Revenki's photos with the keyword: Nystugu

The roof of the barn at Nystugu.

The livestock fence and fishing shed at the beach.

Neighboring farms and fields.

Ever get that feeling you're being watched...?

One of the fishing sheds at the beach. And here's what it looked like eight years later, in afternoon light, and with a better camera and lens.

Clouds over the Baltic Sea.

Clouds over the Baltic Sea.

Viking runes carved into rock near the farm. This spot was apparently a small harbor in Viking times, but is now a half-mile or more inland in the middle of a field.

The tar collected from the smoldering wood in the pit arrives here, where it can be drained from the hollowed log into more practical containers.

The vague circular depression is a 15' diameter pit used to produce pine tar, which is used as (among other things) a preservative on plank roofs and other wooden structures. When needed, the turf is cut and removed to reveal a flagstone bowl set into the ground. Pitchy parts of trees are chopped and stacked in the bowl, and then covered with wet seaweed and turf. The wood is then set on fire, and the seaweed and turf around the perimeter of the bowl is positioned to permit only a limited amount of air to reach the fire. As the fire smolders, tar is released from the wood and collects at the bottom of the pit, where it drains through a small hole into a hollowed-out log for collection. The wood in turn is cooked into charcoal by the process. The pit was located across the street from Nystugu, and is/was used communally by several neigboring farms.