Helleristninger

220 petroglyph sites and the four artists who engraved them

Allan Krill, Professor of Geology

In June 2021, while looking at the Alta petroglyphs (helleristninger) with my geology students, I realized that those engravings could not have been pecked with Stone Age tools. Stone points are brittle and shatter when struck. Quartz crystals, for example, are more brittle and break more easily than glass. Antler points and bone points would be too soft. We can see that the pecking tool was very sharp and could be accurately positioned. It kept its shape without breaking, strike after strike. The point must have been iron, and the petroglyphs must be from the Iron Age. Wrought iron boat nails would be the perfect tool.

Nailpoint engraving technique. Left: Longship with animal-head prow and a crew of 15 or 30 men. Right: Cervid (reindeer, moose, or elk.)

Some of the petroglyph images are Viking-style longships, with large crews. Such boats are for long-distance travel, not for fishing. It would probably take two to three weeks to paddle the full length of Norway. There would always be a hammer and spare nails on a longship for necessary repairs. A petroglyph artist who was a strong paddler would be welcome to join such trips. People with longships would not spend winters in Alta, where the sun sets on November 24th and doesn't rise again until January 16th. They probably visited Alta in the midnight-sun season, like I do.

From studying photographs and tracings of petroglyphs, I now think that only four artists—whom I call Steinn Stikkmann, Bårdr Båtmann, Ingi Innrisser, and Oddr Omrisser—made nearly all the petroglyphs in Norway, Sweden, and NW Russia. I identify individual artists by their quirks. There are no pecked petroglyphs in Finland, or in large parts of Sweden, or in Aust-Agder Norway, simply because no petroglyph artists went there.

I think that Steinn Stikkmann invented the nailpoint technique, and the other three artists got the idea from him. There are runes on three of his early rock panels (Stuberg, Tessem, Kårstad). The runes were written with characters of the Elder Futhark alphabet, which was in use about 400 CE. That gives us the age of the earliest petroglyphs. All four artists sometimes showed longships with animal-head prows, like Viking dragon-head prows. But Viking longships in about 800 CE had masts and sails. Since none of the hundreds of petroglyph boats show sails, the petroglyphs must have been made before 800 CE.

It is possible to consider the motifs, drawing skills, and styles of the artists, and speculate about their artistic careers and travels. I explain my current hypotheses below. (You are welcome to publish your own hypotheses here: https://groups.io/g/VikingRockArt/messages)

Steinn Stikkmann discovered how to use a nail as a 'stabbing tool' (stikkvåpen) to engrave relatively soft rocks in Gauldalen in Trøndelag, central Norway. Archaeologists have noted that the petroglyphs there are relatively crude. Stikkmann practiced engraving by making round cup marks and sets of matching shoe prints that never show a pattern of walking. He also tried engraving in Gauldalen with a knife point. He drew boats with two stems fore and two stems aft, like the Iron Age boat that was buried at Hjortspring, Denmark in about 350 BCE. But most of Stikkmann's boats were bigger, with upward curved prows. Such boats are usually thought to be Bronze Age types, but I think they were improvements on the Hjortspring design, and more seaworthy. Stikkmann's art is highly stylized and easy to recognize. He drew extremely thin horses, men with exaggerated calf muscles, long necks, and often with phalluses—sometimes an obvious phallus, but otherwise disguised as a possible knife, sword, stick, or extraneous line. He rarely showed interactions among figures. He showed horses pulling a chariot (at Staveneset, Begby, Björneröd, Brastad, Frännarp, and Kivik) and processions of about nine men (at Leirfall, Bakke, Tanum, Häljesta, Ekenberg, and Kivik). He was quite creative, and exaggerated some things, such as the length of some boats and the abilities of acrobats.

