Suzanne's Mom's Blog

Photo: Science Norway.
According to Science Norway, all it took was a smart hypothesis and a few brooms. Together, the three friends have discovered hundreds of previously unknown rock carving sites in the Østfold landscape in the last 3-4 years.

Some good buddies hang out in a bar together. Some go bowling together or maybe running. The buddies in today’s story hunt Bronze Age petroglyphs. At night.

Lisa Abend writes at the New York Times, “It was December and the first snow of the season was falling when the three friends set out on their weekly hunt through the fields of Ostfold, in southeastern Norway. … Tromping across the blanketed farmland, the men came to a low outcrop of rock, a few feet wide. With a child-size plastic broom, they brushed away the newly fallen snow from the stone to reveal the outline of a ship, its curved keel carved into the granite roughly 3,000 years ago.

“It was just one of more than 600 Bronze Age rock carvings, known as petroglyphs, that Magnus Tangen, Lars Ole Klavestad and Tormod Fjeld have discovered. Since making petroglyph hunting their collective hobby in 2016, the three enthusiasts have transformed knowledge about prehistoric art in Norway, more than doubling the number of carvings known in their home region. And although they are motivated, in part, by the pleasures of friendship and the outdoors, their findings have also lent serious weight to theories about the mysterious petroglyphs’ meaning.

“Rock carvings from the Bronze Age (which in Scandinavia began around 2,000 B.C.) are common in parts of Sweden and Norway. Regions in both countries have been declared UNESCO heritage sites because of the density and the diversity of the images, which include human figures, animals, geometric shapes and, frequently, ships. Yet because they are commonly cut into granite that is low to the ground and easily obscured by leaves or snow, they often go unnoticed.

“Petroglyphs are also easier to see when the sun is not overhead — a realization that has been one of the keys to the three friends’ success. Because the hunt for them is a hobby rather than a career — Tangen is an archaeologist working in a different field, Fjeld a graphic designer, and Klavestad a landscape architect and artist — they make time for it at night. …

“The thrill of the hunt has naturally led them to speculate on the carvings’ meaning. Because the petroglyphs tend to be more visible in the slanted rays of dusk, or with angled artificial lights, Tangen said he believed that their creators had made deliberate use of shadow and light in their work. Thanks to the sun’s changing angle, petroglyphs can look different depending on the hour of the day, or season, he explained. ‘I think the images have to do with the awakening of people’s minds to time,’ he said.

“That is in keeping with findings from professional archaeologists about rock art and stone monuments, in places like British Columbia and Scotland, whose features are visible only at certain times of year. There is also evidence for another one of Tangen’s theories: that some of the images were meant to be seen in flickering light, so that they appeared almost animated.

“Kristin Armstrong-Oma, a professor of archaeology at the University of Stavanger, said that ‘in excavations around some carvings, archaeologists have found signs of burning or charcoal.’ That suggested fire was being used, almost like a movie camera. ‘The living flames give the carvings a feeling of movement,’ she said.

“The petroglyph-hunting trio got their start in 2016, when Fjeld, the graphic designer, was walking his dog in the countryside and found a strange mark in a rock. He wondered if it was made by humans, or nature. Trying to identify it online, he came across a website with photos of petroglyphs, and contacted its owner, Tangen, who suggested Fjeld’s find could be a Bronze Age cup mark — a simple, round carving that is a common motif in prehistoric art.

“His interest piqued, Fjeld started paying better attention on his walks, and soon found a carving that was unmistakably made by human hands: an image of a ship. ‘That was very, very fun,’ Fjeld said. ‘So I started going on a regular basis.’

“Tangen, who had made similar discoveries while walking his own dog, joined him, and before long suggested that they invite Klavestad, a local enthusiast who had found his first carving when he was 10.

“ ‘We didn’t know each other, but I hadn’t met anyone else with so much passion for it,’ said Klavestad. ‘We are, all three, very dedicated.’ “

More at the Times, here.

Petroglyphs I saw in 2017 at a UNESCO-protected World Heritage Site in Sweden. Some have been painted red to make them more visible for tourists, a practice which has drawn criticism.

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