FermenteaWhere food goes to change
Equipment · Baking surfaces and griddles
A thin stone griddle used over an open hearth. Norwegian archaeology documents the established tradition from the early Middle Ages; a Viking-period origin is only a cautious suggestion linked to Shetland.
A bakestone was a thin slab, usually circular or oval, used as a cooking surface over an open fire, commonly on a hearth. In the archaeological account of northern Norwegian examples, stones range from about 250 to 550 mm across and about 4 to 25 mm thick. Soapstone was used for some, but most were made from chlorite-rich talc-amphibole schist, often shortened to chlorite schist. Its mineral properties suited high temperatures and low thermal expansion, while its layered structure made it easier to extract as a thin slab than soapstone.
Incised grooves on one or both faces are a defining feature. They were created while quarry workers thinned and finished the slab, and they also helped prevent bread from sticking. The marks therefore record both manufacture and use. Thin slabs could be heated over a hearth and provide a broad surface for cooking; the archaeological evidence does not supply a single standard size, fire arrangement or operating temperature. Bakestones should not be confused with later iron takker or griddles, nor should every flat stone in an excavation be identified as one.
The Norwegian bakestone tradition is most securely placed in the early Middle Ages. At Ølve-Hatlestrand, on the western side of Hardanger Fjord, extraction began around AD 1030–1100 and grew into the largest known production landscape. Two other Norwegian quarry areas are known: Øye in Trøndelag and Ertenstein in Rogaland, with more limited production. From the 1100s, bakestones became common in rural and urban Norwegian households. Finds from Bergen, Oslo and Trondheim, and later coastal sites in northern Norway, show a widely distributed utensil rather than a single local curiosity.
Bakestones are associated with hard, unleavened flatbread, a major bread form in medieval Norway. Barley and oats were important cereals in Norway and Sweden; their low gluten content produces dough that does not rise like wheat bread. The stone’s broad heated face suited thin breads cooked without an oven. Historical written descriptions of flatbread baked on thin rounded stone griddles become clearer in the early modern period, so those descriptions illuminate a continuing practice but do not prove every detail of Viking Age baking.
Bakestones travelled beyond their quarries. Bergen became an important distribution centre, and evidence from northern Norwegian coastal settlements connects the stones with maritime trade routes and fishing communities. Stephen Wickler’s analysis finds the number of northern sites with bakestones rising substantially from the twelfth to thirteenth centuries, alongside growth in production at Ølve-Hatlestrand. Most analysed fragments are consistent with a western Norwegian source, though some remain unexplained. Reused fragments with drilled holes and iron fittings show that a broken stone could retain value; their exact secondary function is inferred rather than certain.
The item’s date range includes the Viking Age because a possible antecedent has been proposed in Viking-period Shetland, and because older iron pans and regionally varied stone cooking surfaces complicate a sharp boundary. The better-supported Norwegian grooved bakestone is early medieval. It is misleading to picture this specific Norwegian commercial product as a standard utensil in every Viking household. Archaeological finds are uneven, and most known bakestones come from medieval contexts.
The best documented large-scale production began at Ølve-Hatlestrand in western Norway around AD 1030–1100, and bakestones became common household utensils in Norway from the 1100s. Their origins may reach further back: soapstone implements from Viking-period Shetland have been proposed as possible predecessors, but that connection is not established. Earlier iron pans and regional stone forms caution against treating one utensil as universal across Viking Scandinavia.
The evidence does not establish one universal Viking-period design or prove that the later Norwegian grooved bakestone was common throughout Viking Scandinavia.
Source →Bakestones occur at Norwegian urban and rural sites; this country-level association does not claim a single origin.
The principal large-scale quarry landscape discussed in the sources; the period is the start of extraction, not a claim about every specimen.
A documented quarry area with more limited production.
A documented quarry area with more limited production.
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A heated iron or stone plate for fat-free baking of thin breads. Norwegian sources document the takke and stone bakstehelle, from wood-fired hearths to modern electric models.
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Medieval Archaeology / Taylor & FrancisHistory · Materials · Dimensions · Manufacture · Geography · Use
Bakestones in Northern Norway: An Archaeological Witness to Medieval Foodways and Maritime TradeThin circular or oval slabs used over open fire, usually a hearth; published dimensions are about 250–550 mm diameter and 4–25 mm thick.
Most examples are chlorite-rich talc-amphibole schist; grooves result from thinning and help reduce sticking.
Ølve-Hatlestrand production begins around AD 1030–1100; medieval trade distributes bakestones from western Norway.
A Viking-period Shetland origin is speculative, not established.
University of Bergen Archaeological SeriesHistory · Geography · Use
Stones for Bread: Regional Differences and Changes in Scandinavian Food Traditions Related to the Use of Quernstones, Bakestones and Soapstone Vessels c. AD 800–1500Norwegian bakestones became common household utensils from the 1100s onward.
Earlier iron pans and regional stone forms complicate universal reconstructions.
Barley and oats were important cereals; Norwegian flatbread was hard and unleavened.
Written evidence from the 1500s–1600s describes flatbread cooked on stone or iron griddles.