Vistehola
Coordinates: 58 ° 59 ′ 9.8 ″ N , 5 ° 35 ′ 46.2 ″ E
Vistehola also Svarthola is a cave north of Goaveien between Viste and Vistnes in Randaberg north-west of Stavanger in the Fylke Rogaland in Norway .
The approximately 9.0 m deep, 5.0 m wide and 3.0 m high cave is located on the Viste farm near Visteviga Bay, at the mouth of the Hafrsfjord. The cave is now 250 m from the sea 16.0 m above sea level. During the Middle Stone Age, the water reached the cave.
Some of Norway's earliest residents lived here. It is believed that Vistehola began to exist from 6000 BC. By a group of 25 hunters and gatherers as a place to live ( Norwegian bustad ). The 100 m² site in front of and in the cave has produced numerous artifacts. Excavations in the thick layer of earth yielded finds made of horn, bone and flint . The bones and tools testify to how people hunted and fed. The remains of 50 different animal species including 37 bird and eleven fish species were found.
Vistegutten
On the east wall of the cave, the 7500 year old skeleton of a 15 year old boy (the so-called “Vistegutten” - German Viste boy ) was found. This is one of the oldest and most complete stone age skeletons in Norway. The boy, buried on the east wall of the cave, was about 125 centimeters tall and sturdy. The skull has a congenital malformation (so-called boat skull; also Apert syndrome ). The remains from this period are usually poorly preserved, but the Vistegutten is almost complete and therefore the best-preserved Stone Age skeleton in Norway.
In 2015, an analysis revealed that the “Viste boy” was born and raised near his final resting place. He had a varied diet of seafood and the meat of land animals. You don't know why the boy died so young. In 2015, parts of the skull were sent for DNA and isotope analysis. The analyzes show, among other things:
- He had a mitochondrial DNA of the haplogroup U5a2b, which originated about 8,300 years ago but is now extinct. So his family today has no offspring in the all-female line. The haplogroup U5 is most widespread today in the Baltic countries and among the Sami .
- The γ chromosome of haplogroup I2a1b that he had is most widespread in the Western Balkans today.
- He was fair-skinned.
- He had a carbon-13 (C13) isotope of -14.7 parts per thousand, which suggests that he ate a lot of seafood.
- He had a nitrogen 15 (N15) isotope of 18.4 per mille, which indicates that he ate a lot of meat.
There are also finds from the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age . The cave was examined by archaeologists in 1907, 1910, 1939 and 1941. The floor of the cave was covered with a 1.6 m high layer of rubble. Parts of the ceiling have collapsed and today an approximately 5.0 meter wide and 1.5 meter high hole remains as access.
The Grøderøysa is nearby .
literature
- Anton W. Brøgger: Vistefound. En ældre stenalders kjøkkenmødding fra Jæderen. In: Stavanger Museums Aarshefte. 1907.
- Harald E. Lund: Catch stopper i Vistehulen . Stavanger Museum, 1951.