Norway

Tar is made by placing pine roots in a conical hole in the ground, lined with birch bark. They are then covered by turf, and set on fire. The turf keeps the oxygen out, so the wood doesn’t go up in flames. The sap is boiled out of the roots and runs to the bottom of the hole, where it can be collected as tar.

Yes, the Vikings had both iron and steel. They had to make it themselves, through a process called “blestring” or iron smelting. This was a major undertaking, so iron was expensive. Here at Lofotr we have documented this process on a DVD which is sold in our museum store.

Yes, the house was this long during its last phase of existence, but it had been rebuilt several times, so the length has varied.

It depends on what resources and materials were available. A possible estimate is one to two years (the reconstruction took one year to build), but we must also consider that the house seems to have been continually added to and maintained.

About 90% of the things in the living quarters are copies of things found from the Viking era. The rest have been made as we think they must have looked, based on old texts and our own practical experiences...