Advertisement

Stunning prehistoric elk carving found in Norway

The Local Norway
The Local Norway - [email protected]
Stunning prehistoric elk carving found in Norway
A carving of an elk (or is it a reindeer?) found last Monday. Photo: Tromsø Museum

A set of 7,000-year old rock carvings have been found deep inside the Arctic Circle in a sensational discovery that is being compared to the Unesco-protected Alta petroglyphs found 40 years ago.

Advertisement

Erik Kjellman found the carvings of elk and reindeer last Monday as he was doing field work at Tømmerneset, just outside Kirkenes on Norway’s Northeastern border with Russia. 
 
“I am 29 years old and can not really retire now. I will never be involved in anything like this again. It is unique in an archaeological context,” he told Norway’s NRK channel. 
 
He said that he had stumbled on the carvings while travelling between two separate digs run by Tromsø University. 
 
“It was quite by chance that I went past the place at a time when the light made it possible to to glimpse a petroglyph,” he told the channel. 
 
The rock carvings in Alta, a six hour drive west of where the latest carvings were found, were discovered in 1973 by Professor Knut Helskog from the University of Tromsø. 
 
They was placed on the Unesco list of World Heritage Sites in 1985, becoming Norway’s only prehistoric World Heritage Site. 
 
Tømmerneset was being surveyed by the archeologist as part of preparations for a major oil and gas development in the area, but Kjellman said he saw little reason why protecting his find would cause delay or block the scheme.
 
 Here is a picture of Kjellman (right) next to his find. 
 

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also