Histories from home, part 8 - a sign of a different landscape

Some historical remnants are important because they indicate that the landscape was once different from how we see it today. Of such remnants, I would argue that the smallest ones are perhaps the most important ones, precisely because their diminutive size suggests that they might be the only clue as to how the landscape once was. If we see a large structure overgrown with plants and bushes, it is evident that this structure once occupied and dominated a very different scenery than the one unfolding before our eyes. The small remnants, however, are reminders of a change that is more difficult to see, as nature can very often make a landscape appear as if it has never been touched by human tools.  

One such small reminder is found at the bottom of a hillside just a few hundred metres from my paternal grandparents' house in my native village of Hyen. This hill has a well-trodden track where my fellow villagers and I often go for short yet brisk walks along the ridge of the hill. Along the path, the landscape is marked by large juniper bushes and birches, by small boulders, and by old trees that have long since yielded to the demands of gravity. It has been like this since I weas a child and used to play here, so it is very difficult for me to envision it in any other way. 

However, at the bottom of the northern hillside, there is a reminder that things were once very different. Here are two iron hooks fastened into a small rock, patchily covered by moss. These were once the end station of a zip line that went to the top of the ridge, and which was used to transport grass or firewood or other things that were harvested along the flat ridge. Such zip lines were once very common in the fjords, as they allowed quick transport down slopes or even down crags and mountain sides. They were inelaborate and effective, and could be used even when the slope - such as this hillside - was neither particularly long nor particularly steep. 

Today, the hillside is partly covered by trees, leaving little room for the imagination to envision the activity that once took place here during harvest season. But these rusted hooks remain, and as long as they remain, they provide us with a glimpse into the past, enabling us to imagine a different landscape.