Unique 3,000-Year-Old Bronze-Age Petroglyphs Found in Sweden
A former marble quarry in the mountain park “Ruskeala” in Karelia, 2010.
Despite being found in a landlocked area, the petroglyphs depict about 60 ships, which is an indicator of their age. Apparently, the carvings were part of the Bronze-Age shoreline, alongside which, in absence of roads, boats were the main type of transportation.About a hundred petroglyphs have been discovered south of Enköping in Uppsala County north of Stockholm.Despite this area ranking as one of Sweden’s most petroglyph-dense, the rock carvings are unusually numerous and deep and contain, among other things, about 60 ships, which seems somewhat unusual for a landlocked town. In total, there are about 100 figures carved on an arable hill south of the town of Enköping, making the find the largest in about a century.The carvings are around 3,000 years old and were carved at a time when the sea water reached here. This explains the large number of ships carved into the rock face.Before ultimately being discovered by archeologist and “petroglyph hunter” Sven Gunnar Broström of Umeå Univeristy, the carvings were hid from the outside world under a blanket of earth and stone.“Finding petroglyphs like this is something you dream about”, Sven-Gunnar Broström told Swedish media.According to Broström, this area was located at the shoreline during the Bronze Age. Since there were no paved roads at that time, boats and canoes were the primary means of transportation.The petroglyphs will be documented and possibly covered up for the sake of conservation, according to archaeologist Jonas Svensson Hennius of the Uppsala county board. This is done since the petroglyphs are located in the midst of a cultivated landscape filled with field crops, and the risk exists that the rock will become sensitive and crumble.
Science & TechUnique Viking Swords Found in Sweden Puzzle Researchers in a ‘Bit of a Sensation’28 October, 05:20 GMTPetroglyphs have been found in all parts of the globe except Antarctica, with the highest concentrations in parts of Africa, Scandinavia, Karelia and Siberia. Many hypotheses exist as to their purpose, depending on their location, age, and subject matter. Some engravings are suspected to convey deep cultural and religious significance, while others are thought to map out trails and communicate messages to fellow travelers. Still others are believed to be used for symbolic or ritualistic purposes.
