New Symbolic Bronze Age Petroglyphs Discovered In Sweden

– While documenting already existing petroglyphs on the Himmelstalundsfältet outside the town of Norrköping, Sweden, scientists came across new previously unknown ancient rock carvings.

Some of the new petroglyphs have symbolic and religious meaning. The Sun symbol played an important role to Bronze Age people and thus the object is frequently encountered on ancient carvings.

Other rock petroglyphs depict ships, bowls, sun crosses and a human being.

Two of Sweden’s foremost rock art experts, Sven-Gunnar Broström and Kenneth Ihrestam are currently busy supervising the documentation of the petroglyphs that is done with the use of white color that will later vanish when it rains. The documention is mainly done to increase access to the carvings that were added during the Bronze Age.

One of the most common petroglyphs here is a bowl pit and several such rock carvings have been discovered in the area. Scientists think it’s a fertility symbol.

That carvings of ships are so many is perfectly natural to Kenneth Ihrestam.

“At this period of time, there were no roads. Ships were common and people were buried in stone ships,” he says. The ship was of course an important ancient symbol.

What all the different carvings means is not entirely clear yet. During the Bronze Age there was no written language, so probably it is a question about events and other things that people wanted to carve for future generations.