The hamlet Steinsland is situated by the strait Tjeldsundet. At Søndre Steinsland is a traditional Norwegian cluster of five farmsteads (klyngetun). The farmhouses form a slightly irregular row along the thoroughfare Steinslandsveien and two have their storehouses nearby. There’s an open space/farmyard between the houses and the other farm buildings for livestock, fodder and machinery. Each of the houses has a fertile fenced in front garden. The cluster’s farmland is on both sides of the road.
Some of the buildings sit on a “gårdshaug” which is a low mound of rich humus sediment from previous farm settlements. Here at Steinsland it dates back to the Middle Ages. The humus layer is around 30 cm deep, goes 100 m along the stream and is about 75 m wide. The Norwegian Cultural Heritage Act gives this structure an automatically protected status.

1800-1950

farmstead, farmstead cluster, farm

timber, log walls, stave walls, stone, slate