Graveyard damaged by the municipality during school construction - it needs to be rebuilt

For more than 1,500 years, the Great Burial has been the memory of an important person in the Hunn in Trøndelag. In an area with many burials – probably from the Iron Age.

Excavation of the remains of the mound took place when the Overhala municipality rebuilt the school in Hoon.

It’s sad that the municipality didn’t take this pile into account when they started their work on Neighborhood Briner Markweth.

– Bad planning

– I criticize the poor planning of the work. I have no reason to believe this was deliberate, but clearly believe there was a failure in the municipality’s work planning. Mørkved tells Namdalsavisa.

Due to this, the flyover work was stopped.

Three field workers from the NTNU Science Museum in Trondheim examined the remains of a giant pile 30 meters in diameter this fall.

In Overhala it is called Olamohaugen.

– It’s a shame the pile was destroyed, and there have been many interventions over the years. Excavation manager Han Brien tells NRK that it was destroyed by road construction and other activities.

– But why is the heap so important when it’s already destroyed?

– because it shows traces of the lives lived and the landscape that has changed throughout history. So even though it has been demolished, archaeologists believe that it is part of the history of an important ancient monument.

Periods

The Stone Age (ca. 10,000–1800 BC) was the period before metals were used. Objects were made from flint and other rocks, bone, antlers, wood, other organic materials, and pottery. Introduction to Agriculture, c. 4000 BC marks the dividing line between the Old and Neolithic.

During the Bronze Age (1700-500 BC), rare objects of bronze became objects of status. A divide is observed between the Old and Younger Bronze Age (1100 BC), largely due to changes in burial practices from unburnt to cremated burials. During the Iron Age (500 BC-1050 AD), iron became an important utility metal. Major social changes occurred at the transition between the Old and Younger Iron Ages around 550 AD.

The Early Iron Age is divided into the Pre-Roman Iron Age, the Roman Period and the Migration Period. The Younger Iron Age is divided into the Merovingian Age and the Viking Age. The Viking Age is at the crossroads between prehistoric and historic times.

A huge burial ground

The so-called Olamohugen is the largest burial site in the Han area.

Brian says he has now taken C14 samples from the coal in the pile. In this way, they hope to be able to find out when the tomb was once built in memory of an important person in the local community.

– 38 Iron Age mounds have been found in the same area. About 600-800 years after Christ. That is, just before the Viking Age. Olamohaugen may thus be from the same period.

– All the mounds bear witness to the resourceful population of the area. There are many examples of this in Namdalen. So it could be an important place, near the great river Namchen, the archaeologist believes.

A rare opportunity

Archaeologists today rarely have the opportunity to study such burials. This often happens in relation to development projects.

– We did not find anything special about the pile, but we did find out how it was built. It is interesting to us. Additionally, we found four cooking pits under it, which Brian believes were from before the mound was built.

Large fields with cooking pits can be interpreted as special gathering places, courts or places of worship.

– We have excavated approximately 300 square meters, I estimate to be about a third of the original burial ground, says Han Brien.

Now the archaeologists have finished on the site, and the municipality can finish the development of the school in Hann.

The pit must be rebuilt

In addition, Trøndelag County Council has decided that the municipality should do something about the once large burial ground.

– We have to put the masses back so that the original shape of the pile is restored. We are negotiating with the contractor so that the work can be done quickly. We feel that we have had a good dialogue with the county council throughout this process, Han Marthe Breivik, technical manager at the municipality of Overhalla, tells NRK.