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Sosteli is one of the best-preserved Iron Age farms in Europe. It lies on a plain at about 400 metres above sea level, two kilometres from Kyrkjebygd in Åseral. People lived and farmed here from around the birth of Christ until roughly 1000 AD, and the site may have been in use even longer: pollen analysis suggests farming activity in the area already in the Middle Neolithic, thousands of years earlier.
The archaeologist Anders Hagen excavated the site during three seasons from 1947 to 1949, uncovering three house foundations, seven burial mounds, clearance cairns and a stone structure later interpreted as a possible sanctuary. The main longhouse, House II, was 45 metres long, a combined dwelling and byre typical of Migration period farms in southwestern Norway. A separate building, House I, contained large amounts of iron slag and a crucible with traces of silver, suggesting it served as the farm's smithy. Iron production was important for settlements in this inland area and may explain why such a large farm existed here.
Later surveys discovered two more buildings, including a second longhouse running parallel to the main one, and what appears to be a medieval corner-timbered house, proving that Sosteli was not a single-phase settlement but a landscape shaped by farming over many centuries. A court document from 1694 mentions "the deserted farm called Sostelien" in a boundary dispute, and the farm was likely abandoned in the Late Middle Ages, possibly in connection with the Black Death.
Today, house foundations, ancient field systems and stone fences are still visible on the ground. An audio tour is available at the site.
The archaeologist Anders Hagen excavated the site during three seasons from 1947 to 1949, uncovering three house foundations, seven burial mounds, clearance cairns and a stone structure later interpreted as a possible sanctuary. The main longhouse, House II, was 45 metres long, a combined dwelling and byre typical of Migration period farms in southwestern Norway. A separate building, House I, contained large amounts of iron slag and a crucible with traces of silver, suggesting it served as the farm's smithy. Iron production was important for settlements in this inland area and may explain why such a large farm existed here.
Later surveys discovered two more buildings, including a second longhouse running parallel to the main one, and what appears to be a medieval corner-timbered house, proving that Sosteli was not a single-phase settlement but a landscape shaped by farming over many centuries. A court document from 1694 mentions "the deserted farm called Sostelien" in a boundary dispute, and the farm was likely abandoned in the Late Middle Ages, possibly in connection with the Black Death.
Today, house foundations, ancient field systems and stone fences are still visible on the ground. An audio tour is available at the site.
