Alta museum

Their routes

Alta Museum's exhibitions

Welcome to Alta Museum – and to the history of people, nature and world heritage. Here begins a journey that extends from the oldest rocks on earth to today's society, from Stone Age hunters to modern research, industry and identity. Through these exhibitions you will encounter both the world heritage in Alta and the people who have lived, worked and created life here for thousands of years. Alta is not just a place – it is a meeting place. A landscape where sea, fjord, river, mountains and plateau have shaped living conditions, beliefs, work and culture. That is precisely why the rock carvings here were designated a world heritage site by UNESCO: they tell a story that is important to all of humanity. In the exhibition Spor i berg you will meet the oldest voices. People who between 7000 and 2000 years ago carved images in stone – of animals, boats, hunting and life. They left behind not only figures, but questions: Who were they? What did they want to tell? And why did they choose these rocks by the fjord? The exhibition Our World Heritage raises our gaze and places Alta in a larger context. Here you will encounter both the Norwegian World Heritage sites and some of the world's most important natural and cultural landscapes. The exhibition shows why World Heritage concerns us all – across borders, languages and cultures – and why it is our common responsibility to take care of it. In Resources and Identity, we follow history further – from the Stone Age to the present day. Here you will meet Alta as a society: shaped by bedrock, sea, river and people. You will hear about fisher-farmers and trade, Sami history, mining, the power struggle in the Alta case, slate, copper, salmon, industry and northern lights research. Everything is connected by the question: Who are we – who created and are creating Alta? This audio guide leads you through several themes and stops. Take time to look, listen and explore. Some places will invite reflection, others curiosity and play. Together they provide a rich picture of Alta as both a World Heritage site and a living society. When you are ready, you can proceed to the first stop and begin your journey through the past, nature and human traces in Alta.

Startbilde_Helleristningene i Hjemmeluft

The rock carvings in Hjemmeluft

Welcome to Hjemmeluft – the heart of the Alta World Heritage Site. You are now standing in one of the world’s largest and most spectacular areas of rock art. Around you lies a landscape that has been used, shaped and interpreted by people for over five thousand years. Along the paths you will follow, you will encounter traces of life, belief, hunting, travel and stories – carved into the rock by people who lived here long before our era. Hjemmeluft was probably an important meeting place. The long Altafjord connected the coast and the inland, and the people who lived here moved between sea, mountains and plains. When you walk here today, you are walking in a landscape that is similar to what they themselves experienced – only the sea has retreated. The rocks you see around you once lay on the shore, and it was here that the rock carvings were made, layer by layer, over thousands of years. Along this route you will visit 25 selected sites. Together they tell the story of the people who lived here between approximately 7,000 and 2,000 years ago. You will see images of reindeer, moose, bears and whales, of boats and hunters, of fish, tracks, symbols and people. Some motifs seem recognizable, others enigmatic – but all provide a glimpse into a world where nature, life and spirituality were closely intertwined. Take your time. Look around. Feel the landscape, the light and the silence. The rock carvings are not just old images – they are voices from the past, preserved in stone. When you are ready, you can move on to the first stop and begin your journey through Homeland and five thousand years of human history.