The Agrarian Life of the North 2000 BC – AD 1000: Studies in Rural Settlement and Farming in Norway

The 14 articles presented in this publication represent some of the latest and most relevant research on rural settlement and farming from the Late Neolithic through the Early Medieval Period in Norway. It deals with the impact of climate change, plague and the AD 536–537 volcanic event and some of the earliest farms north of the Arctic Circle. It provides new perspectives and archaeological evidence for the Viking age farm of Norway, differences in regional settlement structures of agrarian societies, the relation between houses and graves in the Iron Age, and varying food practices as indicators of societal change. The publication is part of the Joint Research Program (Forskning i fellesskap) conducted by the University Museums of Norway and co-funded by The Research Council of Norway. Preface Frode Iversen, Håkan Petersson 7 Chapter 1: Long time - long house Kristin Armstrong Oma 11 Chapter 2: Effect on temperature change on Iron Age cereal production and settlement patterns in mid-Norway Arne Anderson Stamnes 27 Chapter 3: Estate division: Social cohesion in the aftermath of AD 526-7 Frode Iversen 41 Chapter 4: Why did pottery production cease in Norway during the transition to the late Iron Age? Christian Løchsen Rødsrud 77 Chapter 5: Relations between burials and buildings in the Iron Age of southwest Norway Barbro Dahl 93 Chapter 6: Cooking and feasting: Changes in food practice in the Iron Age Grethe Bjørkan Bukkemoen 117 Chapter 7: Hot rocks! Beer brewing on Viking and Medieval Age farms Geir Grønnesby 133 Chapter 8: Farm - Manor - Estate: Agricultural landscape and settlement at Hundvåg, southwest Norway Trond Meling 151 Chapter 9: A Late Bronze sheep farm north of the Arctic Circle? Christin E. Jensen, Johan E. Arntzen 173 Chapter 10: Iron Age building traditions in eastern Norway: Regions and landscapes Lars Erik Gjerpe 203 Chapter 11: Geometric observations regarding Early Iron Age longhouses in southwest Norway Theo Gil 221 Chapter 12: Late Iron Age settlement evidence from Rogaland Even Bjørndal 241 Chapter 13: Rural buildings from the Viking and Early Medieval period in central Norway Marte Mokkelbost, Raymond Sauvage 275 Chapter 14: Potentials and recommendations: Agrarian botanical data from western Norway Lisbeth Prøsch-Danielsen, Kari Loe Hjelle, Eli-Christine Soltvedt 293

The 14 articles presented in this publication represent some of the latest and most relevant research on rural settlement and farming from the Late Neolithic through the Early Medieval Period in Norway. It deals with the impact of climate change, plague and the AD 536–7 volcanic event and some of the earliest farms north of the Arctic Circle. It provides new perspectives and archaeological evidence for the Viking age farm of Norway, differences in regional settlement structures of agrarian societies, the relation between houses and graves in the Iron Age, and varying food practices as indicators of societal change.

The 14 articles presented in this publication represent some of the latest and most relevant research on rural settlement and farming from the Late Neolithic through the Early Medieval Period in Norway. It deals with the impact of climate change, plague and the AD 536–7 volcanic event and some of the earliest farms north of the Arctic Circle. It provides new perspectives and archaeological evidence for the Viking age farm of Norway, differences in regional settlement structures of agrarian societies, the relation between houses and graves in the Iron Age, and varying food practices as indicators of societal change. The 14 articles presented in this publication represent some of the latest and most relevant research on rural settlement and farming from the Late Neolithic through the Early Medieval Period in Norway. It deals with the impact of climate change, plague and the AD 536âĨᑷ volcanic event and some of the earliest farms north of the Arctic Circle. It provides new perspectives and archaeological evidence for the Viking age farm of Norway, differences in regional settlement structures of agrarian societies, the relation between houses and graves in the Iron Age, and varying food practices as indicators of societal change