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The Turf Houses of Iceland Were Anything But Luxurious - Neatorama

When the Vikings settled Iceland a thousand years ago, it had plenty of forests, but the trees were cut down to build homes and ships, and to clear the land for livestock. That led to erosion and poor agriculture. For centuries, the only wood available to build homes was driftwood. So people instead built homes using wood for only the roof supports and doors, and filled in the walls and roof with turf. These homes were innovative, and today would be called sustainable and charming, but they were