Rock carvings in Søbstad
Photo: averoy.kommune.no
In Søbstad images are carved into the rock, and it is easy to recognise what many of them represent: whales, boats and birds.
However, we can only speculate as to the actual meaning of the artwork and what rituals took place here, as we will never be able to know that with absolute certainty. An unknown people lived in this area, and are reaching out to the present from thousands of years ago through their art.
The rock carvings were discovered about 30 years ago.
Rock carvings are like life nerves carved into the rock and in Søbstad it is possible to witness 17 such signs and symbols. Søbstad is where the glacial stream formed potholes at the end of the Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago.
When the ice caps melted and the ground rose, these ondulating rocks emerged from the sea. People must have noticed the smoothly polished rock formations. Some of these monuments, created by nature itself, became sacred places.
The carvings were made here for this very reason — the rock was considered sacred.
Along the coast from Romsdal to Troms, whales are a common sight. If the carvings were made when the tide was low, then the whales—wet and reflecting the sunshine—would have been playing between the waves carved into the rock and the real ocean waves.
The images carved into the rock represent hunting scenes and depict the large mammals found on land: moose, deer and reindeer.
The animals depicted were probably hunted. The people behind the rock carvings were hunter-gatherers and fishermen. However, the animals were equivocal symbols and an expression of far more complex representations.
In addition to hunting and food, they also represent society and religious faith.
The rock carvings in Søbstad are located 12 to 16 metres above today's sea level. According to archaeologists, this means there are two possible time periods for their creation: the rocks were dry land for a short period in the Late Stone Age, i.e. from 8,500 to 9,000 years ago.
After that, the melting ice caps lead to a higher sea level, flooding the area, and leaving the rocks under water once more. Then the rocks re-emerged in the Early Stone Age, about 5,000 years ago.
Many have focused on the Early Iron Age since in some places, the whales appear with other figures that we can place with more certainty in that time period. However, according to recent research, some elements in other parts of the rock carvings imply that we can't exclude the earlier period.
In terms of cultural history, the transition from the Early to the Late Stone Age does not seem to be significant in this area, but between the earliest and the latest dates there is a 4,000-year span.
Around this time, there was a profound evolution in the use of tools, ways of living and beliefs. Most likely, there were distinct peoples here with their own languages and cultures.
In the same way, there are important transitions within the Early Stone Age. The rock carvings in Søbstad were obviously created before agriculture became more established towards the end of the Early Stone Age.
Not far from the rock carvings in Søbstad, there is also a burial mound and a stone circle.
These are far younger than the rock carvings. The tradition of marking graves with stones dates back to the Late Bronze Age, about 1800 - 1000 B.C.
The shape of the burial mound indicates that it might date back to the last part of the Late Iron Age, i.e. 200 - 550 A.D, but the dating method is considered uncertain.
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