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UltravioletPhotography

Norwegian seterbuer (Mountain cabins)


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All over the country, the Norwegian mountain ranges have an ancient history as being used for grazing livestock, mainly sheep together with reindeer, cattle, or goats in some regions. This traditional use of the natural resources continue to this very day mainly for making products such as cheese, fermented milk, or smoked meat.

 

Formerly people moved into the mountains with their livestock and build an infrastructure comprising clusters of mountain huts or cabins. These building clusters are collectively known as a seter (or sæter in some districts) and were intended for summer usage only. The basic building is a seterbu (or sæterbu) always made of logs or wood. Many have been upgraded to allow for a winter stay since cross-country skiing continues to be highly popular amongst Norwegians. A seter may trace its history hundreds of years back in time and is very commonly used for naming geographic features of the landscape. Stories dealing with 'seter' itself and the pretty maidens working there in summer are an important part of Norwegian folklore and culture.

 

Because these building can be very old. they are perfect targets for UV (or IR) photography to show features not normally visible. Wood structures age and wither differently over the long spans of time involved here.

 

Here are a few examples from the Rondane region of Central Norway, where the 'seter 'culture goes back to pre-Viking age. I doubt any of the existing buildings are that old as the climate here (around 1000 m elevation) is quite harsh, but some of the buildings I visited must date back to the 16th century.

 

Here are a few UV shots of these buildings, all done in UV using the Panasonic GH-2 with the Coastal Optics 60 mm lens and the ubiquitous Baader U2" (Venus) filter.

 

This is probably the youngest building of this particular 'seter'. Still it used the traditional stone-slate roof and the slates had plenty of old lichens on them so the building must be at least 100 years, likely closer to 200 years old.

 

T1309210142.jpg

 

This one was beautifully crafted with joined pine logs (Norwegian: laftet) , the oldest building technology of them all. It had the alternate traditional roofing, viz. turf. A turf roof needs to be replaced once in a while, say every 75 to 100 year so is an excellent choice for low maintenance costs. It is still common to put goats on these roofs and lower costs even further, plus you could get the goat milk with little efforts.

 

T1309210145.jpg

 

Do note this particular building has had its turf roof replaced recently and they used modern plastic sheet lining instead of the traditional material of stripped birch bark. Plastic may persist even longer than the birch I'm afraid, but as long as the turf mat is replaced once a century should pose no problem.

 

A close-up of the log surface shows the weathered and gnarled nature of these old wood structures. Scots pine was the preferred material as it is very resilient.

 

T1309210152.jpg

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What an interesting essay about a relatively unknown aspect of Norwegian culture - most enjoyable to read.

 

Do any of the structures make use of wooden pegs or nails in addition to the interlocking logs?

Are the interiors insulated in any manner?

 

The UV brings out such amazing detail in the texture of the old wood.

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A building made by lafting (interlocked logs) does not need any nails or pegs. The builders may use dowels for the window sills though and interior components such as beds or tables. Any replacements done in the last hundred years or so probably would use nails (window sills are the most prone to decay so likely are replaced every 50-100 years). The traditional insulation used dry moss (mainly Sphagnum, Hylocomium, or less frequently, Fontinalis) firmly pressed into the cracks on the inside of the wall. Keep in mind these building were intended for summer usage so heavy insulation was not deemed necessary, but they always had a fireplace for preparing meals and/or heating.

 

Yes, UV really makes these wooden surfaces come alive with fresh detail.

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  • 1 year later...

They are nice in IR so guess also would be passable in UV. However to tell the truth I never tried UV on this classic Norwegian symbol.

 

Once there were 4-500 of these buildings (many from the eleventh and twelfth century), but in a period of 'efficiency improvement' in the mid 1800s, most were demolished and replaced with new face- and characterless designs. Now there are 22 left, most seen inland southern Norway or on the western coastline. One was moved into the National Folk Museum in Oslo and one near Bergen was set ablaze by satanists (their popular pastime in the late 80's was to burn churches but most targets were not much of a loss), but later rebuilt. This leaves just 20 original structures in existence. The oldest still has parts of the original timber standing.

 

A quick gallery of stave churches (Norwegian: stavkyrkje) follows.

 

The oldest, Urnes, from 1100 AD. The east-facing wall (seen here) is original timber. (Visible light)

 

Urnes_A05061040971.jpg

 

The smallest, Øye, about 1350 AD. IR.

 

Øye_B0408156842.jpg

 

The best maintained, Borgund, approx. 1200 AD. False-colour emulated IR.

 

Borgund_T1207042596.jpg

 

The biggest, Heddal, approx. 1250 AD.

 

Heddal_T1405140551.jpg

 

All of these are in daily use and have been so for centuries. Woodwork only comprised pine and the builders always chose to use material from slow-growing old trees from upland sites. The timber was treated with tar distilled from pine. So the buildings have this particular smell to them.

 

Note to self: do the Oslo building in UV next spring.

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