Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TIMELINE
12,000 BC
The last ice age thaws and Norway takes on its present physical form with a new body of water
separating Norway from northern Europe.
9000 BC
The hunting culture of the Komsa, the forerunner of the Sami, arrives in northern Scandinavia;
the Komsa establish the first permanent settlements in Norway's Arctic North.
4000 BC
The earliest example of the Unesco World Heritage-listed rock art is painted by Stone Age
peoples close to modern Alta in Norway's far north, charting the region's human and natural his-
tory.
2500 BC
The wonderfully named Battle-Axe, Boat-Axe and Funnel-Beaker people, named after the stone
tools they used, enter southern Norway from Sweden. They traded amber for metals from main-
land Europe.
AD 787
The earliest account of Norse seafaring appears in the Anglo Saxon Chroniclefor 787, describing
how three ships came to Britain, piloted by sailors who were described as Northmen.
793
The dawn of the Viking age comes when Vikings plunder St Cuthbert's monastery on the island of
Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland in Britain.
871
Tønsberg in southern Norway is founded around this year, making it the oldest still-inhabited
town in Norway. It later served as a royal court and an important trading town.
