For Iceland's first settlers, wood was an extremely valuable resource. Thankfully, over a quarter of the island was covered in forests when they first arrived. But the long winters and volcanic surface of the island aren't conducive to forest growth. Trees take a very long time to grow in these conditions, and so settlers quickly learned to use the dwindling wood supply, sparingly.

To solve this problem they developed a resourceful method for building shelter called the turfhouse.

The turfhouse consists of a wooden frame on the inside and thick wall of dirt on the outside. Wood was also needed as a fuel source to keep the homes warm in the winter months.