The sea was important for all traffic and contact with the outside world at this time. By boat they could travel far and with heavy, valuable cargo. What characterizes the Bronze Age is the new metal bronze. Bronze replaces to a large extent tools made of stone, which characterize the period before, namely the Stone Age. Bronze is an alloy of tin and copper. We have no known tin or copper mines from Norway from this period. It shows that there were extensive trade links with countries such as England and Spain where they had copper and tin mines, but also from other places in Europe.

In the Bronze Age, burial customs also changed. People were now mainly buried in stone piles, but also in earthen mounds. Most often, the dead person was burned and placed in a small stone coffin which was covered by a mound of stone or earth. A few times the dead person brings a bronze object with them. In Hvitsten, a bronze dagger has been found in one of the burial mounds. It is quite unique in its kind and testifies that an important person has been buried there. There is a lot of work involved in creating the burial piles, so it is possible that several people were buried in the same grave at a later time, so-called secondary graves.

Many of the burial mounds were considerably larger and more visible than today. People have picked stones from the piles to use for bonfires and other things, which has meant that several of the burial piles have become smaller and messed up. Bronze Age burial mounds have previously been important monuments in the landscape and still are. They have been here for thousands of years and we want to preserve them for future generations as well.

All burial mounds are protected and it is not legal to take or move stones from these.

The Bronze Age in Norway lasted from 1700-500 BC.