Grandma:

In this area are the remains of 4 buildings.
 
 
Child: 

Where? I can't see anything.
 
 
Grandma:

Hehe, yes, the ravages of time have done their part to hide them. Look for some elongated tufts that look a little too straight.

The way they are placed as well as finds in the area, indicate that they wasn’t residential buildings. When doing an archaeological dig, sometimes what you don't find is as important as what you actually find.

Around inhabited houses you usually find remains of cooking utensils and other things that a household in the Iron Age needed. Far too little has been found here for this to have been a place where people lived. It is a ringtun, and the researchers believe that this may have been a “Ting-sted”
 
 
Child: 

What is a “Ting-sted”?
 
 
Grandma:

A “Ting-sted”? was the place where people in the Iron Age agreed bet to discuss laws and punishments.
 
 
Child: 

Like the Storting in Oslo? They decide the laws laws in modern Norway?
 
 
Grandma:

Yes, in many ways, like the Storting in Oslo. There they decide which laws we must follow, but when it comes to punishment, it is separate courts that decide what sentence criminals will receive. In many ways, we can say that places like this is the cradle of today's Scandinavian democracy. To this day we still have a Thing. The framework has changed, but the goal remains the same. Representatives from the various places in the kingdom meet to discuss and decide what the kingdom should prioritize.
  
 
Child: 

Democracy? But didn't you say it was a war culture. I thought the Vikings were brutal savages who killed everyone they came across.
 
 
Grandma:

Well, it was actually here before the Vikings came around. That was first around the year 800. This site is 400 years older. But yes, the Vikings could be brutal, but they were not savages. Their way of life was not based on chaos. It was a chiefdom with democratic elements. The Vikings came from Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Today, these countries are known to be among the world's most democratic.

So from history's most brutal warriors come the world's most democratic people. That's something to think about.

Subject text: Helge Seim og Gøril Pedersen 

Screenplay: Helge Seim og Jan Ivar Bårtvedt

Voices: Astrid Margareth Sollie og Lean Iversen Hansen

Editing: Helge seim

Music and Soundeffect: freesound.org

 

Source: 

• Kulturminnesøk.no