Follum is a village in Ringerike municipality,

Viken Viken may refer to: *Viken, Scandinavia, a historical region *Viken (county), a Norwegian county established in 2020 *Viken, Sweden, a bimunicipal locality in Skåne County, Sweden *Viken (lake), a lake in Sweden, part of the part of the Göta cana ...

County, Norway.

Location

Follum is located just north of

Hønefoss __NOTOC__ Hønefoss is a town and the administrative center of the municipality of Ringerike in Buskerud county, Norway. Hønefoss is an industrial center of inner Østlandet, containing several factories and other industry. As of 1 January 2008 ...

on the west side of Ådal River (''Ådalselva''), along the old road to the

Ådal Ådal is a valley in the municipality of Ringerike and was a former municipality in Buskerud County, Norway. The municipality was created in 1857 by a split from Norderhov. At that time Ådal had a population of 2,382. On 1 January 1964 Ådal wa ...

valley. Follum was named for Follum gård, one of the oldest farms in the area. Factories were built along the Ådal River, especially at the waterfalls. Follum Fabrikker (founded as Follum træsliberi in 1873), was started at Follum in 1873. It was once one of Norway's three largest paper mills. The main product was newsprint. It was purchased in 1989 by

Norske Skog Norske Skog ASA, formerly Norske Skogindustrier ASA, which translates as ''Norwegian Forest Industries'', is a Norwegian pulp and paper company established in 1962. The company has long been one of the world's leading manufacturers of newsprint ...

and now operates as

Norske Skog Follum Norske Skog Follum is a paper mill located in Follum in Norway. The mill is part of the Norske Skog Corporation and opened in 1873 with the name Follum Fabrikker (also Follum træsliberi). It has three paper machines and produces 410,000 tonnes ...

. Between the factory and Veienmarka Road is Follumbyen, a residential area that was originally linked to the factory. On the side is another residential area, Begnamoen, with some connection to the factory. Follum school existed in the region from 1898 to 1965.

Veien Cultural Heritage Park

Off Veienmarka Road is an ancient burial ground with hundreds of graves and flat ground tombs. The large cemetery is now part of the Veien Cultural Heritage Park (''Veien Kulturminnepark''). Hringariki is the name of the foundation that operates the site as well as the Ringerikes Museum, the District Museum of

Hole A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...

and Ringerike municipalities. The cemetery has been known since the 1700s and investigated a number of times. In 1847 it was recorded to have more than 150 burial mounds in a field that stretched over more than 100 acres. The grounds, including 144 mounds, were excavated in 1870-71 by Professor

Oluf Rygh Oluf Rygh (5 September 1833 – 19 August 1899) was a noted Norwegian archaeologist, philologist and historian. Oluf Rygh is recognized as one of the founders of professional archaeology in Norway. He led the 1867 excavation of the Tune ship (''Tu ...

. The largest of the burial mounds is Kongshaugen (meaning king hill from the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

word ''haugr'' meaning hill or burial mound) which was richly endowed. It was excavated in 1824 when, among other things, a sword in gilded silver was found. Findings from the mound were dated to ca. 400 AD. The site currently comprises approximately 94 acres, including 39 acres of wood and 45 acres of cultivated soil. In 1995, traces of a large

long-house A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from timber and often rep ...

were unearthed dating from the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

. The long-house has been reconstructed on the site and was completed in spring 2005. The discovery is unique in both the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

and

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

n context both in terms of dating and size. Many other archaeological discoveries were also unearthed dating from earlier and later eras, the Stone Age and the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

. Many antiquities are now located in the collection of ancient artifacts of the Museum of Cultural History at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

.''Bråten-Veien-gravplassen'' (Store norske leksikon)
/ref>

Gallery

File:Langhuset Veien kulturminnepark 20070722.JPG, Reconstructed long-house
(Veien Kulturminnepark) File:Langhuset Veien konstruksjon 2003.jpg, Long-house construction (Veien Kulturminnepark) File:Veien Kulturminnepark luftfoto-tb.jpg, Grave site
(Veien Kulturminnepark) File:Veien Kulturminnepark6.jpg, Ancient burial mound (Veien Kulturminnepark) File:Veien Kulturminnepark5.jpg, Ancient burial mound (Veien Kulturminnepark)

References

External links

Hringariki

Ringerikes Museum
{{authority control Villages in Buskerud Ringerike (municipality)