Svarthola

Entrance to the cave

File:Vistehola2.jpg

Svarthålå på Viste

Svarthola (Vistehålå) is a cave which is located in Viste, 10 km northwest of Stavanger, in Randaberg municipality, Rogaland county, Norway.

History

During the Stone Age it was the main shelter for a group of about 25 people from around 6000 BC. These people were mainly hunter-gatherers, but from around 4000 BC they also started with agriculture. Stone Age people of Vistehola can be characterized as wild boar hunters. Bones of moose and seals were also found. From around 2000 BC, their main activity was farming.

The site was first studied in 1907 and 1910, subsequent 1939 and 1941. Discovery material is extremely well preserved and provide important information about how our predecessors lived in the Stone Age, from between 6 000 and 8 000 years ago. Cultural layers form a total of four periods of different settlement. The greater discovery group includes hunting and fishing implements of stone, antler and bone meal as well as residues: shells and precious. The youngest settlement stems from the Iron Age. The others are from older and younger Stone Age (Mesolithic and Neolithic).

The cave houses an inhabited area of approximately 100 square meters and is located about 250 meters from today's shoreline. Excavation of the site revealed implement waste and also traces of funerals. At the east wall of the cave was found a skeleton of a 15-year-old boy who lived about 7,500 years ago. It is one of the oldest finds of human remains in Norway.

Gallery

• Vistehola.jpg

  Entrance to the cave

• Vistehola3.jpg

  Interior of the cave

• Vistehola4.jpg

  Ceiling of the cave

Other sources

• Hagen, Anders: Norges oldtid (s. 172-4) (Forlaget Cappelen, Oslo: 1983) ISBN 82-02-09067-9