Svarthola or Vistehola is a

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

and an archaeological site, located in

Randaberg Randaberg is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Jæren, at the northern end of the Stavanger Peninsula. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Randaberg. Randaberg ...

municipality in Rogaland county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. The deep cavern is located on the ''Viste farm'', about northwest of the city of Stavanger, situated near the shore of the ''Visteviga bay'', at the mouth of the

Hafrsfjorden Hafrsfjord or Hafrsfjorden is a fjord in the Stavanger Peninsula in Rogaland county, Norway. The long fjord forms the border between the municipalities of Stavanger and Sola. On the west side of the fjord is the large village of Tananger, on t ...

. The site has yielded numerous

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

artifacts that have been excavated and discovered in and around the cave.

History

The location served as a shelter for a group of about 25 people during the

since around 6,000 BCE. These people were mainly

hunter-gatherers A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...

, who adopted a sedentary lifestyle based on

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

around 4,000 BCE. The occupants of Vistehola engaged in hunting to maintain a diet, that largely consisted of

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

Fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...

l remains of

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult ma ...

and

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

were also found. Since around 2,000 BCE, their major form of sustenance had shifted towards farming. The site was first studied in 1907 and 1910, and again in 1939 and 1941. The discovered material is remarkably well preserved and provides comprehensive information on the prehistoric inhabitant's living conditions from between 8,000 and 6,000 years ago. Cultural layers were divided into four distinct strata, that correspond with the local Mesolithic and

era and the most recent sediment layer has been associated with the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

. The greater discovery group includes hunting and fishing implements made of stone, antlers and bone as well as residue of shells and ornamental items. The cave houses an inhabited area of approximately and is located about north of today's shoreline. Excavation of the site revealed implement waste and also traces of funerals. At the east wall of the cave a skeleton of a juvenile boy (around 15 year old) was found who lived about 7,500 years ago. It represents one of the earliest known human remains in Norway.

Media gallery

Vistehola.jpg, Entrance to the cave Vistehola3.jpg, Interior of the cave Vistehola4.jpg, Ceiling of the cave Vistehola2.jpg, Svarthålå på Viste

References

{{Navbox prehistoric caves Populated places established in the 7th millennium BC Jæren Archaeological sites in Norway Culture in Rogaland Landforms of Rogaland Caves of Norway Randaberg