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Arctic hunting folk on their way across the ice

The forgotten saga

22.11.2018 - 12:22

The saga regarding the settlement of Hordaland started off about 10,000 years ago. Most of this saga has been recorded in writing, not on paper, but on stone and on the earth in the forest and the marshes.

The newly mown hay on the farms at Vangdalsberget tell of the landscape of the scythe

Farmers and Settlements

22.11.2018 - 12:10

From 4,500 to 5,000 years ago most of Hordaland was a landscape of forest, right out to the coast and the islands. With our inner eye we can see old oak trees putting their stamp on the heat-loving deciduous forest.

Kiste måla i 1834 av Bjørn Bjaalid

Vernacular arts and crafts

15.05.2018 - 13:57

A deciduous forest slop with Bear’s garlic.

From Dense Forest to Open Heathlands

15.05.2018 - 14:06

The outer frame - the coast, the fjord and the mountains - are an inheritance from the country's geological history. But what, more than anything else, gives the scene colour and excitement is the plant life.

A Hardanger sloop in full sail on the Trøndelag coast.

Sailing Sloops and Boat Building

21.11.2018 - 19:47

Marine activities expanded greatly throughout the 19th century, and provided a livelihood for many people. Fishing and shipping were probably the subsidiary activities which had greatest economic significance throughout the century. Marine activities brought, literally speaking, wind into the sails of many rural districts in Hordaland during that period.

Alfred Søvik from Lysefjorden

The Wooden Boat

15.05.2018 - 14:01

Craftsmanship through two thousand years

Urtidsfjell – gneis fra vestlige deler av Stølsheimen.

The Precambrian Era and Precambrian basement rocks

23.05.2019 - 14:24

Almost nothing is as solid, unchangeable and stable as the Norwegian Precambrian basement rocks. Here, there are no volcanic eruptions or violent earthquakes that can cause natural catastrophes. But, it has not always been that way! There have been periods when glowing hot lava flowed over it or when large parts of the Precambrian basement have "taken a beating", both in Precambrian times and during the Caledonian mountain-building event.

Øst for Bjørsvik, Lindås

Hordaland as high as the Himalayas- the Caledonian mountain chain

23.05.2019 - 14:24

The Himalaya Mountain Chain is being formed by the Indian continental plate colliding w the Asian continent. This happens because the earth’s continental plates are constantly moving in relation to each other. Sometimes they crash together and form large collision zones or mountain chains. The collision between India and the Asian continent has created the world's highest mountain and thickest continental crust. But the creation of the Himalaya mountain chain is essentially just a repeat of what happened more than 400 million years ago when Western Norway and Greenland collided and formed the Caledonian mountain range. That mountain-building event caused quite dramatic changes in topography, climate and crustal thickness, and resulted in both volcanism and a lot of earthquake activity. In addition,

The mountain chain dissapears – and the dinosaurs arrive

The mountain chain disappears – and the dinosaurs arrive!

23.05.2019 - 14:24

The Caledonian mountain chain is an example of how plate movements and continental drift can cause collisions and the upheaval of huge mountain chains. After the horizontal compressional forces ceased, the forces of gravity, wind and water took over and started the process of eroding away the mountain chain. But, nearer to our time the land rose up again to a plateau landscape in the east which slanted down toward the ocean in the west!

Takskifer klar til henting. Fra skiferbruddet på Nordheim på Voss.

Stone quarry in Hordaland

23.05.2019 - 14:24

Hordaland has been through several "Stone Ages". The first was in the real Stone Age, with Bømlo as its centre. Hard stone as tools and weapons was the normal occupation for Bømlo folk. The next started a ways into the 1800s. Building stone and cobblestones in the street became popular in cities throughout the country. The last stone age is just about twenty years old - after a long period of dominance by asphalt and cement, natural stone has again become desirable in streets and squares, in roads and as building facades.

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