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Viking burial mounds
Hindrum: an important historical area
At Amborneset, a number of automatically protected cultural monuments have been registered. As early as 1879, Karl Rygh mentioned several of the tombs located there.
“In the parish of Drakestrand, no other survivor has been able to be traced back to some smaller, elongated mounds that were to be found on Omborneset or the outermost point of the Hindrems peninsula.”
(Rygh, K., 1879: DKNVS Writings. Permanent relics and antiquities in the northern Trondheim county)
Down by the sea are 13 remaining burial mounds that dates back to the Viking Age on Amborneset. On the map you see the two largest burial mounds marked in the north. In pre-Christian times, people were buried after death in both mounds of earth or piles of stone, either in cremated form or as a funeral. Along with the dead, tools and other objects were put down.
Farthest east in the lower area towards the sea is a star-shaped tomb.
The tomb resembles a three-armed star. For more information, origin and distribution of triangular graves follow this link.
The symbolism of the triangle is often associated with shamanism and Norse mythology. Where the topological design language of the tombs is associated with the similarity of the world tree Yggdrasil. In this way, these tombs are closely linked to the Norse religion.
The graves come in many different sizes and shapes, from low small elevations with a diameter of 1.5 m to huge mounds. One of Norway’s largest burial mounds, Herlandshaugen on the island of Leka, for example, has a diameter of 65 m and a height of 12 m. There seems to be a connection between the size of the grave and the status of the mound person. Burial mounds can be round, oval, oblong (so-called long mounds) or boat-shaped. A rare form is the star-shaped burial mounds.
In the early 1800s, there were 80 burial mounds in this area
On Amborneset there are several rounds, a possible remnant of a long mound and a star-shaped burial mound. On some of the burial mounds, you can clearly see foot ditches at the bottom that mark the shape well. Like most burial mounds in Norway, the graves on Amborneset also have so-called looting pits.
They tell us that someone has entered the grave in older or more recent times. Maybe to secure valuable items? In addition, some of the mounds have been slightly damaged at the edges or disappeared completely due to construction or agricultural activities in recent times.
In the description below, it can be seen that in the middle of the burial mound there is a core mound in the mound where the grave is located.
Viking Sword
In 1928, the remains of a sword were handed in from one of the burial mounds to the Science Museum in Trondheim. Which is usually dated to about 800-850 AD. The sword shape that was found is common in Trøndelag and in Eastern Norway.
The grip with a bit of the blade of a single-edged iron sword of J. Petersen’s type E. Both halves are well preserved with exceptionally beautiful decoration of narrow, double strips of copper, which vertically frame the round depressions.
The three-part button appears forged in one with the upper heel and is separated from this by an immediate bead strip.
Archaeologist Dr. Jan Petersen was the first to systematize swords from the Viking Age. In 1919 he published his doctoral dissertation: “The Norwegian Viking Worlds – A typological-chronological study of the weapons of the Viking Age”.
The sword was one of the most important weapons in the Viking Age, along with axes and spears. Viking swords are found throughout Scandinavia, but most were found in Norway with around 3,500 specimens. The reason that it is the largest find in Norway is that the pagan burial customs of laying swords in graves were more common in Norway than in Sweden and Denmark.
Sea battle
The Civil War period or civil wars is a term in Norwegian history used for the period between 1130 and 1240. On 18 June 1199, the so-called Battle of Strindfjorden outside Amborneset took place between King Sverre Sigurdsson and the Birkebeiner army and Bishop Nikolaus Arnesson with his bagler army. On this day it was reported to King Sverre, who then lived at Sverresborg in Nidaros (present-day Trondheim), that the bagels ** should be located by Hynne on Frostalandet, which is located on the other side of the fjord. When King Sverre and his army came towards them with their ships, they withdrew on the north side of Tautra and across the fjord.
Outside Amborneset it later in the day led to clashes between the two armies. According to the sources, the battle was hard and long lasting. Five ships sank and several ships were taken by King Sverre’s army, but Bishop Nikolaus and several of the baglers escaped. Who knows what is hiding on the seabed outside Amborneset?
** The baglers are often associated with the church and the men of the church. The church supported the Baglers because King Sverre and the Birkebeiner wanted to deprive the bishops of more of their rights. Sverre wanted a national church with the king as head, while the bishops wanted an independent church where they only stood in subordination to the pope.
Archaeological Investigations
In 2009, archaeologists from the NTNU Science Museum in Trondheim carried out investigations in connection with the establishment of the rest area. Among other things, many cooking pits from the Iron Age were found in the area. Such cooking pits were used for cooking. Some of the cooking pits that were found were more than 2 meters in diameter and may have been used during gatherings or parties where many people participated.
Few post holes and no house structures were found. It is nevertheless probable that there has been settlement nearby. The find of three fireplaces, remains of a black earth layer and the burial mounds that lie around here indicate this. The finds from these excavations, together with all the burial mounds, and a legend about a stone fortress on Borgen, point out Hindrum as a historically important area.
Viking laws
1 BE BRAVE AND AGGRESSIVE
BE DIRECT.
GRAB ALL OPPORTUNITIES.
USE VARYING METHODS OF ATTACK.
BE VERSATILE AND AGILE.
ATTACK ONE TARGET AT A TIME .
DO NOT PLAN EVERYTHING IN DETAIL.
USE TOP OUALITY WEAPONS.
2 BE PREPARED
KEEP WEAPONS IN GOOD CONDITION.
KEEP IN SHAPE.
FIND GOOD BATTLE COMRADES.
AGREE ON IMPORTANT POINTS.
CHOOSE ONE CHIEF.
3 BE A GOOD MERCHANT
FIND OUT WHAT THE MARKET NEEDS.
DO NOT PROMISE WHAT YOU CANNOT KEEP.
DO NOT DEMAND OVERPAYMENT.
ARRANGE THINGS SO THAT YOU CAN RETURN.
4 KEEP THE CAMP IN ORDER
KEEP THINGS TIDY AND ORGANIZED.
ARRANGE ENJOYABLE ACTIVITIES WHICH STRENGHTEN THE GROUP.
MAKE SURE EVERYBODY DOES USEFUL WORK.
CONSULT ALL MEMBERS OF THE GROUP FOR ADVICE.
