Veøya in the Middle Ages

As you walk up towards the church, you can fantasize a little about Veøya’s history. It’s central position in the fjord made it a natural centre for the Medieval people. The island is not big and is completely without a water source. 10 000 years ago, the sea level was 70 metres higher than it is today. 3300 years ago, during the Bronze Age, it consisted of 3 islands, and the sea level was around 10 metres higher than it is today. This limited the island as a settlement back then. Significant traces of fossil fields have been found. These are traces of old agricultural use which shows that the island was a settlement at some point in the past. The oldest building on the island is the Church which was completed around the year 1200. Previously, there was also a cross Church here, which probably functioned as a parish Church. There are also traces of a third church, which could have belonged to the order of monks who lived on the island, or have been a small chapel. East of today’s church are the remains of old stone walls. Within the remains of these stone fences evidence of black earth stops. Black soil is the remnants of a settlement on the island and it was of course natural that they did not throw waste on ‘holy land’. Within the remains of the stone walls there have been many burial finds. The graves are positioned with the heads to the West, so that the dead could look towards the East and meet the new day and Christ. The graves have been interpreted as Christian burial finds and many of them have been dated to around the year 950, very early in the process of Christianisation in Norway. It is also believed that there was a royal estate on the island, and remains of stone embankments are assumed to have a connection to it. (In the pictures you can see the extent of the marketplace on Veøya and you can meet some happy Vikings if you partake in one of the tours at the Museum.)