Rock paintings from Rwandan
The rock carvings Ruändan there are four kilometers northeast of Messlingen on the Flatruet , a Fjäll in Jämtland County in Sweden . They consist of 20 animal and some human representations. The 951 m ö.h. high mountain Rwanda is part of Flatruet and one of the largest rock art areas in Sweden . The Rwanda is the only place in the province of Jämtland where the animal images omit elk. On the Norwegian side of the border mountains there are rock carvings that correspond to those in Rwanda. The Flatruet includes many gorges that were formed at the end of the Ice Age when the ice lake in the Messlinger valley area broke through and the water fell into the valley. The majority of the gorges are on the south side of the Flatruet.
The creators of the pictures were hunters and gatherers or fishermen . The colors are reddish ocher . Fat was used as a binding agent. Along the watercourses there are hundreds of old residential areas where axes, arrowheads and spearheads as well as knives and scrapers made of slate , quartz and quartzite were found. The leftover meal consisted of bones from beavers, elk, birds and fish bones. The interpretation of "rock art" is controversial. For a long time there was only one interpretation with regard to “ hunting magic ”. Today religious and magical reasons are also discussed.
The Norwegian rock carvings have been set chronologically based on the rise in sea level. The result agrees with the Swedish research - apart from small deviations:
- Incised representations: 7400 to 6700 BC Chr.
- Chiselled representations: 3600 to 2500 BC Chr.
- Painted representations: 1800 BC Chr. (Or older) until the turn of the times
Geology and tourism
An approximately 8.0 km long and signposted circular route leads to the rock carvings (2.3 km) and two geological sights, the Evagraven and the Fiskehålsgraven.
The Evagraven is Flatruet's most famous gorge and is about 2.0 km west of the rock art. The Evagraven is so deep that the snow on the bottom of the canyon does not melt even in summer. Fiskhålsgraven is about 2.0 km west of Evagraven. Its name translates as "Fischlochschlucht" because at the end of the gorge there are rare and protected dwarf trout around 10 cm long, which are said to have survived in the gorge for 7000 years.
Web links
- Rock paintings from Ruändan - entry in the database "Fornsök" des Riksantikvarieämbetet (Swedish)
- Description and pictures
Coordinates: 62 ° 41 ′ 6.5 ″ N , 12 ° 58 ′ 2.7 ″ E