Vestvågøy
Theme - 12
Iron Age
Pre-Roman Iron
Age
Iron production in Norway began around 500 BC.
It was a colder climatic period, and life was
harsher, poorer. Burial customs seem to be
changing, and graves are usually The first part of
the period is traditionally interpreted as poor,
caused by a climatic colder period. At first, the
graves are more or less empty, but the custom of
burial is changing with more and more
grave-equipment, closer to year 0. The main
archaeological evidence from this period is traces
of settlement (sites), graves, sacrifices,
fortification, stone quarries and iron.
Further south in Europe, Celtic groups were
working iron, and it is possible that southern and
central Scandinavia learned iron production from
them. In Denmark, small towns begin to appear.
Written evidence for this period includes the
writing of Pytheas, a Greek who travelled widely
around 330 B.C., from Marseilles to the northern
shores of Europe. Roman writers Julius Caesar and
Tacitus tell about the customs of sacrifice in the
north of Europe, which helps us to understand finds
in the South of Scandinavia. Information from
Tacitus' Germania (ca 100 AD) helps us to interpret
evidence of sacrificial rites from this period,
including human remains in bogs and wetland. One
explanation is linked to the cult of the earth
goddess Nerthus, who travelled among the people in
a covered wagon into which only the priest was
allowed to look. On her return to her shrine, her
cultic equipment was washed in the lake by slaves,
who were drowned when their task was completed.
Human sacrifice played a part in the public
cult.
Interpretations of the culture in this period
are mainly based on grave-findings, a consequence
of a lack of traces of settlement. Yet there are
signs that settlement was getting more
permanent.
Before 1970, houses from this period where
unknown in Norway, but then traces of settlement
where discovered both in the south (Ogna) and in
the north Vestvågøy
of Norway.
The graves are few, and due to the manner of
burial the graves are hardly visible above the
surface. Burial custom varies between north
(Sámi custom) and south. There are also
contrasts between Bronze Age society's material
self-expression and that of the pre-Roman Iron Age.
The Bronze Age left huge burial mounds with
quantities of prestige artefacts, sacrificial
offerings and rock carvings; graves in the Iron Age
are smaller, poorer, with fewer sacrifices.
This may be because Bronze Age the society was
ruled by chieftains whose power and wealth was
rooted in their control of one scarce commodity:
bronze. When bronze was replaced by iron, this made
a great impact on the Scandinavians. Now they met a
society where bronze was of no huge importance. The
advantage with iron was that it was found in easily
accessible resources. The power that had been
concentrated among the elite of the society becomes
more dispersed.
Roman
Age
Archaeologically there are more traces from this
period, and more to build our theories on. Now we
can support our archaeological research with
written sources, place-names and inscriptions. The
cultural historical landscape is more visible, with
burial-fields, huge mounds, fortifications, and
remains of buildings and farms with farmyards,
houses, fields and fences.
Politically, Germanic forces put pressure on the
western border of the Roman Empire, but these
contacts also led to increased trade and material
and cultural exchange.
At this time a rich chieftain was buried in
Flagghaugen in Karmøy, Rogaland. This mound
was excavated in 1835. Archaeological methods were
not well-developed at that time, so some important
information is lost, but we can still make some
observations about this man:
- His grave is proof of high status. The mound
was 43 m wide and 5 m high, with a spectacular
view over the Karmsundet. It contained a chamber
of slate, with an oak coffin. He was equipped
with a huge amount of gold, his necklace of pure
gold alone weighing 590 grams. From written
sources we know that fyrster used armrings as a
symbol of power.
- The chieftain in this mound may have been
involved in a Norwegian-Swedish attack against
Denmark in the period 200-400 AD.
Interpretations of a well-known archaeological
treasure, the rich sacrificial site at Illerup
in Denmark, include the theory that it was made
by an army of 1000 warriors who came from
western Norway.
In this period it becomes possible to trace a
clearer division between ethnic groups in the
Northern part of Norway: the Norse and Sámi
population. Along the coast of North Norway we have
strongly visible cultural remains, like boathouses,
court sites, and the farm at Borg step into its
1.period of settlement. Stones with runic
inscriptions occur all over Norway, dated back to
around 300 AD.
Court sites can
be found all over Norway - in the North - at least
five were in use at this time.
Contact across the North Sea can be traced
considerably earlier than the Viking Age. In the
Eastern part of England, archaeological material
illustrates contacts with the Vest coast of Norway
as early as 400 AD. But when did direct contact
occur with the islands of the Western Sea, Scotland
and Ireland? We know that the western inhabitants
of Norway crossed the Skagerak in larger boats; but
did they need sails to cross the North Sea?
Migration
Period
In Norway cruciform brooches are the leading
artefact and define the start of the period.
Settlement is common both for the Roman period and
for the Migration period, but in the latter we now
also find deserted farms. In the north of Norway
the building material was mainly peat, in the
south, mainly wood.
Farm mounds are traces of settlement
characteristic of the north. Created by centuries
of continuous settlement, they consist of
accumulated remains from buildings, everyday life,
garbage and peat. In the north of Norway there are
around 1500-2000 farm mounds, some of them 2000
years old. They are connected to areas of Norse
settlement, but also occur in other areas.
We can see a huge variation in burial customs.
Archaeological excavations show a variety of
imported artefacts, vessels of bronze, glasses and
other products of trade. The material indicates
contact with French areas, Rhine and Germania.
The oldest farm names are from this period,
still in use today, i.e.: Haug, Berg, Nes and Vik
together with Bø or By.
Merovingian
Period
The period gets its name from the contemporary
ruling dynasty of France. In Norway it is a period
of further cultural change. Our understanding of
this Viking Age is
rooted in our understanding of the preceding
centuries, offering an overview of the
archaeological material and the written sources.
But there is economic, political and ideological
development, and perhaps a crisis of some sort,
involving poverty and a degree of isolation from
neighbouring countries.
There was contact across the North Sea, however,
including ideological or cultural influences.
including possibilities of early Christian
influence in the North of Norway. Important
studies in this context are material culture as
symbols and ethnic or ideological markers.
Most of the graves are small mounds, or
invisible under flat earth, but from around 700 AD
the archaeological material gets richer.
Key evidence for this period includes:
- The runic
inscription from Eggum, Sogn and Fjordane. This
is the longest inscription we know from this
period. The stone covered a grave.
- 789 AD: attack in Portland, England. Then,
in 793, attack at the monastery in Lindisfarne.
This is seen as the start of the Viking
Age
- Large burial mounds - often these mounds are
interpreted as an expression of a more regulated
society, organised with chieftains and
"principalities". Two areas in Norway illustrate
this: Borre in the county of Vestfold, and
Avaldsnes at Karmøy. Two ship-burials are
now dated to around 690-750, and a chieftain in
the Norse ship is dressed and equipped as a
Frankish aristocrat!
- All over over Scandinavia we find ports,
trading-places and towns, and a new organisation
of defensive structures. Research shows that an
area on the west coast of Norway (the county of
Rogaland) could have been a core-area for a
kingdom that was established so early as the 6th
century, perhaps influenced by Frankish
ideas.
Recently, remains of houses from this period
were found, the largest one in the north, at Borg,
Vestvågøy
in Lofoten.
Burial customs are getting simpler: rock-coffins
disappear and the mounds are diminishing in
size.
Of imported material we find glass of different
shapes and colours, jewellery, beads (amber and
glass), shells from as far afield as the Indian
Ocean, women's graves, and weapons.
Technological improvements are also a
significant factor during this period.
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This
project has been supported by the EU as part of the Culture
2000 programme.