Iron Age (A.D. 1 - 1050)

The landscape of Elgsnes two thousand years ago was much like the one we see today. The sea was only 3 - 4 metres higher, and the land continued to rise all through the Iron Age. The bay at Elgsnes, called Elgsnesvågen, was a good landing place for boats, and at Oppsetta, where the turning-point for the road is now, they could launch or land their boats in any weather. The coastal pine grew thick in the woods, and the farming benefited from the mild climate. The sea was the most important means of communication, and Elgsnes was centrally placed as regards the coastal traffic. Many probably visited Elgsnes on their way north or south.

The remains of a stone wall on Nonshågen may be what is left of a primitive fort from the first half of the Iron Age. From Nonshågen there is a panoramic view, and those sailing through Toppsundet in the east, or over the fjords Andfjorden and Kvæfjorden in the west, could not expect to pass unseen. Maybe there also was a prepared bonfire here, which could be used to warn neighbouring farms about impending danger.

Farming

Most of Elgsnes’ prehistoric finds are from the Iron Age. The fields were made larger and the coming of the plough allowed ever more land to be cultivated. The people felled trees, cleared stones, and plowed the fields. Domestic animals ate the bushes and made clearings where mushrooms and berries could grow. The farm is in the best agricultural district in Troms county. A sample from the peat bog Stormyra contains pollen which indicates that both rye and barley were grown here during the Iron Age. The crops fed both people and livestock, and probably sheep, goats, cattle and horses were represented on the farm.

Spindle Ill.: M. Skandfer

Good summers could probably also yield flax crops. Then they could weave lighter, smoother and cooler cloth than the commonly used woollens. The archaeological finds give glimpses of the production of cloth. One grave contained the skeleton of a woman together with, among other things, 17 linen crochets and a so-called weaving sword, made from a whale’s jawbone. Several spindles of soapstone or burnt clay have also been found. These are parts of distaffs with which the wool was spun. Then it was woven or "needlebinded" (a form of knitting) into cloth, clothes and, significantly, sails. Spindles are a common find from both the Iron Age and the middle ages.

Trade

The sea was vital, and assured food for both men and livestock through the long winter. The sea could also provide goods that were sought after elsewhere, and therefore could be traded for things one couldn’t make on the farm. Stockfish and raw material from whale, walrus or seal have probably been valuable trading goods. Walrus teeth, which in many ways is finer than ivory, was sought for and highly valued by the distant Byzantines.

The sea also tied the communities together, and the large Iron Age farms on Andøya, Bjarkøya, Grytøya and Trondenes were not distant when the wind blew in the right direction. We believe that the people at Elgsnes had contacts with a large neighbouring area, and finds of special glass pearls and bronze brooches show that the women owned valuable jewellery from distant lands.

Social relations

The finds show that the Iron Age population at Elgsnes have possessed the same objects as people further south in Scandinavia. This shows that the way of life was much the same, but also that they belonged to the same network of exchange and contact. The Iron Age farmers have probably felt a sense of community that embraced large geographical distances. This was maintained and further developed by, among other things, common religious ideas and exchange of trade goods and gifts. The Norse social network was founded upon the local chieftains. All inhabitants had duties to the community to which they belonged. Some provided goods while others could perform services. Elgsnes was probably not the farm of a chief, but it could have been a large and secure provider of grain already in the Iron Age.

The chief was probably responsible for the distribution of goods, and was the regional representative, both in mortal and divine affairs. The mightiest families in northern Norway of the Iron Age had, in addition, contact with Sami groups. The North-Norwegian chief Ottar (Othere) informed King Alfred of England around A.D. 890 regarding this contact. The Sami provided the local chiefs with valuable goods such as walrus-skin and teeth, in addition to various types of hides, and they must have been an important fundament for the chiefs’ power and influence way beyond their own surrounding country.

Archaeological finds show that there lived groups of Sami on Hinnøya, Senja and Andøya during the time of the Vikings, in addition to those that lived around Astafjordene. Another way of life, and another faith, must have been close by and well known, also for those that worked their farm at Elgsnes.

Traces of the Iron Age Farm

Ill.: M. Skandfer

In the Iron Age the people lived under the same roof as their animals; all within their long-house. Such houses were normally between 20 and 30 metres long. Within the thick turf walls there was wood panelling, and the roof was supported by solid wooden posts.

