<< Our Photo Pages >> Skjonghelleren - Cave or Rock Shelter in Norway in Møre og Romsdal
Submitted by kenntha88 on Tuesday, 11 September 2012 Page Views: 3988
Natural PlacesSite Name: Skjonghelleren Alternative Name: DaumannshellerenCountry: Norway Fylke: Møre og Romsdal Type: Cave or Rock Shelter
Nearest Town: Ã…lesund Nearest Village: Vigra
Latitude: 62.519542N Longitude: 6.103506E
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Skjonghelleren on Valderøya Island is one of the best known caves on the Norwegian coast. Today the opening lies about 55 metres above sea level and is now 10 metres high. In fact the cave is 38 metres high, but it is filled to a depth of 28 metres with deposits of uncompacted material.
The cave extends 70 metres, but the fractured zone filled with loose material extends about 140 metres into the mountain.
Finds which have so far been made in this material include animal bones up to 30000 years old. Skjonghelleren is an archive which can tell us stories from far back in time. The climate here 30 000 years ago was about the same as that of Svalbard and the coast of Finnmark today. No traces of people from such an early date have been found, but it is in caves like Skjonghelleren that such finds may possible be made.
Arrowheads and spearheads, combs and remains of cooking implements like clay pots and bone spoons are among the items which have been dug out. Unfortunately most of the thick layer from the time of human settlement was removed in the last century. Some of the finds have hovewer been saved, including four bone arrowheads and two spindles of fired clay. A human jawbone and the cranium of a large animal were also found.
The bones of 42 species of birds have been found in the cave. This is one of the richest finds in Norway and has increased our knowledge about the fauna of the interglacial period and the climate of that time. The most numerous bird species are little auk, brunnicks guillemot and ivory gull, all of which now nest of Svalbard. There were also otter, arctic fox and ringed seal. fish bones found in the vace show 18 times as many bones from cod than from coalfish. This supports the theory that people stayed in Skjonghelleren in winter, when there were prolific supplies of cod.
The known history of human habitation in Norway goes back no further than to the last ice age, 10--12000 years ago. The first known "norwegians" were hunters, who lived of what nature provided. The oldest definite traces of human activity in Skjonghelleren are 2000 years old.
Traces of permanent settlement may be found in the cleared area of land below Skjonghelleren. there are a number of heaps of stones here which indicate the clearing of the area for agriculture. Dating indicates that this area was cleared about 3000 years ago, during a period of expansive cultivation.
Otherwise, the area around Skjonghelleren is rich in areas of settlement and burial mounds. The most easily seen are the three restored mounds at Kvennhusvika.
Close to Skjonghelleren are two other very noticable stone caves called Dødmannshola (dead man`s hole) and Trollkjelen (The trolls kettle).
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