The Alta Museum was definitely one of the highlights of our trip to Norway. There are so many amazing rock carvings that no wonder it become one of many UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
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When I was a kid, my family did road trips to Norway every summer. I grew up in Finland and it was an easy destination to head to as it was close, safe and absolutely beautiful!
Since my husband has been dreaming about visiting the Arctic Ocean for a long time already, this summer we decided to drive over from Finland to Norway. We crossed the border in Kilpisjärvi and spend our first night in Norway in Skibotn.
Next morning we headed towards Alta which was the biggest city along our route. We saw a lot of waterfalls, reindeer and fjords. We drove through many very long tunnels, stopped to admire the views at a mountain pass and ate at one of small fishing villages along the way.
But the most memorable of our stops was most definitely the Alta Museum which was right before we arrived in the city of Alta. On its premises they have over 6000 historical rock carvings.
Alta Museum is located about 3.1 miles (5 kilometres) from downtown Alta in a county previously known as Finnmark. The area is called Hjemmeluft, and together with four other rock art sites in Norway they form a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Norway has total of nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
We stopped at Alta Museum for several hours as there was just so much to see. We could have easily spend the whole day there. It was a really interesting museum and we enjoyed it a lot.
What are the rock carvings of Alta?
The first rock carving in this area was discovered in 1973 even though the first mentioning of finding art there was already from 1938. Most of the discoverings are from 1960’s and 70’s. Many other rock carving sites have also been found in Norway.
Alta rock carvings are 2,000-7,000 years old, and they are from the Neolithic period. They are the biggest rock carving site found in the whole Northern Europe as there are over 6,000 pictures. And they are still finding more! Alta Museum was included to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985.
Most of the carvings are on smooth rock surfaces and used to be right by the waterline. Since the late ice age, the land has risen significantly leaving the art on higher ground and more easily visible. The carvings that are lower by the shore are newer.
What do the rock carvings tell us?
The rock art in Alta mainly tell us about the everyday life thousands of years ago. They were made by hunter-gatherers, and their communities, as well as nomads.
The pictures have given people a lot of information of the life back then but some of the pictures remain as a mystery. The scientists and archaeologists haven’t been able to interpret or agree what some of them may mean.
Back then people were hunting reindeer, elk and bears to survive, and they were also fishing. From the carvings they have been able to identify, they have interpreted whales, halibut and pollock. People were also collecting different kinds of plants, berries and eggs.
The carvings also tell that the people would use snow shoes, skies, and boats. There are also both animal tracks and foot prints in the pictures. Some of them are likely showing the depth of water as the boats have a long string going along the rock with a fish at the end of the string.
Another rock has a picture of a bear that seems to be hibernating in its nest with some bear tracks. I wonder if the hunters would mark the bear nests this way. It would be interesting to know if they were there to warn others of upcoming bears!
It is also believed that there are many religious pictures in the rock carvings. Some people seem to be wearing horns and the archaeologists believe they might have been shamans. There are also pictures of a cane with a carved elk head which have been found in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, from the Stone Age. And many rocks have pictures of pregnant people and animals.
Visiting Alta Museum
Best time to visit Alta Museum is during the summer months. The rock carvings are typically visible from May to October because a thick snow layer covers them at winter times. If you visit in May, make sure to check beforehand that the snow has already melted. Otherwise May is a great time to visit many European countries as it is not so crowded as summer.
We started our visit to the Alta Museum from the main museum building, where we got the tickets with a very informative guide book. You can purchase tickets to an independent tour, audio tour or a guided tour.
The museum building has both permanent and temporary exhibitions. Biggest of them of course showcases the rock carvings and the history of the area, but there was also one about Finnish immigrants in Northern Norway. However, the most interesting exhibition is the trail outside which takes you to see the actual rock carvings.
The trail has two parts. The shorter trail is about 1.3 miles long (1,2 km) and is very close to the museum building. The rock carving along this trail were painted red when they were discovered in 1970’s to make them more visible to people.
Unpainted rock carvings are all along the longer trail which is about 1.9 miles long (3 km). Initially we decided to do only the shorter trail with our 6 year old, but since it was very interesting, and we had so much fun out there, we ended up doing the full circle.
Looking for a place to stay in Alta? We recommend this hotel.
The best viewing time for rock carvings that were not painted over in Alta Museum is at the late afternoon when the sun does not shine straight down. We happened to be there just in the right time and even then some artwork was quite faint. I can see it would be so difficult to see from the grey rocks in the middle of the day.
A little tent was posted in the middle of the trail where you could make some crafts of your own. It was not free and they were just getting ready to close it for the day, so we didn’t end up doing anything but you could create a necklace by using seashells, reindeer fur and horns. A nice idea for kids and people who may have never seen reindeer.
Seeing the rock carvings and reading the stories behind them was very intriguing. Many of the descriptions are guesses or presumptions from scientists, and therefore they leave some room for your own imagination.
There are few pictures the researchers are not sure of and they are still trying to put puzzle pieces together to this day! I wonder if we will ever really know what they mean.
In many places you can also notice the change over time. Not only that the land has risen and the nature has changed but also some pictures changed. For example the boats in newer pictures look different, maybe meaning the people found newer, efficient ways to make the rock art.
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We really loved seeing the rock carvings and guessing what they depicted, then reading the stories and seeing if we were right or wrong. Not only were the views beautiful on this trail but it was so nice to be in a middle of nature and trying to imagine what it was like 7,000 years ago when the rock carvings were made.
We have seen rock carvings before in the United States; in Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, Petroglyph National Monument in New Mexico and in Mojave Desert in California. But they were definitely nothing like this!
This was one our favorite days in Norway!
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