Planning a project?
Are you planning building work, digging or another project that may affect heritage sites? The county council is responsible for heritage protection in the first instance, and will forward the case to the right authority.
- Contact the county council first — whether you are a municipality, a developer or a landowner.
- Get in touch early in the planning process, so that any archaeological investigation can be settled before work starts.
- This applies to projects that may affect automatically protected heritage sites (older than 1537).
For development and other projects
How responsibility is divided depends on who you are and what you are planning.
Municipality or planning authority
The University Museum cooperates with, and gives professional advice to, the Directorate for Cultural Heritage (Riksantikvaren), county councils and municipalities. Enquiries about fixed or loose heritage objects should go to the county council first, since it is responsible for heritage protection in the first instance and will forward the case. The museum assesses the scientific source value when a proposed intervention in an automatically protected heritage site needs to be clarified.
Developer or project owner
When Riksantikvaren grants permission for an intervention in an automatically protected heritage site, the Archaeological Heritage Section carries out the legally required archaeological excavation. The purpose is to secure the scientific source material before it is lost through development. As a rule, the project owner pays for the investigation.
Landowner
Enquiries about heritage sites on your own property should go to the county council first. For smaller private projects, the State may cover all or part of the cost of an archaeological investigation.
Metal detecting
Private metal detecting has increased in recent years, and more and more finds are being reported. Metal detecting is not mentioned in the Cultural Heritage Act, but can come into conflict with it. Riksantikvaren has produced joint national guidelines and a separate find report form for detector finds. See the separate page on metal detecting.
What does the Cultural Heritage Act say?
The Cultural Heritage Act of 1978 establishes that heritage sites older than the Reformation (1537) are automatically protected. The reasoning is twofold: heritage sites are scientific sources, and they have experiential value. Heritage sites are defined as all traces of human activity in the physical environment, including places linked to historical events, beliefs or tradition.
The museum's role in heritage management
The University Museum of Bergen has the archaeological management responsibility for heritage sites older than the Reformation (1537). The management area covers Vestland (formerly Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane) and Sunnmøre.
The museum:
- gives professional advice to Riksantikvaren, county councils and municipalities
- assesses the scientific source value of applications to intervene in automatically protected heritage sites
- carries out the legally required archaeological excavations once Riksantikvaren has granted permission
- catalogues and conserves finds, which form the basis for research, publications and exhibitions
The purpose is to secure the scientific source material before it is lost through development.