Atlantis Online
March 29, 2024, 08:35:30 am
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: Secrets of ocean birth laid bare 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5191384.stm#graphic
 
  Home Help Arcade Gallery Links Staff List Calendar Login Register  

Norwegian Rock Art

Pages: [1] 2   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: Norwegian Rock Art  (Read 827 times)
0 Members and 50 Guests are viewing this topic.
Europa
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4318



« on: November 05, 2007, 09:44:16 pm »

Alta Fjord, taken just in front of the museum. The point (not quite a peninsula) on the right side of the picture is where the first people came ashore (i.e the oldest finds). The two people in the picture are returning from the rock carvings which are approximately 100m from the water. This is a composite of three photos joined to give a panorama which is very evocative of the fjord area. Per should be proud of all these photos, but this one in particular is a superb composition.

It is idyllic in this shot, but I can imagine the wind howling and the snow driving across this landscape in winter. In the ice age, all of this would have been under a very thick layer of ice and snow. Fjords are formed by glaciers as they plough through the landscape to the sea in almost a straight line, unlike a river which twists and turns. When the glacier retreats, the sea comes in to form a fjord in its place.

The drawings were made over a long period of time and the most ancient were carved in the rock over 6200 years ago, while the younger ones are 2500 years old.



Photo: Per, 2001



Boardwalk built so that the rock carvings could be viewed without damaging them.


Photo: http://www.environment.no/Topics/cultural_heritage/world_heritage/alta/alta.stm



From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_904000/904501.stm

There are more rock carvings in Alta than anywhere else in northern Europe, a total of about 3,000 individual figures.

They depict people, animals, including reindeer, bears, elk, fish, birds, and boats and weapons. Some carvings appear to show hunting scenes, and others are thought to represent musicians holding instruments like the "runebommen", the shamanic drum used in rituals by the Sami people of Norway, Finland, Sweden and Russia. The entire site was placed on Unesco's World Heritage List in 1985. It lies at the head of the Alta fjord, at Jiepmaluokta, a Sami word meaning "seal bay".

When the first carvings were cut into the rock the sea level was between eight and twenty-six metres higher than today, and the climate much milder, more like modern southern Norway's.

But the land rose as the north European icecap withdrew, exposing new rock surfaces to the carvers.

Their work is believed to fall into four distinct phases, from the earliest markings 6 000 years ago to the most recent, just 500 years before the birth of Christ.


« Last Edit: November 05, 2007, 09:44:55 pm by Europa » Report Spam   Logged

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Europa
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4318



« Reply #1 on: November 05, 2007, 09:45:47 pm »


Rockcarvings from Alta in the far north of Norway.

The red paint is done by an archaeologist to make it easier to see the carvings. It is not known whether they were coloured at the time they were completed. Per went to a lecture by the director of a Danish museum who said that the carvings most likely weren't coloured originally, but they were very visible just around sunset, and almost invisible for the rest of the day.

Per writes: 'I've seen on Swedish TV that the scientists use water on the rocks when looking for them. This changes the way the light reflects from the surface and make them visible. They then use chalk to highlight them and later use paint when they are sure about their interpretation. To me it makes sense that they weren't painted then. You'll have to know where to be and look and at the right time of day they would appear before your eyes as by magic, making them seem more mystic and powerful.'

Photo: Per, 2001
« Last Edit: November 05, 2007, 09:47:11 pm by Europa » Report Spam   Logged
Europa
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4318



« Reply #2 on: November 05, 2007, 09:46:37 pm »


Rockcarvings from Alta in the far north of Norway.

These images appear to be of deer and moose.

The 'ladders' are fences, either traps into which the hunters drove the animals to spear them, or fences to guide the herd to the waiting hunters.

Photo: Per, 2001
Report Spam   Logged
Europa
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4318



« Reply #3 on: November 05, 2007, 09:48:51 pm »



Rockcarvings from Alta in the far north of Norway.

These appear to be of boats with people standing in them, possibly casting a net for fish. See below for the reconstruction of this particular boat.

Photo: Per, 2001
Report Spam   Logged
Europa
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4318



« Reply #4 on: November 05, 2007, 09:49:36 pm »



Rockcarvings from Alta in the far north of Norway.

Another view of the person casting a net. Note also the person with the bow and arrow.

Photo: http://home.zonnet.nl/tonpors/alta.htm
Report Spam   Logged
Europa
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4318



« Reply #5 on: November 05, 2007, 09:50:24 pm »



Rockcarvings from Alta in the far north of Norway.

These appear to be hunting scenes, with hunters carrying bows to shoot arrows at the game. Note the 'balloon' shape with 'string' which may be a rope and anchor, or possibly a bladder float with fishing line, or...

Photo: Per, 2001
Report Spam   Logged
Europa
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4318



« Reply #6 on: November 05, 2007, 09:51:12 pm »



Rockcarvings from Alta in the far north of Norway.

Hunters, moose and deer. The stripes on the deer are interesting. Do they represent places to spear the deer, where to cut them up, or were these deer striped?

Photo: Per, 2001
Report Spam   Logged
Europa
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4318



« Reply #7 on: November 05, 2007, 09:51:56 pm »



Rockcarvings from Alta in the far north of Norway.

Moose, deer, and possibly aurochs.

Photo: Per, 2001
Report Spam   Logged
Europa
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4318



« Reply #8 on: November 05, 2007, 09:53:03 pm »



Rockcarvings from Alta in the far north of Norway.

Rock carving of people in a long boat. Note that there appear to be people on raised platforms at the bow and stern of the boat.

Photo: Per, 2001
Report Spam   Logged
Europa
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4318



« Reply #9 on: November 05, 2007, 09:54:37 pm »



Rockcarvings from Alta in the far north of Norway.

Three smaller boats. One has five people in it.

Photo: Per, 2001
Report Spam   Logged
Europa
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4318



« Reply #10 on: November 05, 2007, 09:55:32 pm »



Rockcarvings from Alta in the far north of Norway.

Deeper, shorter boats. These give the impression of being for cargo rather than for travelling at speed.

Photo: Per, 2001
Report Spam   Logged
Europa
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4318



« Reply #11 on: November 05, 2007, 09:56:18 pm »



Rockcarvings from Alta in the far north of Norway.

Boats and animals. These boats appear to be for cargo also.

Photo: Per, 2001
Report Spam   Logged
Europa
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4318



« Reply #12 on: November 05, 2007, 09:57:06 pm »



Rockcarvings from Alta in the far north of Norway.

A fisherman in a boat, a long line, a holy fish (Halibut or possibly a flounder) and a bear, the most holy animal. They believed that the bear could travel between the different (spirit) worlds. You can see the fish again in the photo below.

Photo: Per, 2001
Report Spam   Logged
Europa
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4318



« Reply #13 on: November 05, 2007, 09:57:51 pm »




Rockcarvings from Alta in the far north of Norway.

Fish and boats.

Photo: Per, 2001
Report Spam   Logged
Europa
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4318



« Reply #14 on: November 05, 2007, 09:59:03 pm »



Rockcarvings from Alta in the far north of Norway.

Deer carved into the rock face.

Photo: Per, 2001
Report Spam   Logged
Pages: [1] 2   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by EzPortal
Bookmark this site! | Upgrade This Forum
SMF For Free - Create your own Forum
Powered by SMF | SMF © 2016, Simple Machines
Privacy Policy