Environment and Settlement: Ørland 600 BC - AD 1250. Archaeological Excavations at Vik, Ørland Main Air Base

426 Pages·2019·18.445 MB·English

by  Ingrid Ystgaard (ed.)

Environment
and Settlement:
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During the Late Bronze Age, the Iron Age and early medieval period (c. 600 BC–AD 1250) a
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settlement at Vik in the Ørland peninsula emerged, flourished, vanished and emerged rd ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS AT VIK,
anew. Local landscape and vegetation development, cross-regional cultural developments (r
e
and global climatic events were of great significance to the farmer-fisher communities at d ØRLAND MAIN AIR BASE
.)
Vik throughout these periods.
In this book, results from the 2014–2016 archaeological excavations at Ørland main
Ingrid Ystgaard (red.)
air base have been refined and developed. The 13 papers deal with landscape, vegetation
and environmental aspects related to the excavated settlement, as well as the spatial and
social organization of the built environment. Building traditions, disposal practices, the
form and representation of everyday objects, subsistence and landscape use are central to
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ISBN 978-82-02-66483-1
www.cda.no
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ENVIRONMENT AND SETTLEMENT:
ØRLAND 600 BC - AD 1250
Archaeological excavations at Vik, Ørland main air base
Ingrid Ystgaard (ed.)
© 2019 Ingrid Ystgaard, Magnar Mojaren Gran, Ulf Fransson, Anders
Romundset, Thomas R. Lakeman, Anette Overland, Kari Loe Hjelle, Johan
Linderholm, Richard Macphail, Philip Buckland, Sofi Östman, Samuel
Eriksson, Jan-Erik Wallin, Roger Engelmark, Aina M. Heen-Pettersen, Astrid
B. Lorentzen, Marte Mokkelbost, Jan Storå, Marieke Ivarsson-Aalders, Grete
Irene Solvold, Ellen Wijgård Randerz, Ellen Grav Ellingsen and Raymond
Sauvage.
This work is protected under the provisions of the Norwegian Copyright
Act (Act No. 2 of May 12, 1961, relating to Copyright in Literary,
Scientific and Artistic Works) and published Open Access under the terms of
a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License
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rights, may limit third party use of the material.
This book is made possible with support from the Norwegian Defense Estate
Agency and the Departement of Archaeology and Cultural History at NTNU
University Museum.
ISBN print edition: 978-82-02-66483-1
ISBN web-PDF: 978-82-02-59531-9

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23865/noasp.89
This book is a peer-reviewed anthology.
Typesetting and cover design: Have a book
List of photographers, photos before each chapter:
FORSVARSBYGG
Magnar Mojaren Gran: Preface, chapter 2, 3, 4, 5, 11. NORWEGIAN DEFENCE ESTATES AGENCY
Åge Hojem: Chapter 1, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13.
Ingrid Ystgaard: Chapter 6
Marte Mokkelbost: Chapter 8
Front cover photo: Åge Hojem
Cappelen Damm Akademisk/NOASP
[email protected]
CONTENTS
Ingrid Ystgaard
PREFACE 9
Ingrid Ystgaard | Magnar Mojaren Gran | Ulf Fransson
ENVIRONMENT AND SETTLEMENT AT VIK, ØRLAND: A PHASE FRAMEWORK 23
Anders Romundset | Thomas R. Lakeman
SHORELINE DISPLACEMENT AT ØRLAND
SINCE 6000 CAL. YR BP 51
Anette Overland | Kari Loe Hjelle
VEGETATION DEVELOPMENT AT ØRLAND,
AND IN THE REGION, FROM 260 BC TO THE PRESENT 69
Johan Linderholm | Richard Macphail | Philip Buckland | Sofi Östman |
Samuel Eriksson | Jan-Erik Wallin | Roger Engelmark
ØRLANDET IRON AGE SETTLEMENT PATTERN DEVELOPMENT:
GEOARCHAEOLOGY (GEOCHEMISTRY AND SOIL MICROMORPHOLOGY)
AND PLANT MACROFOSSILS 107
Ulf Fransson
PRE-ROMAN IRON AGE HOUSES AT VIK: AN ANALYSIS OF CONSTRUCTION,
FUNCTION AND SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE 135
Aina m. Heen-Pettersen | Astrid B. Lorentzen
ROMAN IRON AGE AND MIGRATION PERIOD BUILDING TRADITIONS
AND SETTLEMENT ORGANISATION AT VIK, ØRLAND 167
Marte Mokkelbost
ROMAN PERIOD WASTE DEPOSITS AT ØRLAND, NORWAY 195
Jan Storå | Marieke Ivarsson-Aalders | Ingrid Ystgaard
UTILIZATION OF ANIMAL RESOURCES IN ROMAN IRON AGE VIK:
ZOOARCHAEOLOGY AT ØRLAND 233
Environment and settlement | contents
Grete Irene Solvold
THE POTTERY AT VIK IN THE EARLY IRON AGE 261
Ulf Fransson
A FARMSTEAD FROM THE LATE VIKING AGE AND EARLY MEDIEVAL PERIOD.
HOUSE CONSTRUCTIONS AND SOCIAL STATUS AT VIK, ØRLAND 323
Ellen Wijgård Randerz
A SHOE, A TROUGH AND A TINY BOAT: A STUDY OF EVERYDAY OBJECTS
FROM THE MEDIEVAL FARM VIK, ØRLAND, CENTRAL NORWAY 353
Ingrid Ystgaard
SPATIAL ORGANIZATION OF FARMSTEADS AT IRON AGE AND EARLY MEDIEVAL
VIK (C. 400 BC – AD 1250) 373
Ellen Grav Ellingsen | Raymond Sauvage
THE NORTHERN SCANDINAVIAN VIKING HALL:
A CASE STUDY FROM VIKLEM IN ØRLAND, NORWAY 399
6

