Cultural Heritage

The Rå farms

Situated along Gudbrandsdalsleden
The Rå farms

This name and the farms themselves dates back to late the Iron Age. The farmland has however been cultivated in approximately 4 000 years. Both samples of pollen and findings from the Neolithic time period and Bronze Age suggest that this land has been cultivated for a very long time. The second farm to the left is Rå northern where there were found three skeletons from the Celtic Iron Age in the marshes a few years back.

During the Celtic Iron Age (approximately 500 BC), there was a climate change. The weather became cooler and more humid, a drastic change after the warm period of the Bronze Age. The farmers had problems with cultivating their crops, and had to rely more on their livestock. The livestock had to be kept indoors over winter, resulting in the farmers having to build more solid houses to settle down in, more like the farm structure as of today. The art of ironwork was introduced from the Celts, resulting in better weapons and tools.