THROUGH THOUSANDS OF YEARS

Experience traces from the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. Subsequently, travel forward in time and catch a glimpse of the Viking Age, with the battle of Hafrsfjord as a dramatic highlight. Also, be fascinated by the development of the last couple of hundred years, from fishing and seafaring to oil and energy. Hear the whispers of history!

Stone Age

10,000–1700 BC

The first “Norwegians” used natural caves and shelters as residences, often near large boulders close to water.

Vistehola is one of Norway’s oldest Stone Age settlements. The first humans settled here around 6,000 BC. The cave is today located a distance from the sea, 16 meters above sea level, but during the Stone Age, the sea would have begun at the cave’s entrance. Among bones, horns, and flint tools, a skeleton of a 15-yearold person was also found, known as the Viste boy. It is one of the oldest discoveries of human remains in Norway.

Bronze Age

1700–500 BC

Society became more organised and layered. The richest chieftains went on trade or war expeditions down to southern Europe, where they exchanged for bronze. There are countless burial mounds from the Bronze Age in our region, where rich findings have been made. Instead of writing, people carved images and symbols into rock faces, called petroglyphs. For example, you can find petroglyphs on islands Austre Åmøy and Løland (Ombo), with clear symbols of ships, rings, and foot soles.