Stikkmann's petroglyph sites show where he traveled. He started in Foss, where he made cup marks on over 50 different panels near where I think he lived. Foss was a wealthy settlement in Stikkmann's time. Because of the waterfall (foss) there, a chieftain could control transport along the Gaula River to upper Gauldalen. Archaeologists have found a chieftain's burial site containing artifacts of gold, dated to ablut 400 CE. F bog-iron smelting facility has also been found. Stikkmann was apparently educated, able to write with Elder Futhark runes. From Foss, Stikkmann went to Melhus and Selbustrand, and then to Stjørdal, where he may have stayed for a year or so, producing petroglyphs at about 20 sites (Stuberg/Støberg, Leirfall, Auran, and others.) Then he went to Steinkjer, where he worked at a few sites (Bardal, Hammer, Tessem) and took a trip to Nordland (Tro). He left central Norway and went by longship along the coast of western Norway, leaving petroglyphs at Gurskøy (Roskar), Nordfjord (Kårstad, Austrheim), Askvoll (Staveneset, Leirvåg), Hardangerfjord (Jondal, Bakke, Etne), and Stavanger (Ølbør, Sola). From Hardangerfjord he traveled inland to Telemark, engraving panels at Sporaneset and Skien (Gjerpen). He did not go by boat around southern Norway. That is why there are no petroglyphs west of Skagerak.
Stikkmann then spent many years working with the Bohus granite, east of Skagerak. He made petroglyphs on over 3000 rock panels there, which could be an average of 100 panels per year for 30 years. That granite was ideal for his petroglyphs. It is hard and fresh, with no layering and relatively few fractures. (Gustav Vigeland used Bohus granite to carve the monolith and statues in Frognerparken.) Stikkmann took some long trips beyond the Bohus granite. He visited eastern Sweden, the southern tip of Sweden, and the islands Gotland and Bornholm. He must have been famous, because he was asked to make the artwork for the 'King's Grave' at Kivik. I suppose that he owned no house or property, and that people gave him room and board wherever he went. Being educated and well traveled, he was a popular house guest.

Bårdr Båtmann lived in the Stavanger area. He traveled the least of the four artists. He probably met Stikkmann or saw his work at Sola (Ølbør), and was inspired to use the nailpoint technique to make petroglyphs himself. He also practiced and tested the rocks by making cup marks and shoe prints. He engraved boats similar to some of Stikkmann's, but very few other motifs, and nothing fanciful. Båtmann's boats are probably not exaggerated, and are an accurate depiction of boats in western Norway about 400 CE.

Ingi Innrisser had the widest variety of motifs and artistic styles, and traveled the farthest. He worked from Finnmark (Alta, Slettnes) in the north to Oslo (Ekeberg) in the south, and from Vingen and Ausevik in the west to Russia (Kanozero, Vyg, Onega) in the east. He never went to southwest Norway or southern Sweden. He often drew unidentifiable cervids — deer, reindeer, moose, or elk — and decorated their bodies with various patterns, including geometric designs. He showed the internal organs of cervids in Sweden (Glösa), and also on a trip in eastern Norway (Ekeberg, Åskollen), and one or more trips to Finnmark. I think he got the idea of drawing internal organs from Oddr Omrisser, and they probably traveled together sometimes. Innrisser made elaborate story pictures: the migration of 100 cervids at Vingen and 30 at Gamnes, Sámi people in Alta gathering domestic reindeer in corrals, men hunting cervids at Nämforsen, men on skis hunting cervids and bears at Vyg and Kanozero, and fleets of boats harpooning beluga whales in the White Sea (Vyg).

Oddr Omrisser was the last of the four main petroglyph artists. He had the curious habit of cluttering rock panels by carving new and inappropriate images on top of others. He did that on most of his own panels, and on Stikkmann´s panels at Bardal and Hammer, on Båtmann´s panels at Åmøy, and on Innrisser´s panels at Alta, Nämforsen, and Bogge. He usually made outlines of his objects — of animals, of boats, of people, and even of the antlers of reindeer and the penises of men. He made things large and life size when possible. His images are typically overlapping and incomplete. Early in his career he made petroglyph paintings in central Sweden (Fångsjön, Hästskotjärn). He used red ocher pigment, probably mixed with oil or fat that penetrates the rock surface and is still visible after more than a thousand years. He made some rock paintings and engravings during the winter there, when the lakes were frozen and the rivers had little water. I suspect that he was born in central Sweden, and visited several times during his artistic career.
Omrisser was a naturalist, and his animal drawings were usually highly naturalistic. It is possible to identify the species of his cervids, birds, fish, and whales. He usually drew a line for the mouth, but no eye, and often ignored the feet. He sometimes showed internal organs. He put rhombic designs on many of his panels, including rhombs with a special 3D-effect (at Fångsjön, Hell, and Forselv). He rarely showed interactions among figures. However, at two sites (Bardal and Alta) he showed a large man with an erection approaching a diminutive woman.
Omrisser used four different petroglyph techniques during his career. He used red ocher stain in central Sweden and central Norway. But mostly he used the nailpoint technique. On one panel of soft rocks at Hell he engraved using the point of a knife. Late in his career, at the peak of his artistic ability, he discovered that he could quickly and easily make large petroglyphs by scraping away black lichen on the surfaces of white granites. He made life-sized and life-like animal petroglyphs using that technique at seven coastal sites in Nordland (Leiknes, Nes, Valle, Sagelva, Mjønes, Åmøya, and Fykanvatn).

