Pre-Roman Iron Age (500-00-09)
During the Iron Age, Scandinavia became the meeting place for two contrasting cultures – arable farming from Central Europe occupying the coasts of northern Norway, northern Sweden and Finland; and hunting societies from eastern Europe occupying the northern regions and the interior.
Excavations at Vik, Ørland municipality, Trøndelag County, revealed ten longhouses, two outbuildings, several cooking pits and two wells dated to the pre-Roman Iron Age.
During the last 500 years BC, before they were conquered by the Romans, the Celts were the dominant society in most of central and western Europe. Some Celtic iron weapons and tools were imported by the Norwegians during this period but the widespread production of iron did not begin until later when Norwegian farmers started to produce their own tools and weapons made of bog iron from lakes and swamps. The iron was melted by the use of charcoal from the forests.
Iron arrow points, fish-hook points and knife-blades dated to 500 BC were found in occupation layers on Kjelmøya (Is) in the Barents Sea, Sør-Varanger municipality, Finnmark.
At Hunn Gravfelt, Fredrikstad municipality, Øsfold County, there are nine stone circles, dated 500-00-800, and a number of burial grounds, dated to 1200 BC.
The Oshaugen mound at Kolstø, about two miles south of Avaldsnes, a village in Karmøy municipality in Rogaland County, originally could have been about 25 metres (82 ft) in diameter and 5 metres (16 ft) in height. Dated 200 to100 BC, the grave furnishings associated with this mound include pieces of a single-edged sword, a spearhead and the possible remains of a torc (neck ornament).
In the last century BC shipbuilding apparently underwent a crucial development – a rock carving at Dalbo, Bærum municipality, Akershus, depicts a ship that is not paddled, but clearly being rowed with long oars.
Roman Period (09-410)
After the Roman defeat in 9 AD, the Rhine became the accepted border between the Roman Empire and the German tribes. Trade began and many articles reached Scandinavia, as found in the graves and remains of dwellings. Roman pottery, glass beads, jewellery of gold and bronze, bone combs and eventually Roman weapons were exchanged for Scandinavian luxury goods such as amber and fur. It is likely that many Scandinavians, in particular Danes and Norwegians, served in the imperial Roman army, where they would have learned tactics and military craft.
By the second century AD, the Norse had created their own alphabet, runic. The original runic alphabet was made up of 24 characters based on the Latin alphabet and symbols. The later runic alphabet was reduced to 18 characters. The oldest runic inscription found in Norway is on a spearhead dated 160 AD from Øvre Stabu, Østre Toten municipality, Innlandet County, Southeast Norway.
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