Rock engravings at Hjemmeluft

Inside the “Bay of the Sea lions” (in Sami, Jepmaluokta), one of the many in the Altafjord, near Hjemmeluft, in 1973 3000 prehistoric graffiti were found. Dated between 6,200 and 2,500 years ago, they depict men, boats, moose, reindeer, bears, hunting scenes and cattle breeding, and are the main artistic treasure of the Alta Museum, classified as European Museum of the Year in 1993. Among the most engaging and vivid scenes are those of reindeer and bear hunting which, due to their symbolic charge, are assumed to have been performed by priests for ritual purposes. Recognized as World Heritage by Unesco, the rock engravings of Alta are still under study and the hypothesis is that they are the work of people from Mongolia or northern Asia.