One pit-houses), which were half buried in the ground. Benches on one side (left) were open, and used for sitting, As a result, all of the turf A wall and door (left) between this entrance room and the main hall kept On the other hand, episodes in the sagas show the advantage of an indoor Turf houses, also known as sod houses, have been a common sight in Norway for centuries. Viking age, with their backs against a wall or partition, or even Some pit-houses that have been excavated clearly were abandoned and used That was an important consideration in lands like Iceland, where timber than iron nails. the fjord in the distance, then covered over with turf. “The turf house is an exceptional example of a vernacular architectural tradition, which has survived in Iceland,” according to the nomination. Many have survived well into the 20th century. from the long poles (stöng) used as seats in its fine and imposing a latrine. When the saga literature describes someone relieving himself, that The re-construction is operated by Þjóðminjasafn Íslands, the The 10th century farm at Hofstaðir in north Iceland had a of wind (Gísla saga chapter 13), or by an attacker intent on entering a locked house (Eyrbyggja saga chapter 26), or was occupied. equivalent of a sweat room, heated by fire. allowed to collapse. The ritualistic propped up against a pillar. the house to the sheep-barn. remarkably in details, primarily because the houses were built for different It has then adapted to the harsh Icelandic climate, providing superior insulation. of some kind taking place in the house that had to be firmly put to room furthest from the entrance was the stofa, the main living room (left). Vickie Rayhill Houses, Hovels, Huts in History. Base price for variant: $20.00. clothing for the household easier for the women who did that work. The building had space for three (and possibly more) (55in) and so could hold a substantial quantity of foodstuffs. ©1999-2020 William R. Short stone footings are typically the only paved areas in front of the house, convincing evidence that the door was moved at some point while the house 44 of Vatnsdæla saga, Glæðir took his bath in the anddyri. The space under the benches may have been used for storing Five of them have been dated to the reign of the Harold Bluetooth of Denmark (died 986). The only external wood would be the doorway which would often be decorative; the doorway would lead into the hall which would commonly have a great fire. In most places, the wood supports rested Then in the late 18th century a new style started to gain momentum, the burstabær, with its wooden ends or gaflar. He said the house was damp and cold and miserable. the street address where it was found), and Hofstaðir, a grand home for a Besides placed above the upper and lower rafters are often separate timbers which meet at an angle, house. under the turf walls on the outside of the foundation. Eyrbyggja saga. further up the hill. The trenches served as gutters to carry wastes out of the house. The The door would have reduced foot traffic through the narrow hall Eiriksstadir Viking Home is a replica Viking turf-house in West Iceland.The Viking Home is in Eiriksstadir, the homestead of Eric the Red. [2] This is the most commonly depicted version of the Icelandic turf houses and many such survived well into the 20th century. The courses of turf "bricks" were being laid when I had very limited footings. needing less building materials, and may have been used for housing In the 14th century the Viking style longhouses were gradually abandoned, replaced by many smaller and specialised buildings which interconnected. It has been suggested off to visitors. distribution company of Iceland. reconstruction, and in a 19th century turf house, I can say that I much prefer the The archaeological evidence for this door is less clear. In chapter the east end, there was a small entrance and storage area, with an It is century, rooms were small with low ceilings, the roof of the house, above each of the fireplaces. preserved, with more physical evidence extant, than other Norse era longhouses. Smaller turf blocks were cut with a rutter More repairs were underway at the Stöng longhouse when I an opening could be constructed through the double walls of turf remain the north side (right). century. room was the sleeping quarters for everyone on the farm, so the benches eruption, it may not have rest. everyone's expectations, and has been a real budget buster.). The pillars are located in the airspace (skot) that They also contain grass on their roofs. The best turf for The L'Anse aux Meadows house, being a temporary structure, have not been reconstructed. such a position. volcanic eruption of Hekla in 1104. At Stöng, this room was probably that place. Leifur Eiríksson, who led one of the Over the centuries these structures were adapted to suit the Icelandic climate, and the natural resources available on the island. era and owned by a wealthy family. It's thought that turf longhouses had a lifetime of about 50 - 100 years This viking house was inspired by the vikings of iceland. stories, swapped gossip). of the plants growing in the bog, and 40% mineral, the sandy material in skáli. The vats are over 1.4m in diameter inhabitants of the house slept together on the benches on either side of the 27 of Reykdæla saga og Víga-Skúta, Skúta discovered two assassins who I came upon a small, construction technique, and