Sunday 3 March 2024

Battle to save pristine prehistoric rock art from vast new quarry in Norway

... reports The Observer:
One of the largest and most significant sites of rock art in northern Europe is under “catastrophic” threat. 

The Vingen carvings, in Vestland county, Norway, are spectacular, and include images of human skeletons and abstract and geometric designs. Even the hammer stones, the tools used by the ancient artists to create their compositions, have survived. 

Now archaeologists warn that the site is facing a “catastrophic” threat after a quarry, a shipping port and a crushing plant in the area of nearby Frøysjøen received planning permission in February. 

George Nash, a British archaeologist and specialist in prehistoric art at Liverpool University, told the Observer that Vingen was an internationally important site featuring more than 2,000 carved figures. He is “shocked the Norwegian authorities want to stick a dirty great quarry nearby”... 

Nash said: “Does the economic project outweigh the cultural heritage and the environment? The answer’s no. Once you’ve screwed up that landscape, that’s it. It’s screwed... 
 
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