– This is so special that I can hardly describe it. To make a discovery like that is really rare, says archaeologist Stine Grøvdal Melsæther in Nordland County Municipality. Melsæther was sitting in the office one late summer afternoon to map the area for a new power line in Alsvåg in Øksnes municipality, when she suddenly saw something in her side view on the satellite images. To the untrained eye it is difficult to see. But here is one of the home remedies. Ramparts on the sides and a depression in the middle where food has probably been prepared. Photo: Frida Brembo / news – A short distance away from the route we are working on, I saw something that was very different from the surrounding natural terrain. I could see that there were structures that looked like house foundations that lay in a kind of ring formation on a small hill, says Melsæther. The trained archaeologist’s eye quickly understood that she had found something very special. – I ran out into the hall to shout at my colleagues, because I was so happy. But it was late and summer, so there was no one in the office. The archaeologists have found black coal, which indicates human activity. Photo: Frida Brembo / news 1,000 years old What she has found is a so-called garden complex from the Iron Age. This is a place where people who lived far away on the Iron Age farms came to gather for special occasions. Equals who met in a neutral place. There is still much we do not know about the farmyards in Norway. – The yard facilities have not been very carefully examined in the past. But we know they came here to do important things. Perhaps they engaged in some form of politics and made important decisions in Iron Age society. A prevailing theory is that this is a kind of precursor to what we later know as courthouses, explains Melsæther. This is how it may have looked over 1,000 years ago. The illustration was made by Tor Kvarv. Photo: Frida Brembo / news But this is long before the courts as we know them. This may be as much as 700 years older than the courts. The tuna plants can be found along the Norwegian coast in the period 200 to approx. 900 AD, in the period leading up to Norway being united under one king. Awe There are today 12 of them in Nordland, 2 in Troms and a total of around 30 in Norway. In the past, it was thought that most of the farmyards had been found. Photo: Frida Brembo / news – It is with great awe that I am here today. It is such a great joy and something I will probably never experience again in my career. – The first time I went to the discovery site, I came across a small path and thought that here, over 1,000 years ago, people went to gather at this yard. It is absolutely fantastic, says a moved archaeologist. The fact that the archaeologists now have satellite data covering the whole of Norway has made a big difference in how archeology is worked in Norway. Like this find, far off the beaten path, it would probably never have been found without the satellite images. And that has led to a number of archaeological discoveries throughout Norway. Why there are so many in Nordland is not known. But it is known that Nordland was a power center in the Iron Age. It may also be that in other parts of the country the land has been plowed and more has been developed. Perhaps it may also have something to do with the fact that our county is so elongated, with long and sometimes risky travel routes. The archaeologists from Nordland County Municipality are trying to map the cultural heritage. But only two small soil samples must be taken from the garden plant before it can be left alone. formerly Ingar Moen Johnsen, Vemund Emil Hoffmann and Stine Melsæther. Photo: Frida Brembo / news Finds charcoal At the farm in Alsvåg, six to eight house foundations and 20 pits have been found which were most likely used for cooking pits. A tuft is what remains today after something that used to be a building. And now, over 1000 years later, we see them as a depression in the terrain with ramparts on the sides. And inside a tuft, those who came to visit here for the night may have cooked food and had a hearth to keep warm. The charcoal at the very bottom of the picture shows that there has been a fire here. Now samples will be taken to try to find the era. Photo: Frida Brembo / news – Today we have opened a tuft and a pit to take samples. There we find thick lenses with charcoal, which show us that there has been intensive activity here. In the one tuft here now, in addition to the charcoal itself, we have found a so-called cultural layer, says archaeologist Vemund Emil Hoffmann. He shows us down into one of the pits. Several layers, clear to the eye. Archaeologist Vemund Emil Hoffmann. Photo: Frida Brembo / news Stones affected by heat have also been found. They are charred and red, affected by the heat that has been down in the pits so many years ago. – So here we see the remains of a hearth. You can see a nice curve at the edge of the hole here. With a lot of charcoal. So it turns completely coal black when you rub your fingers. There was probably some kind of paving stone or something similar at the bottom, says Hoffmann. Archaeologist Ingar Moen Johnsen takes soil samples. Photo: Frida Brembo / news – A culture team can suggest that there has been quite a long period of activity. There used to be a house here. It has been warm and active. If there is a cultural layer above the hearth, it may indicate that there has been different organization in the house in different periods. This may indicate that it has been in use for several generations. It’s exciting, says Hoffmann. Now the samples will be examined and the archaeologists will try to carbon date the activity. Stine Melsæter is engaged when she tells about the find. Photo: Frida Brembo / news – The two tests we took today are the only things we will do here. Now we will try to date it, and we will also leave it alone so that it can be experienced by future generations, says Melsæther. Published 14.09.2024, at 10.09 Updated 15.09.2024, at 08.28
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– Will never experience anything like this – news Nordland
