1-A |
BRONZE AGE: 1700–500 BCE
BURIAL CAIRN LANDSCAPES
In the Bronze Age, sea levels were higher, the climate was warmer, and the familiar dense fir forests of Trøndelag did not exist. People hunted and fished, worked the land and lived in longhouses with barns at one end.
The sun held religious significance, and elevated sections of the landscape had burial cairns to commemorate the dead. Petroglyphs (rock carvings) preserved stories for posterity – about people’s experiences, ideas and rituals. It was a landscape of burial cairns, rock art and settlements.
1-B |
TODAY’S LANDSCAPE
The table model is an illustration of how it might have looked in the Bronze Age – not an accurate reconstruction. Sea levels are based on NGU calculations.
1-C |
A NEW MATERIAL
Bronze was the great innovation of this period. The shiny material, used in jewellery, weapons and household tools, is an alloy of copper and tin. Tin does not occur naturally in Norway, so all bronze must have arrived through barter or as spoils of war. Though not produced locally, mould findings indicate that bronze may have been remelted here.
Bronze objects were associated with high status. Some people brought these status symbols with them to the grave. Several bronze grave goods have been found at Toldnes, including a dagger, two swords and a celt (small axe). In some areas, bronze objects have also been found in rivers, marshes and ponds – probably placed there as offerings, or stashed away with an intent of retrieving them later.
Bronze findings from a Toldnes burial mound
Photo: NTNU University Museum, Per E. Fredriksen
1-D |
At Sund in Inderøy, a Bronze Age mass grave containing the remains of 20–30 people was discovered. The people were killed using metal weapons, probably swords, and then dismembered.
The burial at Sund is completely different from other Bronze Age grave findings. It was not common for so many bodies to simply be placed together in a pit. Could they have been attacked where they lived, and then hastily buried? Or were they sacrificed as part of some ritual?
At Holan near Toldnes, two bronze swords have been found in a burial mound. Nothing links these swords to the massacre at Sund. But the two grave findings tell of a brutal time when access to metal and weapons was important – and home was not always a safe place.
Bronze sword discovered in a Holan burial mound
Photo: NTNU University Museum, Ole Bjørn Pedersen
Findings from the Sund mass grave
Photo: Oddmunn Farbregd
MASSACRE AND MASS GRAVE
1-E |
Bronze Age people left many traces of various rituals, and were clearly concerned with honouring their dead. They built burial cairns on natural elevations clearly visible in the landscape. At the time, you could navigate the waters between Børgin and Beitstadfjorden, and the many cairns along the strait must have been a magnificent sight.
Perhaps the strait is the reason so many cairns are located here. The discovery of shell sand in some of the burial chambers suggests the ocean played some symbolic part in the burial rites. In some of the cairns, spiral-shaped walls made using flat stone slabs have been placed around the burial chambers. Such circles and spirals are also found in petroglyphs and ornaments, and are believed to symbolise the sun.
Findings from a Frøseth burial mound
Photo: Geir Grønnesby
PASSAGE OF THE DEAD
1-F |
In our region, we have found no physical remains of Bronze Age boats, but many petroglyphs with boat motifs. We know that boats were used in war and for transport. The boat probably also held ritual and symbolic significance. The rock art shows long ships carrying suns and various mythological figures.
The simplest boats were made using logs. Others were sewn together from leather or wooden boards. These usually had a flat stern. A later boat type was pointed at both ends, like a canoe. This type is called a hjortspring boat, because the remains of such a boat were found in Hjortspring Mose in Denmark. These boats had paddles, not oars.
Hjortspring boat model
Photo: Bergen Maritime Museum
OUT TO SEA
1-G |
Stones, wood, bone and leather were still common materials in the Bronze Age. Simple shaft-hole axes made of stone were used for various tasks. Using sand as an abrasive, bones were used to grind holes for the shafts.
Using the axe, you could cut down trees, chop firewood, and work the soil for planting and sowing. An axe could also be a weapon or status symbol. Some of the axes have such narrow shaft holes that they hardly seem functional. Perhaps they were ceremonial axes?
In the Steinkjer region, several Stone Age and Bronze Age shaft-hole axes have been found on agricultural land. The axes may stem from graves that have been destroyed, or they may have been placed in ponds or marshes which have later become farmland.
Stone axe found at Søraunet in northern Steinkjer
Photo: NTNU University Museum, Per E. Fredriksen
ROCK TOOLS
1-H |
In the Bronze Age, petroglyphs became more varied. There were boats, footprints, hands, geometric shapes and various animal figures. At Tessem in Steinkjer, several human figures with phalluses, outstretched arms, large hands and spread-out fingers have been found, among other motifs. Why were they drawn that way? Why were the hands so important?
Many large petroglyph sites have been found in the Steinkjer region, but none in the area between Børgin and Toldnes. However, it has a large number of burial cairns. Perhaps this strait represented a passage between different landscapes – where the burial mounds were meant to dominate and the petroglyphs simply had no place?
Petroglyph from Tessem, depicting a human with large hands
Photo: NTNU University Museum