Rock carvings at Tennes
Encyclopedia
Rock carvings at Tennes (Helleristning i Tennes) in Balsfjord
, Troms
county, Norway
comprise figures of prehistoric rock art (bergkunst). The oldest figures have been dated to 4600 before the Current Era
(BCE) and the earliest to about 2600 BCE. The figures were the first from a hunting culture that were discovered in Scandinavia.
, where he described a stag carved in the mountain at a farm in Balsfjord. Prof. Vahl was a botanist at Copenhagen University, and the first botanist to visit Northern Norway.
However, these notes remained forgotten until 1913, when employees at University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden
went through the notes of Prof. Vahl. At that time archeologist had started to gain an interest in rock carvings, and the finding triggered Swedish archeologist Gustaf Hallström to travel to Balsfjord to find the rock carving.
To find the carvings located somewhere along the 70 km long fjord, Hallström exploited the knowledge that a professor travelling in the 18th century must have lived on one of the ten large farms that existed along Balsfjord. One of these farms was Tennes where the locals recognized Prof. Vahl’s drawing of the stag.
The locals led Hallström to Bukkhammaren, where they found the stag and five other animal figures. A few hundred meters away at Gråbergan they found additional figures. At this time these were the northernmost rock carvings in the world (today rock carvings have been found further north such as the several thousand figures at Alta
).
Later in 1938 at a meeting in the local knitting circle, the priest's wife showed books describing the rocks carvings above the priest’s farm. Tordis Larsen from the neighboring farm became inspired and shortly after found the field with most figures at Tennes on the Larsen farm. This field known as Kirkely had about 40 figures.
There are about 60 figures distributed over three fields: Bukkhammaren, Gråbergan, and Kirkely. The figures were carved in what was at the time of carving on the seashore, but today these are situated about 20 metres above sea level.
The oldest figures are on Bukkhammaren and these have been dated to 4600 BCE. There are only six figures, five of them are of moose
, which all face the same direction. The sixth figure is undetermined. The largest figure is 1.1m.
The 40 figures at Kirkely are from about 2700 BCE, and consists of both sea and land animals (a rare combination for rocks carvings in Northern Norway). There are also 2 figures of people in boats, and some unidentified figures. 13 of the figures are of porpoise
, while 14 are of moose
or reindeer
. There is one snake-like figure, and one skålgrop. The largest figure is a reindeer with a length of about 1.2m.
The 19 figures at Gråbergan are from about 2600 BCE, and show two people figures together with 17 figures of land animals. The size of the figures range from 1--20 cm. The animals seems to have been carved such that animals migrating between the seashore and mainland are more on the seaside, while animals in the mainland such as bear
and moose
are away from the sea.
. These people were probably hunters, who in the late stone age migrated between different living areas throughout the year. Tennes may already at that time have been a meeting place for the people living in the mainland (mountains), along the seashore, and on the islands.
.Road signs show the direction.The rock carvings are accessible by a 2.5 km long well-marked track starting from Balsfjord Church. The church (built in 1855) is located in Tennes, which is about 10 km from Storsteinnes
(in Troms
county in Norway
).
Balsfjord
Balsfjord is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Storsteinnes, while Nordkjosbotn at the head of the fjord is another village....
, Troms
Troms
or Romsa is a county in North Norway, bordering Finnmark to the northeast and Nordland in the southwest. To the south is Norrbotten Län in Sweden and further southeast is a shorter border with Lapland Province in Finland. To the west is the Norwegian Sea...
county, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
comprise figures of prehistoric rock art (bergkunst). The oldest figures have been dated to 4600 before the Current Era
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
(BCE) and the earliest to about 2600 BCE. The figures were the first from a hunting culture that were discovered in Scandinavia.
Discovery and rediscovery
Prehistoric rock art (Bergkunst) was first mentioned in 1799 in the travel notes of professor Martin VahlMartin Vahl (botanist)
Martin Henrichsen Vahl was a Danish-Norwegian botanist and zoologist.He studied botany in Copenhagen and in Uppsala under Carolus Linnaeus. He edited Flora Danica fasc. XVI-XXI , Symbolæ Botanicæ I-III , Eclogæ Americanæ I-IV and Enumeratio Plantarum I-II...
, where he described a stag carved in the mountain at a farm in Balsfjord. Prof. Vahl was a botanist at Copenhagen University, and the first botanist to visit Northern Norway.
However, these notes remained forgotten until 1913, when employees at University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden
University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden
The University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden , usually referred to simply as Copenhagen Botanical Garden, is a botanical garden located in the centre of Copenhagen, Denmark...
went through the notes of Prof. Vahl. At that time archeologist had started to gain an interest in rock carvings, and the finding triggered Swedish archeologist Gustaf Hallström to travel to Balsfjord to find the rock carving.
