In the autum of 2001 8 pupils at Tastaveden School (In Stavanger) began studying Cultural Monuments as an optional subject. From then till Easter 2002 we visited many museums to look at cultural monuments. We also went on many field trips. When we visited the little island of Utsira, far out in the sea, west of Haugesund, then our interest in the Iron Age was aroused. On Utsira we visited many houses foundations and burial mounds from that period. When we were asked by the Archaeological Museum in Stavanger whether we were interested in looking more closely into Norwegian Iron Age to compare it with the corresponding period in Macedonia we eagerly accepted. Unfortunately, being in our final year at secondary school and its being nearly end of the school year, we thought it wood be better to “Go it alone”. We got a financial contribution from European Heritage in Norway and this money we used to buy a digital camera and undertake two expeditions; one to the Iron Age farm at ULLANDHAUG (Stavanger) and the ANCIENT VILLAGE AT LANDA (Forsand). During the expeditions we took various photos and here is a sample of them, together with texts. Perhaps when you see them you to o will be inspired to make your own expedition to learn more about how people lived in those days, and to have memories to last a lifetime.
Here is the cultural monuments group gathered outside one of the Iron Age houses at Ullandhaug. Front row, from left to right: Jan Erik Fjelde, Kathrine Brandeggen, Elvedin Besic and with the subject teacher Roar Svendsen in the foreground. Back row from left to right: Eivind Strøm, Simen Sundstrøm, Øystein Brekke, Kenneth E. Jones and Stig V. Finstad
The settlement at Ullandhaug dates back to the Stone Age. This slab of rock has lain over the stone for an unconscionably long time. Stone Age man has settled her. This “cave” is situated between the Iron Ages houses and the burial mounds. This proves the existence of Stone Age habitation. What we do not know is whether people lived here continually. Maybe a family settled here, extracted iron, had visits from relatives, and then built a better house…. Maybe this dwelling place was abandoned in the Stone Age and then, after a number of years, was inhabited again. Whatever, this was a very satisfactory place to live. For the Stone Age farmer there was good pastureland and access to fresh water. It is incredibly exciting to see actual proof that there have been settlements here since the Stone Age.
Each year between 13.ooo and 14.000 people visit the Iron Age from. 4.000 of these are school children from the area. The archaeologists began excavating Ullandhaug on 3 June 1967. At first ten students were involved with the excavations. Within 6 months this figure had increased to fifty, with the students mostly involved with removal of turf and the digging.
An evocative picture …..two Iron Age houses and a group of people in silhouette.
By both Long Houses there was an underground spring. This is where water was collected for the farm. The waterholes were paved, and it is clear that access from the entrances to the spring was improved by being paved with either flagstones or stepping-stone-like structures. The archaeologists think that there has also been a spring on Site 3.
Here you can see a cattle ”way”. This “lane” leads from the barn and up towards Limahaugen. The left branch leads to the border fence to Madla. The eastern branch is in very poor condition – narrower and narrower as it nears the house. The cattle “way” goes right up to the to the doorway and is connected to the part of the house where the animals were kept. This lane made it easier for the people to gather their pastures. The lane also kept the sheep out of the fields, etc. An inquisitive sheep has found its way into the picture. There are not so many sheep on the farm today, but there were probably quite a lot here in the Iron Age.
Here are the old master and mistress of the farm as represented by Elvedin og Kathreine. To show the master was a mighty man he has got the axe for the occasion. In the background is one of the houses at Ullandhaug. The clothes worn by our couple are how we imagined they would have looked. We know of the textiles from the period first and foremost from the bog finds in Denmark, and it is from these that these outfits have been reconstructed. In the old days people made their own cloth. They got wool from the sheep which was spun into yarn on a hand-held distaff, then the yarn was woven into clothing.
From left Eiving, Stig, Jan, Kathrine og Anne Kari Skår who was on hand to show us around. Here we are sitting by the hearth in one of the Iron Age houses. The hearth and surrounding stones are original. In on way we can imagine what it must have been like living in that era. It was warm round the fire, but there was an icy draught blowing along the wall. We are sitting
Her ser vi hele gjengen rundt ildstedet inne i langhuset. Og vi hører på hva Jostein sier. Og som dere ser, hører vi godt etter. Langhuset er ca 1500 år gammelt og det ligger på Ullandhaug. En får en merkelig følelse når en sitter rundt dette gamle ildstedet som det har sittet folk rundt for 1500 år siden. Hva de tenkte og sa får vi dessverre aldri vite. Da vi var i huset var det ikke kaldt, men vi lurer litt op hvordan på om de som bodde der den gangen for lenge siden hadde det like behagelig som oss?
This is the smoke vent, an ancient ventilator. Actually it is quite remarkable how adaptable Iron Age man was. This is the crude beginning of our present-day chimney / air duct. The fire was placed under the vent and the smoke went straight up and out, without allowing snow or rain to come in. This shows man’s remarkable adaptability and inventiveness. In the Iron Age just as today, people needed to be creative and inventive to survive. This characteristic was vital for each and every one of the Iron Age people, much more so than for us. As long as we can afford to pay we have people to do things for us. Iron Age man was his own architect, cook, inventor, etc. etc.
Here we were being shown how people ground corn into flour. This was done by placing the corn between two round stones and then turning the upper one round. It was usually barley that was ground at Ullandhaug, perhaps mixed with some oats. This is called a rotating mill. It is possible that the stones rested on an animal skin. During the grinding process it is possible that the corn flour got mixed with particles from the grinding stones, so trying to avoid impurities in the flour was something they did not think about. Varieties of cereal croups grown in Norway at the time were: Dwarf wheat, wheat, einkorn, emmer (another type of wheat) and barley.
This is how they buried their dead in the Iron Age. They levelled the ground and lay out the corpse / -s together with various riches, treasures, weapons and so on. In some places entire families have been found in one grave, while in others people in authority were often buried with their slaves, whom they had killed. Graves have also been found where a person has been buried with an entire ship and many horses. After laying the corpse / -s down a mound was built over, often with a large flat rock on top so that the grave could be re-opened to bury further family members. It was also quite usual to bury people on a high place to afford a good view.

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