I think that boats by Stikkmann and Båtmann show how most boats looked about 400 CE. Boats by Innrisser and Omrisser are single-stemmed and look more like Viking boats, so I am guessing that they lived a few centuries later. Actually, Omrisser made many types of boats. After studying and copying Båtmann's boats at Stavanger (Åmøy) he made similar boats at Alta (Apana).

Some years, or centuries after Innrisser and Omrisser, Viking artists carved rune stones using hammers and iron tools, just as the four petroglyph artists had done.

Petroglyphs cannot be dated directly, and that has been a problem in archaeology. People expect archaeologists to tell them how old petroglyphs are, and everyone appreciates artifacts more if they are very old. Archaeologists adopted the 'shoreline dating' method a century ago, and have misused it to give Stone Age dates. Shoreline dating gives the times that land areas were lifted above the sea. Those are the oldest possible times of human activity on that land — not the most likely times. Shoreline dating and Stone Age archaeology became firmly established by the claims of Anders Nummedal.
Nummedal was a school teacher with an education in geology. I contend that he made artifacts himself, and then said he found them on uplifted beach terraces from 1909 to 1939. Many of his artifacts are made from polished beach cobbles of poor quality stone. There are no rust stains or lichens on the chipped surfaces, showing that the stones are freshly chipped. His goal was to create a belief in Stone Age inhabitants, and to create an archaeology career for himself. He fabricated finds on uplifted Stone Age beaches at over 200 sites in central Norway and over 60 sites in Finnmark. He wrote that he easily found chipped stones, and that it was his fate to discover Norway's prehistoric settlements.
Archaeologists were fooled by Nummedal's deceit for many years. Then they avoided thinking about it, and no longer included references to his publicatons in their own publications. They did not want to damage the reputation of archaeology and their own careers. I have explained Nummedal's hoaxes in detail at Hoaxyz.com, and translated his most influential book Le Finnmarkien: Les origines de la civilisation dans l'extrême-nord de l'Europe. My goal is to encourage new archaeology students to read Nummedal's original works and become aware of his falsifications.

My alternative paradigm is shunned by Scandinavian archaeologists, who work with the paradigm that petroglyphs were made by local inhabitants during rituals at significant places for hundreds of years. New students accept whatever paradigm is taught to them, but professionals whose expertise lies within a paradigm naturally try to avoid a paradigm shift. (I know this from research for my book Not Getting the Drift about the geological paradigm shift to plate tectonics.) Archaeologists have not answered my emails or come to my lectures, and journal editors have returned my manuscripts. But as a professor, I want to document my work, and help students make good choices.

