Mountain art in Kvennavika

4-5000 yeas ago, people gathered here to celebrate or prepare for fishing.

Four kilometers north of the spectacular Skarnsundet Bridge is a very interesting rock art field, consisting of 13 fish figures. This is the Nordic region's largest collection of fish figures on petroglyphs, and the place is also unique because it looks as if most of the figures were created at the same time, to be used for a specific function.

There is a short walk of 200 meters from the parking area on a marked path up through a small forest. At the time when these images were carved into the rock 4-5000 years ago, the land mass was still pushed down after the great ice age. The dome-shaped bare rock-face lay on the shore inside a cove. Now the old beach has risen 34 meters above today's sea level.

The fish are placed in a pattern, where lines through the fish bodies gather at one point on top of the rock shell. We can imagine that a shaman has stood here, and asked the higher powers for fishing luck for a group of fishermen. Or maybe it was the chief who stood here when he instructed his work team on how to work together?

There is a parking area and information board down by the fjord, and the path is well marked. The path is not facilitated for strollers or wheel chairs. Be careful when crossing the road..

Text: Morten Olsen Haugen. Photo: Rolf Åge Brevik.