Yesterday I joined a guided tour of a new local trail. The local municipality runs an educational camp for school children to learn about the Iron Age. Last year they opened two trails through the ancient landscape where people have lived and died for thousands of years. I’ve hiked the trails on my own before. By chance I came upon the tour announcement and decided to join.
Unchanged landscape
A young woman dressed in Iron Age outfit led us along ancient roads through a landscape populated by humans and grazed by cattle for thousands of years. Valleys of fields and pastures between forested hills. Criss-crossed by lakes, streams and roads. Traces of human activity everywhere. From Bronze Age burial mounds to late Viking Age rune stones. Right next to roads filled with commuter traffic and busy industrial areas. But fundamentally unchanged since the end of the Ice Age.
A group of nine had found their way on a sunny afternoon. We helped each other across wooden footbridges, up narrow footpaths, over fallen tress and through cattle gates. The guide connected the dots through history as we stopped at rune stones, bridges, burial mounds and an ancient hill fort which for me was the highlight of the day.
The fort
The hill fort is one of many in the area, overlooking roads, lakes, and streams. Likely dating back to the uneasy times after the fall of the Roman Empire (400-600 AD), not much remain but the location and your imagination. This one however, was impressive for its size — 150 x 90 meters — and the defences provided by the local geography.
More tours announced the coming weeks. Or find your way here and walk the trails on your own. Trails are from two to seven kilometre. Some are more accessible. This one requires good footwear and some climbing and balancing.