I passed by the Slagsta Rock Carvings on my way to work yesterday. It was mid afternoon and the sun shone from a clear sky. Leaves on the surrounding trees only starting to sprout, trees casting little shadow. The sun was at a perfect angle that made the carvings pop. I stopped to take the pictures in this post.
It was easy then and there to see why rock carvings hidden for millennia are suddenly discovered one day by chance. The top of the rock is still covered in moss and lichen as are most of rocky Sweden. It’s only when the surface is cleared and then when the sun comes from a specific angle that you really see them. Then they stand out and tell their stories.
The Slagsta carvings were discovered when they built a road in the area. The planned course was changed and the carvings were saved. Often in Sweden rock carvings (and rune stones) are painted for the benefit of modern day onlookers. Here at Slagsta the colour has faded and the surface now looks much as when they were discovered in the 1980s. On a normal day the rock carvings are underwhelming. Until you realise that these are messages from people who lived 3000 years ago. No smartphones with which to take pictures. No pen and paper on which to sketch ideas. Just a rock and a hard surface.
Land rose from the sea
Scandinavia was covered under a thick ice sheet under the last Ice Age. As the ice melted the first humans explored inland from along the coastline. For thousand of years the land slowly rose. Relieved of the weight of the ice, islets became hilltops. At the start of the Bronze Age 3 millennia ago the water level was 20 meters higher in the area I live south of Stockholm. Lake Mälaren, today Sweden’s third largest lake, was just an extension of the archipelago that stretches all the way to Finland. We find rock carvings at hilltops and follow them down the hillside as the water line dropped. A thousand year of human activity recorded in five meters of rocky slope.
Who made the rock carvings and why?
We know very little of the culture — or cultures — that created the rock carvings.
From Tanum on the East coast north of Gothenburg to Kivik at the very southern tip of Sweden and up here in the area around Stockholm, and further north. What we see today may not reflect what was made. We don’t know how many petroglyphs have yet to be discovered and how many have been lost to time. The rocks carvings at Tanum are the most abundant. It may be due to chance. Maybe the local geology helped preserve what was made. Few Bronze Age carvings are known from Gotland where the rock is softer though we have found Bronze Age burial mounds there.
We see images of boats, animals, foot soles, humans. Axes, swords, and shields matches those found in Bronze Age graves — that is how we date the drawings. Of all the Swedish petroglyphs, cup marks are the most common. Small recesses into the rock. Scattered and clustered seemingly at random, often covering older carvings. We have no idea what they signify. Are they traces of ordinary human activity? Do they have a religious meaning? Your guess is as good as mine.
But the compelling images for sure spur the imagination.
A dedication
My latest game Petroglyph is inspired by the Slagsta rock carvings. My wife and I have different taste in board games. She likes a game with nice pictures. This game is dedicated to her.