Home
University Museum of Bergen

A Long History – Briefly Told

The first settlers to Western Norway had spears, arrows and bows in their baggage when they arrived. A 10 500 year old spear point found on Toftøy in Øygarden bears witness to this. Visitors will be given the opportunity to experience the whispers of the winds of history when visiting the Stone Age exhibition at the Cultural History Collections at Bergen Museum.

Main content

 

The exhibition presents, in brief/short, the longest period of the inhabitant of Western Norway’s history: the first 7 000 years. Although historic as regards content, the exhibition nevertheless is modern as regards form. This relates in particular to the choice of photos, lighting, colors and materials. Objects in modern plexi glass panels offer a glimpse into the distant past and suggest what life may have been like to the inhabitants of Western Norway – their subsistence and their beliefs. Suggestions, thrills, feelings of wonder and insight are what people of today  are confronted with when we enter the exhibition area. Rather than focusing on a lot of texts and long explanations, this exhibition attaches importance to the objects themselves telling their stories.

 

School children are an important target group for this exhibition, and it aims to stimulate activities and learning. Within the exhibition premises favourable conditions are offered for examination of materials, as well as further work on tasks. The field season for archaeologists provide samples from the latest archaeological finds and will be displayed. Thus, history is brought into our time.

 

Project Group

Project Manager: Else Johansen Kleppe Designer: Turid Mellemstrand Design group: Turid Mellemstrand, Tor Arne Waraas, Else Johansen Kleppe Reconstructions: Ørjan Engdal Drawings: Fred Broen Photos: Tor Aren Waraas; Professional archaeology team: Brigitte Bjørkli, Ørjan Engdal, Else Johansen Kleppe, Tor Arne Waraas, Technical Team, mounting of vertical, cronological exhibition panels and conservation of objects: Christopher Palmer, Jo Willey