Kollhellaren
| Kollhellaren
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 Entrance to the cave |
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| Location: |
Mosque commune , Lofoten , Norway |
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Geographic location: |
67 ° 49 '51.3 " N , 12 ° 49' 24.3" E | |
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| Type: | Rock cave | |
| Lighting: | no | |
| Overall length: | 115 m | |
| Particularities: | Cave paintings | |
Kollhellaren , also called Refsvikhula , is a cave in the Moskeneskommune in the Norwegian province ( fylke ) Nordland . It is located near the abandoned fishing village of Refsvika in the southwestern part of the island of Moskenesøya . In the cave there are cave paintings that are between 2500 and 4000 years old. A total of 33 figures were found on the walls of the cruciform cave system. The entrance to the cave is 12 meters wide and about 50 meters high.
The 115 meter long cave itself was known for a long time. However, the cave paintings were not discovered until the summer of 1987 when archeology students at the Tromsø Museum began research. It is controversial whether the cave paintings were painted on or scraped off. The Bergen Museum's First Conservator , Kristen Michelsen, stated in her 1989 report that the figures were scraped off. The conservator and researcher Terje Norsted from the Norsk Institutt for Kulturminneforskning (Norwegian Institute for Monument Research ), however, stated in his report from 1998 that the figures were painted on.
The cave has been a listed building since 1994. It is possible to visit them with a knowledgeable guide.
Web links
- Lofotodden Nasjonalpark - Forstudium til konsekvensanalyse (PDF file; 1.7 MB) pp. 51–54, 2002, accessed on January 30, 2013 (Norwegian)
- Report from Terje Norsted, NIKU (DOC file; 609 kB) 1998, accessed on January 30, 2013 (Norwegian)
- Georg Blichfeldt: Hulemalerier i midnattsol (PDF file; 6.6 MB) in Lofotboka -90, pp. 9–13, accessed on January 30, 2013 (Norwegian)
- Norsk Fiskeværsmuseum: Hulemaleriene i Refsvika Gro Røde, accessed on January 30, 2013 (Norwegian)
- NRK: Steinalder-kunst i særklasse August 26, 2008, accessed January 30, 2013 (Norwegian)
- photos