Rock carvings at Alta

The Alta Museum is an archaeological open-air museum in Alta in Finnmark (Norway ), are shown in the Neolithic and Bronze Age rock carvings. The museum is on the run from the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites since 3 December 1985.

General

The Alta Museum covers the area Hjemmeluft / Jiepmaluokta. Hjemmeluft is the Norwegian translation of the Sami name Jiepmaluokta ( Jiepma means Seal, luokta means bay ). The first rock carvings have been discovered in the fall of 1972. The number of petroglyphs in the area of Alta is estimated to be about 4000, which can be seen in four different areas. The territory of Alta Museum Hjemmeluft / Jiepmaluokta is the largest of the territories. In the field of Museum 2.9 km sidewalks are available.

Age rock carvings

The rock carvings have an age of about 2000-6500 years. Younger scorings are not known. The drawings are about 8.5 m to 26.5 m above sea level and were carved into those rocks which were at that waterline next. Since the end of the Ice Age, when the ice disappeared, the land mass of Norway raised steadily. Accordingly, the oldest carvings are those that are removed from the sea farthest.

The style of the drawings differ according to the situation and therefore on the age. They can be divided into four periods. The first section relates to 6200-5300 year-old carvings, the second 5300-4200 year-old, the third 4200-3200 years old, and the fourth 3200-2000 year old. From before 4200 to before 3200 years, only two drawings are in the area of the museum present which can not be visited by the sidewalks of but.

Creation of the rock carvings

The petroglyphs were carved with rocks or other hard objects in the gray sandstone. The sandstone has a high quartz content and is very hard. To make the rock carvings visible, they were marked by the archaeologists with red color. It is assumed that the images were painted after the initial construction with color, but there is no proof of this.

Importance

The carvings represent beliefs or work processes of people dar. There is little evidence of houses in the vicinity of the carvings, the place of petroglyphs was probably a place of encounter. The people believed in ghosts, the predetermined life. And with these spirits wanted people to connect.