Rock carvings by Austre Åmoy

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Ship carvings at the Meling farm

The rock carvings Austre Amoy lie to the east of the island Austre Amoy and are the largest concentration of petroglyphs in Fylke Rogaland in Norway .

10 large and small outcrops, especially at Hof Meling, are scratched. The pictures were made in the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age . The largest petroglyphs are open to the public, while the smaller ones are not. One of the large fields that cover the southeastern part of Austre Åmøy is located at Meling Farm. The petroglyphs were discovered about 20 years ago when an area was cleared of small stones, earth and rubble . The Hof Meling site consists of around 90 images, mostly of ships and boats. The ship was a religious symbol of the Bronze Age. Two boats are almost three feet long. A row of bowls runs under one . There are also some soles of the feet and circles of the sun. Some bowls in the middle of the rock are very clear and very deep. Some motifs are painted in red and easy to see, but many are not painted and are more difficult to see because the surface is rough.

Based on the design, archaeologists differentiate between carvings made by hunters and gatherers and those made by arable farmers such as Austre Åmoy. On Austre Åmoy there are around 1000 characters and figures on 10 fields over a distance of around one kilometer.

  • Field 1 consists of well over 100 characters and is the largest field with ship figures of various types, individual figures, ring figures, human figures, animal figures, a few axes, several bowls and three fish pictures. It's close to the old ferry dock. The figures are painted.
  • Space 2 is located near space 1 and consists of several ship and ring figures. The figures are not painted.
  • Field 3 consists of several smaller groups of ship figures and is on the road from the prayer house to Melingsjøen. The figures are painted.
  • Field 4 consists of several ship figures, soles of the feet , ring figures, a human figure and axes. The field is along the road from the house of prayer to Melingsjøen. Half of the field was lost to road construction. The figures are painted.
  • Field 5 consists of several groups of figures. Different types of ship figures. The field is on the same level as field 4, but further away from the beach. Some of the figures are painted.
  • Field 6 consists of several groups, the main group is on Melingsjøen beach. Here is a 5.5 m long ship figure. On both sides of it there are many other ships of various kinds, ring figures, soles of the feet and shell pits. The field is painted. On the other side of the slab, near the field, a smaller group of several ship figures has been painted.
  • Space 7 is a stone with a few pieces. They are not painted.
  • Field 8 was removed before it was properly examined. Here it was mostly bowls.
  • Field 9 consists of several smaller groups of figures west of the road from Meling Moor to Melingsjøen. The fields are not painted and are often covered with moss.
  • Field 10 consists of several ship figures and shell trenches, the figures are not painted and can be difficult to see. The field is west of Melingsjøen.

See also

Web links

Coordinates: 59 ° 2 ′ 10 "  N , 5 ° 44 ′ 54.8"  E