Iron Age Farm

In 1900, a large farm from the Nordic Iron Age was uncovered near the University of Stavanger in Rogaland. The farm had burned down and was subsequently abandoned in the middle of the 6th century, near the end of the Migration Period. 

With the decline of the Roman Empire, tribes of people began scattering throughout the European continent, often establishing farms in former Roman territory. Jernaldergården, a restored Iron Age farm in Stavanger, shows what farm life would have been like during this period—even before the Viking age.

The farm was reconstructed on the remains of the original farm, based on the findings of archeological excavations in the 1960s. It consists of three stone and turf longhouses built partially underground and large fields of open land where the farm keeps a flock of Old Norwegian sheep. 

University students, dressed in Iron Age clothing, show visitors around the farm and the longhouses, explaining and demonstrating what daily life would look like for a farmer from the 500s. They will sometimes will cook Iron Age food on the open fires for visitors.