Icelandic turf houses

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The Icelandic turf house was the product of a difficult climate and, most importantly, a lack of timber suitable for major constructions. It was this shortage of strong wood that led the Icelandic people to maintain turf constructions when other Viking settlements had moved on to more complex wooden structures.

Iceland had few forested areas when it was settled, and what forests there were was often largly birch trees. Birch timber is not well suited to large and complex structures, which meant that a frame could be made with it, but little else. This also meant that it was difficult for ships to be built, this culminated with a lack of boats that could transport large cargos (Icelands harsh winters added to the problem by destroying a large proportion of the ships). Due to the lack of transport and Icelands remoteness, importing foreign timber was rare. However, Iceland did have a large amount of turf that was suitable for construction.

The common Icelandic turf house would have a large foundation made of flat stones, upon this was built the frame which would hold the load of the turf. The turf would then be fitted around the frame in blocks often with a second layer, or in the more fashionable herringbone stlye. The only external wood would be the doorway which would often be decorative, the doorway would lead in to the hall which would commonly have a great fire. Another interesting part of the Icelandic turf house was the introduction of attached toilets, which were communal and the act of going to the attached toilet was often done in large groups.