Loppa (island)

Little is known of this period historically and archaeologically on Loppa. However the discovering of a Roman Age longhouse from 120 AD,[3] at the island of Loppa shows the earliest signs of settlement in the Early Iron Age. Perhaps was this the very beginning of Norse and Sami collaboration in the area and the interaction between the two peoples of trade and commerce in fishing and the industry of the hunting of maritime mammals.[4][5] The longhouse is also one of the oldest one ever discovered in Northern Norway.

In 1962 a rich female Viking Age grave was discovered on the island of Loppa. It contained luxurious personal objects such as tortoise brooches, a round brooch in the Oseberg style, a whalebone plaque, beads, knife, scissor and an arrowhead. The female grave was dubbed "The Queens Grave" due to the manner in which she was buried, however she was most likely not a queen but a very important person indeed on Viking Age Loppa, perhaps a housewife of a local chieftain. The wealth of the grave reflects that of the Norse elite's presence in the area. The burial was dated to the 9th century AD.[3][6][7]

In 1964 a longhouse from Viking Age was also discovered dated to the end of the 8th century AD. Several other buildings and boathouses was also discovered and dated to the same period as the longhouse and the rich female grave. There is also several burials from Iron Age on the island, the biggest a burial cairn with the size of 13 meters in diameter. The amount of Iron Age burials and houses suggests that of a more permanent Norse settlement.[7]

In Middle Ages, the hunting and the production of oil from marine mammals seems to stop, and fishing becomes more important. Along the coast of Northern Norway we see so called farm mounds of ancient settlements, and at Loppa there are at least 6 farm mounds spread out on the island of Loppa, Silda and at mainland Andsnes. However, the farm mounds of Northern Norway seem to have their upbringing already in Early Iron Age, suggesting that fishing was already a commercial trade before the Middle Ages. On the island of Loppa one of the farm mounds was dated to the 1100s AD, with a church site close by. This suggests that Loppa was already a parish in the Middle Ages.[7][8]