Burials on the Beach: The Iron Age cemetery at Hå Old Parsonage in Rogaland, SW Norway

The cemetery at Hå Old Parsonage in Hå kommune1 is situated at the stony beach, on the beach ridge 7 m above sea level, between 50 and 150 meters from the sea. It comprises 60 cairns. It is one of approx. 35 shoreline cemeteries along the southern coast of Rogaland. They range in size from five to more than 100 cairns or mounds, the one at Kvassheim being the largest; Hå is the second largest.

The burial ground was almost completely excavated in the summer seasons 1954-1958 and most of the cairns were subsequently restored. Although the burial ground is well known among Early Iron Age scholars in Norway, it is by name only, since the results of the excavation were never published. The intention of this work is to fill this void, with emphasis on the material excavated. The burial ground with its cairns and finds is presented and the finds placed in their chronological context, where possible. Comparisons are made with the cemetery at Kvassheim on the one hand and the Early Iron Age graves from four (comparable) areas in Rogaland on the other hand, looking for differences or similarities in male/female ratio, body treatment, grave furnishing and the frequency of grave-finds through time.