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A Short Historical Review
Thousand of years ago the major part of Norway was
covered by a huge glacier, including Kvikne. When the ice
melted, the first human footprints were seen, first by the
coast, later in the inner country.
Once upon a time the first human being found his way over
the mountains and down to the streaming river in the
deserted valley. The first man who saw the Kvikne valley,
did not stop very long. He was a hunter, and the hunting
brought him further to other hunting grounds. He was
followed by others. We don't exactly know when the first
people settled in Kvikne. As with archaeological discoveries
in other parts of Norway, finds at Kvikne have given us an
insight to its history. As the Viking ships at Bygdoy tell
about life and usage in richer parts of the country, the
tombs located at Kvikne open a door for us back to the past
in this particular area. Discovery of the Kvikne tombs was
made in this century. Some of the tombs are located in
Frengstad, a place a short way north of Kvikne Church. The
digging has uncovered tools and equipment used in Kvikne. We
believe that by 500 AC a number of small farming settlements
were in existence in Kvikne.
The new period with development for this small community
appeared in the 17th Century. Copper was discovered in the
Kvikne mountains in 1632. As Norway at that time was a part
of Denmark-Norway union, the King, Christian IV in
Copenhagen, who was extremely interested in mining, was
happy for every new mine discovered in his countries. First
of all, it gave financial support to his throne with money,
but also resulted in development and income for Norwegian
citizens.
We can imagine the Kvikne valley with its thick
pine-forest with only a few farms, when the mining
started. Soon life changed, people moved into the valley,
the forest was cut down to a great extent, as they used the
wood for heating up the rock. Water was then pored upon it,
so it cracked. This was long before the dynamite ! The
forest was badly damaged. It was burned into charcoal, too,
to be used for heating up and melting the metal out of the
ore. When a forest is felled up to the timber line, it will
be permanently destroyed. Therefore today we find very few
pine-trees in Kvikne. But thanks to the birch, the valley is
green in the 20th Century !
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