Nature's cathedral: People have gathered in this cave for at least 10,000 years [Kirkhellaren cave, Norway]

Sciencenorway.no ^ | September 8, 2022 | Helge M. Markusson

[SunkenCiv]

Exchange of knowledge and expertise, bartering and wooing. Kirkhellaren Cave on Sanna in Træna is one of Norway’s oldest meeting places, having first been used about 10,000 years ago.

So far west out at sea that witty people claim that the gulls here speak English, it is midsummer on the Arctic Circle and we are on the island of Sanna in Træna Municipality.

A 10 to 15-minute walk from the quay we find Kirkhellaren, a very famous cave where, throughout repeated ice ages, the frost and sea have carved out a cathedral in a crack of the mountainside...

The first archaeological excavations in Kirkhellaren took place in the 1930s, led by Guttorm Gjessing. His finds included wonderfully well-preserved artefact material. The artefacts included wooden and bone tools, meal scraps from bird, fish and mammal species, and as many as 33 skeletons of men, women and children. The finds date from the Stone Age, the Iron Age and the Middle Ages...

When the summer fieldwork was over, the excavation area was filled in again, and the cave bottom will gradually return to its previous state. All the samples collected in the course of the work will be the subject of research and subsequent publications.

[SunkenCiv]

The Kirkhellaren cave is 32 metres high and 20 metres wide, with a boulder in the centre that forms a natural altar and has earned it the nickname "nature's cathedral".

Photo: Helge M. Markusson/The Fram Centre

[SunkenCiv]

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

My ancestors may have been conceived at a drunken party in that cave.

[Paladin2]

They could carve a Buddha on the back wall...

[BenLurkin]

Very cool

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Was wondering if it could be a remnant of Doggerland.

According to the maps, probably not.

[SunkenCiv]

https://freerepublic.com/tag/doggerland/index?tab=articles

https://freerepublic.com/tag/storegga/index?tab=articles

[BenLurkin]

[SunkenCiv]

The Doggerland, Storegga, Storeggaslide keywords, sorted, duplicates out:

