Settlement mound

The settlement mound on which Melbo Manor stands is approx. 100 meters long and 50 meters wide.

Most settlement mounds date to the Middle Ages, but often they have roots in the Iron Age. There are also traces that indicate that people have lived here since the Stone Age.

A “garbage heap”

The mounds are formed by the debris of houses and other rubbish being trampled down and new houses being built on top of the old ones. That is, people have lived in the same place for many hundreds of years.

And with time, the pile gets bigger and bigger.

In Northern Norway, fishing has been included in farming. This means that near the settlement mound you will often find the remains of boathouses.

Fish farmer

People have been self-sufficient. That is, they produced and ate their own food.

They grew grain, ground it, and baked bread. They fished fish, boiled and ate it. From the cow they got milk and meat. From the sheep’s wool they could make themselves warm clothes.

When you live this way, you can be called a fisherman’s farmer. A fisherman’s farmer, by the way, is not one person, but two. A man and a woman.  The man fished and the lady ran the farm, looked after the kids, cooked and took care of the animals in the barn. The man helped with that when he could.

In the picture you can see how big the pile really is.

When the archaeologists dig in a settlement mound, you will be able to see the different cultural layers. The further down you dig, the further back in time you will get. Many times the layers are messed up and do not lie so nicely layer upon layer.

Glossary:

The Early Stone Age is from about 10,000 years before our era to about 4000 years before our era.

The Neolithic period is from about 4000 years before our era to about 1800 years before our era.

The Middle Ages are from the year 1050 to 1537.

Read more about Melbo Manor

Take a look at more of what can be found in the museum garden: