Editing Nissedal (section)

==History==
[[File:Nissedal_IMG_2100_Nisser_from_Treungen_south.JPG|thumb|right|250px|Lake [[Nisser]] during winter.]]
[[File:Nissedal_IMG_2089_Treungen_sundmoen_steinsenter.JPG|thumb|right|250px|Sundmoen Stone Center.]]
[[File:Bjønntjønndammen_Bjønntjønn_Nissedal.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Bjønntjønndammen]]
Nissedal has been populated for over 10,000 years.<ref name="OTTur" />{{rp|40}} It was likely one of the first areas in Telemark to be inhabited, likely by people migrating from the south and southwest after the [[Last Glacial Period|Ice Age]]. Most artifacts retrieved in Nissedal are dated to the [[Iron Age]]. However, older traces such as [[cairn]]s, [[arrowheads]], and stone axes have also been retrieved. Two ancient rock paintings can still be seen on the western shore of [[Nisser|Lake Nisser]], including paintings at Kvithamar by Fjone and at Trontveit further south. [[Bronze Age]] artifacts include swords and keys, while there are large burial mounds found in Fjone ("Kjempehaugane").<ref name="OTTur" />{{rp|4}} The ancient burial mounds have a diameter of 15–20 meters and are dated to the Iron Age.<ref name="OTTur" />{{rp|40}}

One of the earliest areas to be populated in Nissedal was the cave Holmevasshelleren, approximately {{convert|40|m}} from the lake Holmevatn at Kyrkjebygdheia. Archeological discoveries have dated prehistoric settlements at Holmevasshelleren to [[Neolithic]] times, 3800 BCE-6000 BCE. The cave is {{convert|18|m}} long, {{convert|4|m}} high, and {{convert|3|m}} deep.<ref name="KPH40">{{Cite book |last=Haugene |first=Kjell Peder |url=https://issuu.com/gautefallfotoservice/docs/40tur_forsats-15_pluss_for_og_baksi |title=40 turer i Drangedal og Gautefall |publisher=Sento Forlag AS |year=2014 |isbn=9788299960502 |language=no}}</ref>{{rp|157}}<ref name="ØB123" />{{rp|192}}

Ancient [[rock paintings]] from the [[Bronze Age]] can be seen at various sites in Nissedal, including by a steep mountain by Trontveit farm on the western side of the lake [[Nisser]]. Such paintings are also found by Kvithamar further north.<ref name="snl" /> The rock art site at Kvithammaren ("The White Crag") is named for the site where it is painted, namely a white niche in the mountainside, roughly {{convert|3–4|m}} above the surface of Nisser Lake, at the foot of a {{convert|50|m|adj=on}} high cliff. It is easily visible from distance and may have been seen as openings in Earth and a link to the underworld. The other rock painting by Nisser Lake is known as {{lang|no|Ovnen}} ("The Oven") and is located at the foot of a {{convert|20|m|adj=on}} high [[escarpment]] which originally jutted up in front of the panel. This painting depicts a row of human figures, an animal pictograph, and a pattern of zigzag lines. A local clergyman visited the paintings in the early 1800s and claimed the human figures at Ovnen to have been drawn by a monk in the memory of a bridal procession that drowned. Their colloquial name, {{lang|no|Munkeskrifta}} ("The Monk’s Drawings"), is a reference to this.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lodoen |first1=Trond |title=The Rock Art of Norway |last2=Mandt |first2=Gro |publisher=Windgather Press |year=2010 |isbn=9781905119288 |pages=268–269}}</ref> The paintings at Ovnen are naturally filled in [[iron oxides]].<ref name="ØB123" />{{rp|203}}

An ancient archeological monument from the Bronze Age, dating to 1800 BCE-500 BCE, can also be seen by Stolsvasslonene. It is a [[solar symbol]] of a [[Sun wheel (symbol)|sun wheel]] which is 40-centimeter in diameter.<ref name="KPH40" />{{rp|192–194}}<ref name="ØB123" />{{rp|186}} It can be reached by hiking the [[Norwegian Trekking Association|DNT]] trail between Uvdalen and Gautefall. It is likely an ancient symbol of fertility and possibly related to the nearby lake.<ref name="OTTur" />{{rp|38}}<ref name="EFPåTur">{{Cite book |last=Finstad |first=Else Bjørg |title=På tur Gjerstadskogane - Gautefallheia |publisher=Havrefjell turlag |year=2010 |isbn=9788230316504 |location=Kragerø, Norge |language=no}}</ref>{{rp|111}}

''Heigeitilen'', a [[boundary marker]] on the border between the three historic parishes of [[Tørdal]], Nissedal, and [[Treungen]], was first mentioned in written sources in 1792. It is likely an ancient marker and can be reached from the Heigeitilløypa trail (Heigeitilstien). It is a [[Milky Quartz]] mineral rock.<ref name="ØB123" />{{rp|192}}<ref name="KPH40" />{{rp|163}}<ref name="OTNisser" />{{rp|112}}

The Uvdalen valley has been populated since the [[Stone Age]]. Protected from the wind by the mountain Heitfjell, the area was likely inhabited for hundreds of years. Archeological surveys here have retrieved various artifacts from the Stone Age, including arrowheads and [[flint tools]]. The first written record of inhabitants in Uvdalen dates to 1574, while the last permanent inhabitants left the valley in 1910. The 1733 census indicates that Bjørn Alvson and his wife Torbjørg lived on a farm here with nine cows, 42 sheep, 16 goats, and two horses, among other animals. The 1865 census showed a total population of 24 in Uvdalen.<ref name="KPH40" />{{rp|198–200}} Uvdalen was once home to one of the largest farms in [[Treungen]].<ref name="ØB123" />{{rp|186–188}}

Reinsvasshytta by the lake Reinsvatn was built in 1900 by Amboritius Olsen Lindvig and was Gautefallheia's first cabin.<ref name="KPH40" />{{rp|159 and 172}}

In the 20th century, a number of [[dam]]s were constructed at various lakes throughout Nissedal. Constructed by Sveinung Solli in 1900, the dam Bjønntjønndammen above the Bjønntjønnfossen waterfall was in use until the 1960s. It is located by Bjønntjønn ("Bear Lake") in the valley known as Bjønntjønndalen. The dam by nearby Mjåvatn, Mjåvassdammen, was also constructed around the year 1900 and was in use until the late 1960s.<ref name="KPH40" />{{rp|210–211}} Another dam was constructed by Holmevassosen at the lake Holmevatn at Kyrkjebygdheia in 1965.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heigeitilløypa i Nissedal kommune |url=https://www.ut.no//turforslag/114826/heigeitillypa-i-nissedal-kommune |website=UT.no |language=no}}</ref>