Large Scale Geophysical Investigations of the Medieval Manor of Austrått in Mid-Norway - Combining Metal Detecting, GPR and Magnetometer Surveys

The Manor of Austrått is one of Norway’s oldest manors and has been the home of a long line of chieftains, earls, and noblemen- and women dating back to the 10th century. Recent archaeological discoveries indicate that its history predates written sources and stretches back to the older Iron Age. In 2015 and 2018, the county archaeologists in Trøndelag, in collaboration with Ørland Municipality, initiated metal detecting rallies focusing on the manor gardens and the fields surrounding the main manor buildings down to the present-day shoreline towards the Trondheim Fjord. This resulted in the discovery of about 450 artefacts dating back to the older Iron Age until the early 18th century. About 80 were older than the late Middle Ages and involved iron brooches, a folded runic letter in lead, finger rings, a Viking-age key, a rod for a scale weight, lead weights and a weapon crest from the 15th-century archbishop Bolt and his family. All of these tell a varied and long tale of activity indicating possible trade, burials, settlements and more. However, it is hard to discern purely based on the artefacts what kind of activity the finds might represent. This is why this site is chosen as one of several case study areas for the research project “PastCoast”.