• New Imaging Reveals Hidden Ice Age Landscapes Buried Deep in The North Sea [09/10/2021]
• Breakthrough in Studying Ancient DNA From Doggerland That Separates The UK From Europe [07/24/2020]
• Landslide in northern Norway 3rd of June 2020 (Impressive) [06/03/2020]
• Scientists Find Possible Traces of 'Lost' Stone Age Settlement Beneath the North Sea [05/29/2019]
• Life was good for Stone Age Norwegians along Oslo Fjord [06/04/2018]
• Mysterious Graves Discovered at Ancient European Cemetery [02/16/2016]
• Hazelnut shells found at Skye Mesolithic site [10/25/2015]
• Mesolithic site on Skye to be investigated [09/04/2015]
• Doggerland: Secrets of ancient land submerged to be revealed [09/02/2015]
• Britain Imported Wheat 2,000 Years Before Growing It [02/26/2015]
• Ancient underwater forest discovered off Norfolk coast [01/31/2015]
• 'How Britain's Atlantis' and its tribes were wiped out by a TSUNAMI triggered by a landslide [05/02/2014]
• The real flood: Submerged prehistory [04/12/2014]
• Snails Reveal Ancient Human Migration from France to Ireland [06/23/2013]
• Biblical-Type Floods Are Real, and They're Absolutely Enormous [09/04/2012]
• 'Britain's Atlantis' found at bottom of North sea [07/06/2012]
• The Netherlands: Archaeologists Find Habitation Sites in Port of Rotterdam [11/17/2011]
• Mesolithic 'rest stop' found at new Sainsbury's site [07/23/2011]
• A Lost World? Atlantis-Like Landscape Discovered [07/12/2011]
• 'Incredibly exciting' rare pre-Ice Age handaxe discovered on Orkney [06/11/2011]
• The moment Britain became an island [02/14/2011]
• Stone Age remains are Britain's earliest house [08/10/2010]
• Neanderthal man was living in Britain 40,000 years earlier than thought [06/01/2010]
• Neanderthal may not be the oldest Dutchman [ 370,000 years B.P. ] [03/30/2010]
• How discovery off the Norfolk coast holds the key to Norway's past [03/19/2010]
• How a prehistoric 'super river' turned Britain into an island nation [12/02/2009]
• 9,000-year-old house reveals Stone Age lifestyle [08/11/2009]
• When Did Humans Return After Last Ice Age? (UK) [07/27/2009]
• Sea gives up Neanderthal fossil [ dredged up from the North Sea ] [06/15/2009]
• Scotland's most ancient home found â€" at 14,000 years old [04/10/2009]
• Last Ice Age happened in less than year say scientists [08/02/2008]
• Exploration of underwater forest [Loch Tay] [07/16/2008]
• Archaeology: The lost world -- Death in the Mesolithic [07/11/2008]
• Paleolithic Handaxes From The North Sea (Neanderthals) [03/10/2008]
• Undersea slide set off giant flow [11/22/2007]
• Stone Age Site Surfaces After 8,000 Years [08/06/2007]
• (For all you NOVA buffs) Megaflood 'made Island Britain' [sharp illustrations] [07/19/2007]
• Giant flood separates Britain from Europe [07/18/2007]
• Megaflood Created Great Divide Between Britain and France [07/18/2007]
• Lost World Warning From (Under) North Sea [04/23/2007]
• Mapping an Underwater World [ Neolithic riverscapes ] [02/01/2007]
• Dating A Massive Undersea Slide (8,100 Year Ago) [01/05/2007]
• ARCHAEOLOGY: Stone Age World Beneath the Baltic Sea [12/09/2006]
• Biblical-style flood tore Britain from France [09/26/2006]
• Biblical-style flood tore Britain from France : Scientists Claim UK/France Land Mass Once joined. [09/25/2006]
• Flood Made Britain An Island 'In 24 Hours' [09/24/2006]
• (English) Channel's Key Role In Pre-History [09/16/2006]
• Stone Age Elephant Found at Ancient U.K. Hunt Site [07/10/2006]
• Tools Unlock Secrets Of Early Man [12/14/2005]
• Prehistoric Knives Suggest Humans Competed [02/02/2005]
• The Mysterious End Of Essex Man (UK) [01/23/2005]
• Archaeologists Excited By 500,000-Year-Old Axe Find In Quarry [12/17/2004]
• Stone Age Elephant Remains Found (England, Slain By Humans) [06/21/2004]
• Northern sea baffles archaeologists [03/24/2004]
• Scientists Discover Lost World (8,000 Years Old) [02/15/2004]
• Stone Age Sites Found Under North Sea (8,000BC) [12/09/2003]
• Migrants Poured Into Britain After Ice Age [10/26/2003]
• UK's Oldest Cemetery Identified [09/26/2003]
• Earliest British Cemetery Dated (10,000+ Years) [09/23/2003]
• Stone Age Settlements Found Underwater In Britain [09/11/2003]
• Giant Wave Hit Ancient Scotland [09/07/2001]

[SunkenCiv]

• Buddha statue from 6th c found in Viking hoard in Helgo, Sweden [04/26/2005]
• Viking treasure hoard yields astounding finds [06/28/2002]

[TigersEye]

There is a song about that musical gathering ...

Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict

[Cincinnatus.45-70]

Neat!

[SunkenCiv]

If it happened long enough ago, pretty much everyone’s...

[Paladin2]

Well, it’s like a Big Niche.

“Round, Round,

Get around,

Vikes got around...”

[SunkenCiv]

Rock show! Rock show! Rock show! Rock show!

[SunkenCiv]

[singing] Gal, you’re messin’ with a
a son of a niche
gal, you’re messin’ with a son of a niche... [/singing]

[algore]

https://longnow.org/clock/

[SunkenCiv]

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Naked_Now_(episode)

[Red Badger]

10,000 year?....It must smell awful!.....................😜

[nicollo]

From the article,

The excavation site in which the researchers have been working this summer has revealed astonishingly large quantities of bone remains, shells, and burnt wood. This confirms that people have lived here for a long time and that they came here at least 9,000 years ago.

At the time, the floodplain stood just outside the cave entrance, and many of the islands visible today lay below the surface of the sea. The sea was full of seals and fish, so there was food right outside the cave, which in turn provided shelter. This made it a perfect place for people to set up camp.

Are the ocean's rising or falling? I'm always confused by this, lol.