Conduits of Dispersal. Dematerializing an early twentieth century village in Iceland.

Author(s): Gavin Lucas

Year: 2013

Summary

This paper explores the process of ruination in terms of networks and channels of dispersal; how the materiality of a whole village is stripped by various agencies which move things along. Drawing especially on recent work in human geography and new mobility and materiality turn, this study takes an industrial fishing village on an island in the bay of Reykjavík to examine the processes and conduits through which the village is de-materialized. The village was established at the beginning of the twentieth century to house workers associated with an industrial scale fish processing factory; the enterprise was shortlived and before mid-century, the entire population had left and the village and factory was completely abandoned. Through archaeological excavation, survey, oral history and documentary research, this paper explores the forces and networks involved in its abandonment. It asks not, What was once here? But rather, Where did everything go?

Cite this Record

Conduits of Dispersal. Dematerializing an early twentieth century village in Iceland.. Gavin Lucas. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Leicester, England, U.K. 2013 ( tDAR id: 428618)

Keywords

General
dispersal Iceland Ruin

Geographic Keywords
Iceland Western Europe

Temporal Keywords
20th Century

Spatial Coverage

min long: -24.538; min lat: 63.391 ; max long: -13.499; max lat: 66.536 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 650