To find the carvings located somewhere along the 70 km long fjord, Hallström exploited the knowledge that a professor travelling in the 18th century must have lived on one of the ten large farms that existed along Balsfjord. One of these farms was Tennes where the locals recognized Prof. Vahl’s drawing of the stag.
The locals led Hallström to Bukkhammaren, where they found the stag and five other animal figures. A few hundred meters away at Gråbergan they found additional figures. At this time these were the northernmost rock carvings in the world (today rock carvings have been found further north such as the several thousand figures at Alta
Rock carvings at Alta
The Rock art of Alta are located in and around the municipality of Alta in the county of Finnmark in northern Norway. Since the first carvings were discovered in 1972, more than 6000 carvings have been found on several sites around Alta...
).
Rock carvings
The oldest figures are on Bukkhammaren and these have been dated to 4600 BCE. There are only six figures, five of them are of moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
, which all face the same direction. The sixth figure is undetermined. The largest figure is 1.1m.
The 40 figures at Kirkely are from about 2700 BCE, and consists of both sea and land animals (a rare combination for rocks carvings in Northern Norway). There are also 2 figures of people in boats, and some unidentified figures. 13 of the figures are of porpoise
Porpoise
Porpoises are small cetaceans of the family Phocoenidae; they are related to whales and dolphins. They are distinct from dolphins, although the word "porpoise" has been used to refer to any small dolphin, especially by sailors and fishermen...
, while 14 are of moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
or reindeer
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...
. There is one snake-like figure, and one skålgrop. The largest figure is a reindeer with a length of about 1.2m.
The 19 figures at Gråbergan are from about 2600 BCE, and show two people figures together with 17 figures of land animals. The size of the figures range from 1--20 cm. The animals seems to have been carved such that animals migrating between the seashore and mainland are more on the seaside, while animals in the mainland such as bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
and moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
are away from the sea.
Carvers
The carvings show that there had been people living at Tennes since the Stone AgeStone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
. These people were probably hunters, who in the late stone age migrated between different living areas throughout the year. Tennes may already at that time have been a meeting place for the people living in the mainland (mountains), along the seashore, and on the islands.
Location
The only transportation to Tennes is by car, and it is about a 30-minute drive from the E8-E6 intersection, and about two hours from TromsøTromsø
Tromsø is a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.Tromsø city is the ninth largest urban area in Norway by population, and the seventh largest city in Norway by population...
.Road signs show the direction.The rock carvings are accessible by a 2.5 km long well-marked track starting from Balsfjord Church. The church (built in 1855) is located in Tennes, which is about 10 km from Storsteinnes
Storsteinnes
Storsteinnes is the administrative center of the municipality of Balsfjord in Troms county, Norway. Its population of 937 makes it the largest urban area in the municipality.-Location:...
(in Troms
Troms
or Romsa is a county in North Norway, bordering Finnmark to the northeast and Nordland in the southwest. To the south is Norrbotten Län in Sweden and further southeast is a shorter border with Lapland Province in Finland. To the west is the Norwegian Sea...
county in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
).
See also
- PetroglyphPetroglyphPetroglyphs are pictogram and logogram images created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, and abrading. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images...
- Pre-historic artPre-historic artIn the history of art, prehistoric art is all art produced in preliterate, prehistorical cultures beginning somewhere in very late geological history, and generally continuing until that culture either develops writing or other methods of record-keeping, or it makes significant contact with another...
- Rock carvings at ÅsliRock carvings at ÅsliThe rock carvings at Åsli in Malangen in Balsfjord municipality in Norway comprise at least 15 figures in poor condition. The figures are from a hunting culture.-The rock carvings:...
- List of rock carvings in Norway
Sources
- The article was based in part upon material in: Fotefar mot Nord by Ottar Grepstad, with Kirsti Mathilde Thorheim and photography by Guri Dahl (Forlaget Press og landsdelsutvalget for Nord-Norge og Nord-Trondelag. 2003) Norwegian
- Additional information included Tennes (Prestegården), Balsfjord kommune from Helleristningsguide - Bilder I Berg I Norden Norwegian
Related reading
- Boyle, Andrew J. (2008) Solskip og stjerneguder (Fredrikstad: forlaget Opphav) ISBN 978-82-997845-0-4 Norwegian
- Simonsen, Povl (1973) Sydskandinaviske Helleristningar I Nord-Norge. (Universitetesforlaget, Tromsø-Oslo-Bergen) Norwegian