Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
DARKNESS & ICE
Some of the most lasting impressions travellers carry with them after visiting Norway - a
land of snow and ice, a bountiful coast, extreme climatic conditions and a thinly populated
land - have been present here since the dawn of Scandinavian civilisation. Indeed, the hu-
man presence in Norway was for thousands of years overshadowed by Norway's geography
and climate, which have strong claims to being the most enduring personalities of Norwegi-
an history.
During the last ice age, Norway was barely inhabitable. But if Norway was less than hos-
pitable, it was a paradise compared to northern Russia at the time and, as the ice began to
melt, it was from the east that the first major, lasting migration to Norway took place when,
around 11,000 years ago, the Komsa, who would later become the Sami (
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), ar-
rived in Norway's Arctic North.
Archaeological Museums
» Bryggens Museum, Bergen
» Arkeologisk Museum, Stavanger
» Historical Museum, Oslo
» Museum of Natural History & Archaeology, Trondheim
» Alta Museum, Alta
As the climate warmed and Norway became increasingly habitable, migrations of the
Nøstvet-ØkserpeopleofcentralEuropebeganarrivingalongthesouthernNorwegiancoast,
drawn by relatively plentiful fishing, sealing and hunting. Wild reindeer also followed the
retreating ice, moving north into the still-ice-bound interior, and the hunters that followed
them were the first humans to traverse the Norwegian high country. Their presence was,
however, restricted to itinerant, seasonal camps and there remained few human footholds in
an otherwise empty land dominated by glaciers and frozen wastes.
Over the millennia that followed, settled cultures began to take root, to the extent that
during the later years of the Roman Empire, Rome provided Norway with fabric, iron im-
plements and pottery. The iron tools allowed farmland to be cleared of trees, larger boats
werebuiltwiththeaidofironaxesandacoolingclimatesawtheestablishmentofmoreper-
manentstructuresbuiltfromstoneandturf.Bythe5thcenturyNorwegianshadlearnedhow
to smelt their own iron from ore found in the southern Norwegian bogs. Norway's endless
struggle to tame its wild landscape had begun.
