Solbjørgnipa

How to get there

Follow signs to Kløgetvedtunet from E39, parking 300 m east of Kløgetvedtunet.

Accessibility: Moderate difficulty. Marked trails.

Duration: 3 hours

Special conditions:

• Park at the parking place and show respect for private land.
• Show respect to animals along the trail.
• Don’t forget to close gates behind you so that animals would not get away.
• Dogs have to be on leash.
• Leave nothing but footprints!

Geology and nature

Solbjørgnipa is near the floor of the Bjerkreim – Sokndal layered geological intrusion. The gneisses that these rocks mainly consist of, are very resistant and form a high ground, including the summit of Solbjørgnipa. They are also more than a billion years old and were formed in the root zone of an ancient mountain chain that has long since been eroded away.

Culture and history

At Solbjørgnipa you can find the remains of farm buildings, burial sites, and animal traps. These remains are considered one of the most valuable Iron Age remains in Rogaland and are dated to the 200-550 A.D. The findings reveal information about the families, and the cultural habits both for life and death. The farm buildings at Bue can be considered to be a typical example of an Iron Age farm, although the size of the site is impressive. In addition to several large round mounds, the rectangular mound represents an unusual burial site. The somewhat disturbed short end of the rectangular mound reveals how it was built using an even row of stones placed on their sides. The long mound is constructed as a ridge extending from the plateau with access from the north, and must have demanded a huge amount of work. The remains of a house are visible as low, disturbed stone embankments just behind the rectangular long mound. The houses were occupied by both people and animals, and the remains of stone walls down across the field indicate that animals were led through the adjacent fields to a grazing area further to the south.

The two traps uphill from Kløgetvedt are ideally placed relative to the terrain. They are located just over the top of a steep-sided saddle at the top of a wide grassy slope. The larger trap is well preserved with stones visible along the edge, whereas the smaller one has collapsed. Archaeological excavations in Setesdal show that five out of six dated animal traps were built in the Iron Age and early Middle Age. Trapped animals are considered to have been a supplementary source of food for the agricultural-based society.