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

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?

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Ruin Memories: Materiality, aesthetics and the archaeology of the recent past   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2013

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

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PaperId(s): 650