Three friends in Norway have a remarkable way of spending in their spare time. Armed with torches, they go looking for prehistoric rock carvings, and with singular success. So far, they have helped uncover hundreds of Norway’s petroglyphs and have notched up a blinding 75 similar sites this year alone!
Hobby Expeditions Yield 600 New Rock Carvings in Norway
Until 2016, less than 500 petroglyph sites in Østfold in southeastern Norway were known to archaeologists, reports Sciencenorway.no. Now, thanks largely to the efforts of Lars Ole Klavestad, Magnus Tangen and Tormod Fjeld, there are 1,160 and the numbers are likely to go up substantially. The rock carvings found by the three amateurs have the potential of changing historians’ perceptions of life in prehistoric Norway.
Although a private initiative, the seriousness with which they regard their hobby can be judged by the fact that they have published the findings of their research in the journal Primitive Tider . The three professionals – landscape architect and artist Klavestad, archaeologist Tangen and graphic designer Fjeld – explained that they carry out their expeditions with great regularity: “We go out in the dark about one day a week,” Klavestad said, according to Science Norway .
Lars Ole Klavestad (left) is a landscape architect and artist. Magnus Tangen is an archaeologist. Tormod Fjeld is a graphic designer. Together, they have found close to 600 rock carving sites in Norwat. This photo is from an exploration trip in…