Ingrid Ystgaard
Department of Archaeology and Cultural History, NTNU University Museum
Department of Historical Studies, Norwegian University of Technology and Science
[email protected]
Preface
ØRLAND AND VIK: occupation and ritual activities (Henriksen 2014:157).
GEOGRAPHY AND ARCHAEOLOGY Bronze axes have been found in Astrått, Hovde and
Ørland is a flat, low-lying peninsula, situated on the Storfosna (Henriksen 2014:172, Berglund & Solem
Norwegian coast, at the mouth of the Trondheim 2017:209). A birch bark vessel containing so-called
fjord (Figure 1). The name of the peninsula means the bog butter, dating to the transition between the
land of the flat, wide tidal zone (Schøning 1979:283). Bronze Age and the pre-Roman Iron Age, was
The Trondheim fjord reaches far inland, and connects found in Røstad (Henriksen 2014:157). Across the
the important sea route along the Norwegian coast peninsula, there are several Iron Age burials. The
to one of Norway’s main agricultural regions on the burials tend to be particularly well preserved. Iron
eastern shores of the Trondheim fjord. Records of Age burials contain both weaponry and jewellery.
several harbours in the outer Trondheim fjord area They also often contain preserved remains of the
show the region’s significance in communications deceased, as a result of the calcareous, shell-sand
and trade in ancient and historical times (Henriksen soils (Herje 1984:4, Stuedal 1998). There are several
1997:102-108, Sognnes 2005:188-189, Berglund & recorded and preserved large burial mounds with
Solem 2017). The coastal region in central Norway is a diameter of more than 20m (Figure 2, Forseth
very rich in marine resources and has a long history & Foosnæs 2017, cf. Ringstad 1987, Berglund &
of fisheries (Elvestad 1998). The landscape in the Solem 2017). There has also been found payment
coastal region is less well suited for crop cultivation, gold at Røstad near Austrått (Berglund & Solem
but the fertile Ørland peninsula with its marine 2017:209). A number of settlement sites from the
sediments constitutes an exception (Herje 1984:4, Iron Age and medieval periods have been exca-
Berger 2001:33-34). Due to the strategic significance vated in recent years (Grønnesby 1999, Birgisdottir
of its geographical position, and to the rich marine & Rullestad 2010, Mokkelbost & Sauvage 2014,
and agricultural resources, the outer Trondheim fjord Sauvage & Mokkelbost 2016, Eidshaug & Sauvage
area in general and Ørland in particular have a very 2016, Ellingsen & Sauvage Ch. 13). There are records
rich archaeological record (Berglund & Solem 2017, of at least three medieval churches that no longer
Figure 2). In the eastern, higher lying parts of the exist (Brendalsmo 2001:291-293). Two medieval
peninsula there are several traces of Bronze Age churches are still standing at Viklem and Austråt,
9
Environment and settlement | Ingrid Ystgaard
Figure 1. The location of the excavated area at Vik. Illustration: Magnar Mojaren Gran, NTNU University Museum.
the latter forming part of a 16-17th century manor to a large, shallow bay which covered large parts
complex (Andersen & Bratberg 2011:66). The of what is today dry land. The flat profile of the
number of preserved Iron Age burials, large burial land, combined with the land upheaval after the
mounds, medieval churches, and large-scale Iron last Ice Age, has caused profound changes to the
Age settlement sites excavated in Ørland places it landscape since Ørland rose from the sea in the
among the areas in central Norway with the high- last part of the Bronze Age and right up to today.
est densities of Iron Age and medieval remains (cf. Archaeological remains reveal that Vik had a cen-
Forseth & Foosnæs 2017). tral and strategic position in Ørland during the
Today, Vik lies on on a marked, dry ridge, c. 11m Early Iron Age (for the Norwegian chronological
above sea level, in the central parts of the Ørland scheme see Table 1). A number of graves have
peninsula. However, the name of Vik together with been excavated along the ridge at Vik, and one of
the shape of today’s landscape reveal that in earlier Ørland’s medieval churches was situated at Vik
times, Vik (meaning bay) was indeed situated next (Brendalsmo 2001:293).
10