees which keep the weather out and trap a bubble of lovely warm air in the region of one’s crotch.