1,000-Year-Old Remains Unearthed in Iceland

ARNARFJÖRDUR, ICELAND—At a churchyard in the historic village of Hrafnseyri, archaeologists unearthed a 1,000-year-old skeleton that could date to the earliest days of Christianity on the island. “There was little left of the skeleton, parts of a skull and teeth, and it was probably an older individual, since the teeth were used up, and we guess a male because of where he was buried in the churchyard,” said archaeologist Margrét Hallmundsdóttir. Her investigation also located a building with an open fireplace that may have served as a kvennadyngja, or a women’s workplace mentioned in Icelandic sagas.