Alta Museum

Rock carving in Alta

The Alta Museum is an open-air archaeological museum in Alta , in the Norwegian province of Troms og Finnmark , in which Neolithic and Bronze Age rock carvings are shown. The museum has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since December 3, 1985 . In 1993 the museum was named European Museum of the Year .

General

Location of Alta in Norway

The Alta Museum covers the Hjemmeluft / Jiepmaluokta area. Hjemmeluft is the Norwegian translation of the Sami name Jiepmaluokta ( Jiepma means seal , luokta means bay). The first rock carvings were discovered in autumn 1972. The number of petroglyphs in the Alta area is estimated to be around 4,000, which can be seen in four different areas. The area of the Alta Museum Hjemmeluft / Jiepmaluokta is the largest of the areas. There are 2.9 km of sidewalks in the museum area.

Age of the rock carvings

The rock carvings are around 2000 to 6500 years old. More recent scratches are not known. The drawings are located about 8.5 m to 26.5 m above sea level and were carved into the rocks that were closest to the waterline at that time. Since the end of the Ice Age , when the ice sheet disappeared, the landmass of Norway has steadily increased. Accordingly, the oldest carvings are those furthest from the sea.

The styles of the drawings differ according to location and thus according to age. They can be divided into four periods. The first section concerns scratches between 6200 and 5300 years old, the second between 5300 and 4200 years old, the third between 4200 and 3200 years old and the fourth between 3200 and 2000 years old. There are only two drawings in the museum area from the time between 4200 and 3200 years ago, but they cannot be viewed from the sidewalks.

Creation of the rock carvings

The rock carvings were carved into the gray sandstone with stones or other hard objects . The sandstone has a high quartz content and is very hard. In order to make the rock carvings visible, the archaeologists marked them with red paint. It is believed that the pictures were colored in even after they were created, but there is no evidence of this.

meaning

The rock carvings represent beliefs or work processes of the people. There are hardly any signs of houses near the carvings, the place of the rock carvings was probably a place of encounter. People believed in spirits who predestined life. And people wanted to establish contact with these spirits.

Motifs

Different motifs are shown depending on age:

Animals
- Marine animals: fish , whales , salmon and halibut .
- Land animals: elk , reindeer , bears , foxes and hares .
- Birds: cormorants , swans , geese and ducks
People are represented as such or in some activities. Some figures represent pregnant women, others children. Not all figures can be interpreted.