2,700-year-old petroglyphs depicting people, ships and animals discovered in Sweden

By Owen Jarus published 1 day ago

About 40 ancient rock carvings have been found on a former rocky island in Sweden.



The newly found petroglyphs from Sweden include depictions of humans. (Image credit: Foundation for Documentation of Bohuslän’s Rock Carvings)

On a steep rock face in western Sweden, researchers uncovered a fascinating find: around 40 petroglyphs — depicting ships, people and animal figures — dating back around 2,700 years.

The petroglyphs were carved on a granite rock face that was once part of an island, meaning people would have had to make the carvings while standing on a boat, or from a platform constructed on ice, said Martin Östholm, a project manager with the Foundation for Documentation of Bohuslän's Rock Carvings who is one of the archaeologists who discovered the petroglyphs, told Live Science.



The petroglyphs are high up on a granite rock face that cannot be climbed, so researchers built a platform to study them. (Image credit: Foundation for Documentation of Bohuslän’s Rock Carvings)

Bohuslän is already known for its rock carvings, including Bronze Age art made at Tanum, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) site. The team was looking for new petroglyphs in the area when they came across the moss-covered rock face. They noticed some lines on it that appeared to be human made, so they removed the moss, revealing the petroglyphs underneath. The rock face is too steep to stand on, Östholm said, so the team had to stand on a platform to do their archaeological work.



Some of the newly found petroglyphs that were carved around 2,700 years ago. (Image credit: Foundation for Documentation of Bohuslän’s Rock Carvings)

The petroglyphs include depictions of ships, people and animal figures, including four-legged creatures that may be horses. The biggest one shows a ship that is 13 feet (4 meters) long, Östholm said, noting that many of the petroglyphs are between about 12 and 16 inches (30 to 40 centimeters) in length.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/2700-year-old-petroglyphs-depicting-people-ships-and-animals-discovered-in-sweden