ABSTRACT
Norway has one of the more extensive and coherent legislative systems for protecting and safeguarding Cultural Heritage. For example, archaeological monuments and sites of all known and identifi ed types older than 1536 are automatically protected (Act of 9 June 1978 No.50 Concerning the Cultural Heritage, ref. § 4). Eight medieval towns are defi ned as coherent archaeological sites and they form by far the nation’s largest automatically protected Cultural Heritage, both in area and volume.