Allan Krill
allankrill@gmail.com

Click on the site names to study some of the artists' petroglyph images.
Almfjellet (Omrisser)
Alta (Innrisser + Omrisser)
Alta Bergbukten 1 (Innrisser shown in red) (Omrisser shown in blue)
Alta Kåfjord (Innrisser shown in black) (Omrisser shown in blue)
Alta Amtmannsnes (Innrisser)
Alta Apanes (Omrisser)
Arnstad (Stikkmann)
Askvoll (Stikkmann)
Askum Rished (Stikkmann)
Aspeberget (Stikkmann)
Aubeberget (Båtmann)
Auran (Stikkmann)
Ausevik (Innrisser)
Backa (Bohuslän) +page (Stikkmann)
Bakke (Stjørdal) (Stikkmann)
Bakke-Kalhagen (Stikkmann)
Balken (Stikkmann)
Bardal I (Stikkmann + Omrisser)
Bardal II (Stikkmann + Omrisser)
Bardal I (Omrisser, with Stikkmann's work removed)
Bardal III (Innrisser)
Begby (Stikkmann)
Berga (Stikkmann)
Berget i Hole (Stikkmann)
Bingfossen (Stikkmann)
Björksta (Stikkmann)
Bjørngård (Stikkmann)
Bjørset (Omrisser)
Blindern (Stikkmann)
Bogge +page (Innrisser) (+Omrisser)
Boglösa (Stikkmann)
Boglösaby (Stikkmann)
Brandskog (Stikkmann)
Brennholtet (Omrisser)
Bremset (Stikkmann)
Bro Utmark (Stikkmann)
Brobakken (Stikkmann)
Bru (Båtmann) (+Omrisser)
Bruteigsteinen (Stikkmann)
Buøy (Båtmann)
Bø (Båtmann)
Bøla (Omrisser)
Dalbo +page (Stikkmann)
Disåsen (Stikkmann)
Drotten (Innrisser)
Duved (Omrisser)
Eidefossen (Innrisser)
Ekeberg (Innrisser)
Emelieborg (Stikkmann)
Etne (Stikkmann)
Evenhus (Omrisser)
Finntorp (Stikkmann)
Flaruet (Omrisser)
Fluberget +page (Båtmann)
Flyhov (Stikkmann)
Forselv (Omrisser)
Fordal (Stikkmann)
Fossum (Stikkmann)
Foss (Stikkmann)
Frännarp (Stikkmann)
Fykanvatn (Omrisser)
Fåglum (Stikkmann)
Fångsjön (Omrisser)
Fårö (Stikkmann)
Gamnes (Innrisser)
Geithus (Innrisser)
Gerum (Stikkmann)
Gjeving in Stjørdal (Stikkmann)
Gjettum (Stikkmann)
Gjerpen (Skien) (Stikkmann)
Glemmestad (Innrisser)
Glösa (Innrisser)
Granaune (Stikkmann)
Gravem (Omrisser)
Gärde (Omrisser)
Görlöf (Stikkmann)
Gåshopen (Innrisser)
Haga (Båtmann)
Hagen in Stjørdal (Stikkmann)
Hamarhaug (Stikkmann)
Hammer II, III, XI (Steinkjer) (Stikkmann)
Hammer I, IV, V, VI, VIII, X, XIII, XIV, XV (Omrisser)
Hammer IX (Stikkmann + Omrisser)
Hananger (Båtmann)
Harastad (Båtmann)
Hauge (Båtmann)
Hegre (Stikkmann)
Helgaberget (Stikkmann?)
Hell +page (Omrisser)
Hellestø (Båtmann)
Hemsta (Boglösa) (Stikkmann)
Hennebygda (Stikkmann)
Himmelstalund (Stikkmann)
Hinna (Tingvoll) (Omrisser)
Hjulatorp (Stikkmann)
Hodnafjell (Båtmann)
Högsbyen (Stikkmann)
Holtås I (Innrisser)
Holtås II (Omrisser)
Honnhammerneset (Tingvoll) (Omrisser)
Husebø (Båtmann)
Hvitlycke (Stikkmann)
Häljesta (Stikkmann)
Hästhallen (Stikkmann)
Hästholmen (Stikkmann)
Hästskotjärn (Omrisser)
Håhaugsteinen (Stikkmann)
Jondal (Stikkmann)
Järrestad +page (Stikkmann)
Jätteberget i Alvhem (Stikkmann)
Jörlov (Stikkmann)
Kalleberg (Båtmann)
