Before we went to Norway I did a bit of research and then I emailed a tourist information office who forwarded me to someone at a museum…
….who scanned me a hand drawn map…
…which directed us to a train station called Hell….
…and a short walk through a moss covered forest…
…where we found stone age rock art.
The drawings are about 6500 years old. Water levels were higher at the time so these rock faces rose directly out of a fjord. The life-sized reindeer above could have been seen by people passing by them in the water.
The animals are depicted with geometric flair.
The vitality of this little guy is jumping right out from the rock!
I got extra excited about the chin hairs on the rock creatures.
(I might have shouted “CHIN CHIN HAIRS!”)
The most surprising thing about the rock art of Hell is how it’s just out there, unprotected. Norway is like all “We give our citizens universal health care and free college tuition and damn it, our people can see stone age rock art whenever they feel like it too.”
Except for you, Lena the Vile Rock Art Defacer. You should lose your Norwegian citizenship and be banished to Texas.
How we got to Hell : train from Trondheim.
Where we slept: Stine’s Apartment. Price: €57 for a double. Recommended: yes.
Picnic at the Cathedral 
Surely even Texas wouldn’t deserve Lena? But you may right, I only know about the place from hearsay, and what I hear being said is that Lena may well fit in there… 😁
Is there any evidence that these would ever have been coloured? Any traces of pigment? Possibly not, after so many millennia, but forensic scientists are a cunning lot.
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Oh I think Lena deserves to live in another place that is rich with oil money but doesn’t choose to spend it on the well-being of its people.
I saw some pale yellow and red pigment though I’m not sure if it is original, or more likely, added later to help make the drawings more visible.
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You need your own television show. Public television – obscure cultural trips for art architecture lovers with a sense of humor- I’m sure you’ll come up with a cleverer title. I’m serious. I’d watch every episode.
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Thanks for the compliment but I think the benefit of blogging as that I can hide my awkward public speaking skills. Anyway, I think of Sister Wendy Beckett as the ultimate in host of art television and I would never encroach on my idol’s territory.
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Amazing. Never heard of this before. Have to remember that, Hell (frozen over?).
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Though when it is frozen over (and snowy) you won’t be able to see the rock drawings, shame….
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Really ..
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Love your photo at the train station.
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Thanks! HOB used to know a reverend through his job that disapproved of us a couple. She told him “The two of you are going to hell.” So while we were making this trip to see the art I kept saying The two of you are going to Hell” in the Reverend’s voice, because, you know, that’s just soooooo hilarious.
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So you went to Hell…but not in a handcart….
Great that the drawings don’t need protection from the public…except for Lena…
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Curses to Lena. May she move to Texas and develop an incurable foot fungus.
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This is simply amazing. I love that you are assertive enough to message the tourist office, and that they are interested enough to scan a map.
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Since I work in Visitor Services myself I know that most people in this line of work are eager to help and tourist office and other visitor services staff have been the heroes of many of our trips.
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Should we ever save up enough money I want to go to Hell! Wait…that didn’t come out right… I love stuff like this – bet you were the only people there.
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Yeah, we were the only people there and it was lots of fun trotting through a little suburb-type area to find the woods.
Hope you go to Hell soon….uh I mean…good luck saving money to go to Norway!
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Love your photos! Great read also
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Thanks antonia!
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Thank you! We were visiting for Blues in Hell, and wanted a non musical outing within walking distance of the airport. This was perfect..we walked to Hell Station, used your map and found the carvings and a red squirrel nipped out to see us in the forest too.
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Awww, thanks for letting me know! You are bringing back good memories of our visit. I’m going to need to see a picture of that squirrel.
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I’m afraid it’s taken me about 60 yrs to see a red squirrel in the wild, I fear it may take me another 60 to capture a photo.
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🙂
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