This fascinating archaeological ruin/museum is based around a 10th-century Viking longhouse unearthed here from 2001 to 2002, and the other settlement-era finds from central Reykjavík. It imaginatively combines technological wizardry and archaeology to give a glimpse into early Icelandic life.
The museum's name comes from the estimated date of the tephra layer beneath the longhouse, but don't miss the fragment of boundary wall , at the back of the museum that is older still (and the oldest man-made structure in Reykjavík).
Among the captivating hi-tech displays are interactive multimedia tables explaining the area's excavations, a wrap-around panorama showing how things would have looked at the time of the longhouse, and a space-age-feeling panel that allows you to steer through different layers of the longhouse construction. Artefacts range from great awk bones to fish oil lamps and an iron axe. The latest finds from ancient workshops near the current Alþingi include a spindle whorl inscribed with runes.
