We initiated the Leiruvogur Harbor Project in the summer of 2012 with a workshop and surveys of the inner reaches of the Leiruvogur Bay. The surveys were carried out jointly with specialist colleagues in geophysics, oceanography, and submerged archaeology from the Institute of Geosciences at the University of Kiel and the Zentrum für Baltische und Skandinavische Archäologie. Review of historical aerial photographs, old maps, and textual accounts pinpointed the area with the most potential fort the recovery of archaeological remains. The 2012 work focused on comprehensive planning of a large 2013 campaign focusing on historical environmental reconstruction.

After 2012 pedestrian surveys in the area to seek appropriate samples sites, we took the first suite of samples for the environmental background research. We took bulk sub-surface samples of the center of the presumed inner bay at Leiruvogur to begin reconstruction of the old coastline. The samples are being analyzed by oceanographer Professor Ralph Schnieder at the University of Kiel. Organic contents of the stratigraphically collected samples will be carbon dated to supply an absolute chronology for the oceanographic profile of the bay.

Specialists in geophysics will bring to bear on this research a full suite of geophysical instrumentation: ground penetrating radar, magnetometry, ground conductivity and resistivity, and sonar. These specialists from the Institute of Geosciences at the University of Kiel are led by Professor Wolfgang Rabbel and two postdoctoral researchers: Dr. Dennis Wilken and Dr. Tina Wunderlich. During the 2013 season, the geophysics team will consist of a dozen additional professionals and masters and bachelors students from the University of Kiel who focus on geophysics applied to sub-surface archaeological remains.

The geophysics research will assist the oceanographic research by revealing the stratigraphy of the area and pinpoint other locations for oceanographic sampling. The geophysics will also map the current state of the water in high and low tide as a starting point for the reconstruction of the historical environment. This will be achieved with a sonar side scanner mounted on a small boat. Ground conductivity (EM-31) and magnetometer readings will be the workhorses for the geophysical research in the tidal bay. Logistically this work is challenging as the area floods during high tide. One goal with the broad-based conductivity and magnetomerty instrumentation is to seek the boundaries of old coastlines that can be checked with sampling. Subsequently more fine-grained geophysical instructions, specifically ground penetrating radar units with varying megahertz antennas will be employed to check anomalies and to identify potential archaeological remains.

The geophysical research will also be applied to sites beyond the Leiruvogur harbor and incorporated into the hinterland research of the Mosfell Archaeological Project. At the site of Skeggjastaðir, we have previously located the site of a medieval farmstead, probably established in the first century after the settlement of Iceland (ca. AD 870). We will use GPR at this site to try to delineate the structures, middens, and surface layers identified during the MAP's 2009 season. The closer mapping of these features with geophysical methods will provide the resolution for a future archaeological excavation. With the extensive excavation at Hrísbrú we already have an understanding of the character of a chiefly site in the region. As a farm that appears to be of intermediate status, Skeggjastaðir will provide an excellent counterpoint for the Hrísbrú evidence and provide a baseline for the character of a normal farm in the valley. Of interest here for the larger understanding of the Leiruvogur harbor and the extent of chiefly power will be a comparison of the imports that reaches a high status farm vs. a lower status farm.