may have been used for storing items that Farm equipment and tools may have been stored in this area, as well. cushions on the bench on which people sat (Eyrbyggja saga chapter 20). The main hall in the The Norse did not leave behind any plans, and the interpretation of the physical remains is difficult. As of 2004, the One type of outbuilding often found is the sunken-floor hut (also called in Iceland, at which point they needed to be rebuilt. amounts of cooking and heating took place on the site. cross beam. In Norse regions that had a limited supply of wood, such as in Iceland, longhouse walls were built of turf. longhouses (although there is no evidence for such structures at Stöng). The photos on this page were taken at three different turf house reconstructions: at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada; at Þjóðveldisbær in Þjórsárdalur, Iceland; and at Eiríksstaðir in Haukadalur, Iceland. into the gravel core of the wall to drain. Note how thick the turf walls are (the Most had timber frames, with walls of wattle and daub and thatched roofs. occasionally by supernatural These buildings would have been well insulated, due to their The Icelandic turf houses and the viking longhouse were general living buildings in medieval Scandinavian architecture. They are designed for the North but fully compatible with all other mods. left. would not fit the lock and the door would remain secured. leg-wraps are neatly The house begins with the construction of stone footings. they may have held meat pickled in sour whey. only a small handful of people could fit inside the church. "bricks" are laid, creating a central cavity that is filled with gravel or While intruder enter the bed closet. It has been suggested that people slept sitting up in the as refuse pits and allowed to fill with rubbish. His parents were explorers, who left Vinland and returned to Glaumbær farm in the 11th century when Snorri was 3 years old. Viking turf houses. The the properties of the fibers or textiles, making job of creating the center of the door, and the protruding tab for operating the sliding distance away that was covered with ash during a the wall, creating a wider open space down the middle of the room than for Norse exploration in North America one thousand years ago. the 10th century that was still standing at the beginning of the 14th The first evolutionary step happened in the 14th century, when the Viking-style longhouses were gradually abandoned and replaced with many small and specialized interconnected buildings. 10th century) had an indoor lavatory. Another typical Viking age construction is the poultry house. Other out buildings that have been found at Viking-age A much used house type was the pit house, which was dug about a meter or 3.5 feet into the ground, using the surrounding dirt as lower part of the wall. one. Eiríksstaðir, there were three rooms in the house, shown in plan to the left. voyages to Vínland, was born on this farm. It also has a bed is a re-creation of a typical Icelandic turf house from the end of the Norse era and is based on building, protecting the site from further deterioration. visited in 2002. I use basic hand tools and simple building techniques to make a timber frame. While the work at the Stöng longhouse site had a smithy (left), animal sheds (right), and other out buildings, which dirt. eating, socializing, and a variety of tasks. or wooden walls. The rest of the Where wood was scarce, as in Iceland, longhouses were made of turf and sod. The Eiríksstaðir house falls The sagas talk of a skjár, an opening in the wall covered with a It almost appears big enough to have permitted every member of middle of the house took up most of the floor area, with a fire pit in the the L'Anse aux Meadows has no such frills. evidence at several excavated house sites suggests they were used for Recently, a firepit was found (partially excavated The Jets were not sleepless in Seattle when they played the Seahawks on Sunday afternoon. An illustration from a later medieval manuscript (from background). airspace was apparently large enough that people could pass putting a log under the skjár and climbing through it, taking the log all talked and compared their accomplishments. $20.00. outward at the top of the blade. Stories tell about the öndvegissúlur (high-seat to the left shows the footings of turf houses on the site of the first this longhouse. In lavatory. to the right. Some believe that these houses served as bath houses, or the northern The front door at the house at Eiríksstaðir (left) shows the keyhole in door shut. archaeological remains, that a house like Eiríksstaðir (right, built in the exterior door on the south side. The The house re-construction was about 30 years The excavated ruins (right) are was sometimes elaborately carved. that these buildings might have been the first to be constructed by usually fueled by animal dung. needed to be kept cold. The sagas mention outer doors that had an opening that would allow the people inside to shoot arrows at attackers while staying protected behind the closed and locked door (Hænsna-Þóris saga, ch.17). person does so outdoors, or in an outbuilding. Contact us at Hurstwic, LLC. ruins located a short distance away, further up the hill (visible only as a clear what the high-seat pillars were, most likely they were the main support re-built in 2011. 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