The pile by the old town road

Not far from the local gas station in Kyrkjebygda, the old town road to Sveindal in the neighbouring municipality begins. A few kilometres to the south, along this road, is a well-preserved pile of rocks. In this region of Norway, most such structures are very old, but this one is considered the most recent one. People passing by threw stones onto the pile until the new road opened in the 1870s. Such piles could be made from rocks or branches that were thrown on top of each other to mark or commemorate a dramatic event. Walking past such a pile without throwing anything meant bad luck. In 1856, a man lost his life here. His name was Lars Knutsson Handeland, and he was on his way to church – in the company of two other men. A fourth man, who followed somewhat behind them, found Lars lying on the ground. He was brought on a sled down to the village, where he died. A doctor was summoned, and there was a police interrogation, but his companions claimed to know nothing about what had happened. He had fallen behind, they said, and they had not thought much about it. They concluded that he must have suffered the injuries from a fall. The pile of rocks is located on the place where he was found.