There isn’t much to be seen of the remains of the Iron Age farm today. Some places have been overgrown with bushes, and more land has been put under the plough. Thus a lot has been either destroyed or hidden under vegetation. It is only at Øverlandet that one has found remains of houses that may be from the last periods of the Iron Age or the early middle ages. There have probably been both houses and boat-sheds further down, by the sea, where it is now cultivated.

In the uncultivated land there are still some small stone mounds. These are clearance cairns and grave cairns from the Iron Age. By the estuary of Mølnelva there is a nice boat-shed site from the same period. The side walls and the back wall are visible, appearing as low banks, while the site is open unto the sea. The boat-shed had enough room for a six-metre long boat.

Religion in the Landscape

Modern agriculture has exposed many graves from various periods of the Iron Age in Storåkeren (which means "the large field"), between the houses and the sea. The graves lay near the houses; death close to life. Most of the Iron Age graves are heaped mounds

of stone or earth. While the graves from the early Iron Age may lie outside the farm itself; often prominent upon promontories, hills or skerries and islands; those of the late Iron Age are a part of the farm’s own inner cultural landscape .

The mounds could show that a single clan had the rights to the land, signalling to both the farm’s inhabitants and to those that sailed by. Perhaps it also was safer to keep the deceased nearby, considering that ghosts could harm both men and animals. The landscape didn’t just tell you where you were, but also who you were, and who belonged here.

The landscape names Finnkjerka (which means "the Sami church") with the nearby Kjerkebakkan ("the Church hills") show that some Sami also made use of the land on Elgsnes and gave it a religious significance. Still, it is not sure that any Sami lived on the farm as early as the Iron Age.

Grave finds, and comparisons with finds from elsewhere, may inform us about the society that the inhabitants of Elgsnes lived in. The graves alone can only tell a small part of the story, and it is also important to remember that very few were given a monumental grave: Perhaps not more than one or two every generation.

Two Graves at Ebergplassen

The graves at Ebergplassen

Below the house at Ebergplassen, on the lower side of the road, there still are two large Iron Age graves. Even if one of them was severely damaged in the 1920’s, they are today fine examples of typical forms of graves. The cairns are about 4,5 to 5 metres in diameter. They consist of stone and earth, and one of them has a shallow trench along the edge, which makes it similar to an upside-down soup-dish. The use of such trenches, to demarcate the border between the grave-mound and the surrounding ground, was most common in the late Iron Age. During the early Iron Age, stone circles or standing stones either in the middle of, or along the edges of the graves, were more common markers.

Cremations at Durmålstuva

Not all graves have been as visible on the surface. In some cases the deceased was burnt before he or she was put to earth, and no remains of markers of the grave remain today. Maybe they were not supposed to be seen. The graves may be merely small holes in the ground, where the remains of the deceased was laid after the burning. Sometimes we find the bones in small urns; other times they lie exposed within the hole. Such cremations are unusual in northern Norway, but burial customs vary in the different districts through different periods of the Iron Age, until Christianity is established in Norway.

Burnt grave at Durmaalstuva

At Durmålstuva a burnt grave within an oval stone enclosure has been examined. Just below the surface some small remains of burnt bone were found. A whetstone was found together with them, in addition to some burnt flint, some fragments of iron and a strap mounting from a horse’s bit.

The metal mounting indicates that the buried person died sometime between A.D. 400 and 600, in what is called the Migration period. It wasn’t too common with grave gifts earlier than this, but around A.D. 200 - 300 the customs change. Finds from other places in northern Norway and Trøndelag indicate that this was the beginning of a period of wealth, with new clearances and rich grave gifts, especially for the women. Clear indications of this is to be found in the graves in Storåkeren and Oppsettåkeren.

Graves in Storåkeren and Oppsettåkeren

A number of inhumation graves and grave gifts have been found below the flat ground, with stones lain around, and originally also over. Some of these have been examined by archaeologists. Both women and men were buried, and they usually were given something to bring with them into death. Some of the skeletons show signs of sickness and wear, some may be age-determined, while most have either wholly or partially whithered away in the earth.