Kalleby (Stikkmann)
Kanozero (Innrisser)
Kattaberget (Bø) (Båtmann)
Katthammar (Båtmann)
Kivik (Stikkmann)
Krabbestig (Husevågøy) (Stikkmann)
Kråkenes (Båtmann)
Kvennavika (Omrisser)
Kvernevik (Båtmann)
Kviljo (Båtmann)
Kville +page +page (Stikkmann)
Kyrkstigen (Stikkmann)
Kårstad (Stikkmann)
Landverk (Omrisser)
Langeland (Båtmann)
Leiknes (Omrisser)
Leirbukt (Innrisser)
Leirfall (Stikkmann)
Leirvåg (Stikkmann)
Lier (Innrisser)
Litlevåg-Meling (Båtmann)
Litsleby (Stikkmann)
Lunde (Båtmann)
Lycke (Stikkmann)
Lärbro (Stikkmann)
Løkeberget (Stikkmann)
Løland (Båtmann)
Lövåsen (Stikkmann)
Lånke (Omrisser)
Madsebakke (Stikkmann)
Massleberg (Stikkmann)
Melhus (Stikkmann)
Melingsjøvegen (Båtmann)
Mjønes (Omrisser)
Møllerstufossen (Innrisser)
Nag (Båtmann) (Omrisser)
Nedre Tasta (Båtmann)
Nes (Josarsaklubben) (Omrisser)
Norrfors (Omrisser)
Nytjønna i Lierne (Omrisser)
Nämforsen (Innrisser)(+Omrisser)
Okkenhaug (Stikkmann)
Onega (Innrisser)
Oppeby (unknown artist?)
Otterbäcken (Stikkmann)
Penne (Båtmann)
Rauhammer (Omrisser)
Re (Stikkmann)
Reitaneset (Innrisser)
Revheim (Båtmann)
Rickeby (Stikkmann)
Roskar (Stikkmann)
Rudlo (Båtmann)
Rykkje (Omrisser)
Røkke (Stikkmann)
Røsand (Omrisser)
Sagelva (Omrisser)
Salsnes (Omrisser)
Salthammeren upper panel (Omrisser)
Salthammeren lower panel (Omrisser)
Samnøy (Stikkmann)
Sandåker (Stikkmann)
Selbustrand (Stikkmann)
Simrislund (Stikkmann)
Sjøhagen-Meling (Båtmann) (+Omrisser)
Skavberget (Omrisser)
Skien (Stikkmann)
Skogerveien +page (Innrisser)
Slagsta +page (Stikkmann)
Slettjord (Omrisser)
Slettnes (Innrisser)
Sola (Stikkmann)
Solbakk (Båtmann)
Soteorp (Stikkmann)
Sporaneset (Stikkmann)
Stavenes (Stikkmann)
Stein (Ringsaker) (Innrisser) (+Omrisser)
Storsteinen (Innrisser) (+Omrisser)
Strand (Omrisser)
Stuberg (Stikkmann)
Stugåsberget i Skepplanda (Stikkmann)
Stykket (Omrisser)
Sundvollen +page (Stikkmann)
Surnadal (Innrisser)
Søbstad (Omrisser)
Sør-Sunde (Båtmann)
Tanum (Stikkmann)
Tegneby (Stikkmann)
Tennes (Innrisser)
Tennes (Omrisser)
Tessem (Stikkmann)
Tjursåker (Stikkmann)
Torhamn (Stikkmann)
Torsbo (Stikkmann)
Tose (Stikkmann)
Tro, Rødøy (Stikkmann)
Tro, Rødøy (Omrisser)
Unneset (Stikkmann)
Valla (Stikkmann)
Valle +page (Omrisser)
Vallen (Stikkmann)
Verdal (Omrisser)
Vigdel (Båtmann)
Vik on Rolla (Omrisser)
Vikan (Stikkmann)
Viltlycke (Stikkmann)
Vingen (Innrisser)
Vistnesdalen +page (Omrisser)
Vrångstad (Stikkmann)
Vyg (Innrisser)
Vågholmveien (Båtmann)
Ydstines (Stikkmann)
Ølbør (Stikkmann)
Örsta (Stikkmann)
Åbodsjön (Omrisser)
Åby (Stikkmann)
Åmøy (Stavanger) (Båtmann) (+Omrisser)
Åmøya (Nordland) +page (Omrisser)
Åskollen (Innrisser)

The links below record my evidence and evolving hypotheses, including hypotheses that I have abandoned.
Messages at https://groups.io/g/VikingRockArt