Close by the turning place, there was found a male skeleton in a small stone chamber, approximately one metre below the surface. The man had with him an iron sword in a sheath with bronze fittings. The sword is from the early Iron Age, which means between A.D. 1 and 600. Weapons such as swords, shields, daggers or knives frequently accompanied the dead in the grave. Several fragments of Iron Age weapons have been found in the fields at Elgsnes, and these probably derive from overturned graves. The man in this grave has also been accompanied by a gilded amber bead, and an object consisting of a thin bronze disc. The bead may have been a talisman or a piece of jewellery, while the bronze object may have been a part of his outfit.

Ill.: M. Skandfer

Grave gifts of the woman´s grave. Photo: Tromsø museum

One of the graves in Storåkeren was a richly equipped woman’s grave. The woman was buried less than a metre below ground level in the Merovingian period, sometime between A.D. 600 and 800. She had two round, circular bronze brooches with whale-bone buttons and a small, round bronze brooch with an incised cross pattern lying on her chest. The latter brooch has an eastern, Finnish appearance, and may be from the beginning of the Merovingian period. There was a single bronze pin, with dice-shaped heads, on each shoulder. The brooches have most likely kept the various pieces of her dress together, while the bronze pins may have fastened a shawl or a neckcloth across the shoulders. Additionally she had with her in the grave 180 flat walrus-tooth beads, 39 red clay beads and 31 green glass beads. She must have been quite a sight!

There were also various tools in the grave. By the belt there was a pair of tweezers and a knife, in addition to a small, ornamented bronze spoon. There was also a bone comb, all for the benefit of the personal hygiene. On the left, in chest height, there was an iron sheep-shearer, a sickle, a key and the hasp of a small box, as well as the comb. The key might signify that it is the mistress of the farm that lies here. She administered the provisions and stores; she had the economic responsibility; and to a large degree also the practical whenever her husband was gone fishing or hunting. The sheep-shears and a spindle of burnt clay indicate that this woman worked with wool, and the sickle was for cutting flax. Iron Age burial gifts have marked differences according to gender, which was presumably more dependant upon the division of labour than upon status differences.

In the middle of another grave cairn there was an open chamber with light shell sand at the bottom. At different times, three people were buried in this cairn. Lowest of the three, in the chamber, there was a man of approximately 40 years. Shell sand had been strewn over him and the skeleton was therefore well-preserved. He had been about 172 cm high, and solidly built. Just above his head lay the remains of a wooden box with iron nails. The impressive contents must have belonged to a craftsman:

Hammer; celt; nail punch; hollow-chisel; a clamp of reindeer horn; three iron knives; two slate whetstones, a forge stone, a pair of smith’s tongs. This man may have been both a smith and a carpenter, and he probably served a larger area than just this farm.

Not everyone was capable of smithing, and it could be difficult finding good iron. There is a lot of iron in the bogs at Elgsnes, and slag, debris from iron ore extraction, has been found at Øverlandet. This natural resource may have led a smith to decide to settle here.

Tools from the man´s grave. Photo: Tromsø museum

We cannot tell whether he came from elsewhere, or was born on the farm. Maybe the farmer himself was a craftsman, while others did the farming. One of the man’s ankles was quite stiff, while the other had had a chronic infection. This man could not work in the fields. His skill in the crafts would nonetheless have made him a significant figure in the local community. A farm that could feed professional craftsmen must have had a surplus of food, clothing, housing and labour. The find of the smith and his tools add to our impression of Elgsnes as a central Iron Age farm in southern Troms.

Somewhat later a young man was put in the cairn, and this has disturbed the first grave. He had with him a small iron knife, a shield, and possibly a sword. Uppermost in the cairn lay the skeleton of a young woman. Her grave was mostly destroyed, but an amber bead and a part of a bronze, bowl-shaped fibula, presumably belonged to her grave gifts. It isn’t possible to estimate the ages of the two youths, nor to judge what brought about their deaths. The graves are from the Viking period, between A.D. 800 and 1000 The three have probably been close relatives. The smith may have been the father of the young man and woman. In the Iron Age crafts were likely to have been passed on from mother to daughter and from father to son. The craftsman at Elgsnes was buried, as we saw, with his tools. That may have meant that he didn’t have a successor. It could also mean that the tools were considered so personal that no-one could inherit it or otherwise use it, once the original owner had passed away.