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The pictures in Meløy are over 9,000 years old and can be found on Fykan and on Åmøya. The 2 areas contain around twenty pictures each and the motifs are primarily moose, reindeer, bears and whales.
They are made by scraping away the top layer of the mountain, so that the dark algae disappeared where they scraped. They thus got a silhouette contrast between the light mountain and the dark algae.
We obviously don't know exactly why they were made, but archaeologists have some theories. Perhaps they are there to show what can be hunted in the area. Maybe they're there to mark territory or maybe it's all about magic. Most primitive cultures that modern man has encountered have been shamanistic. They saw forces of nature as something magical that was controlled by various nature deities. There is no reason to believe that the first people in Meløy were any different. In other words, perhaps the images were scratched in as a ritual to ask the gods for luck when hunting large prey. The latter is perhaps the most likely theory.
Unfortunately, most of the images have been seriously damaged over the past 100 years. Through pollution and vandalism, we have gradually damaged them. In Meløy today, only the Rock Carvings on Åmøya can be seen with the naked eye. These are Meløy's greatest treasures, take care of them. You’re your children about them. Feel free to look at them, but be careful. They have been here for 9000 years. If we work together to protect them, they might be around for the next 9,000 years as well.
Subject text: Helge Seim
Screenplay: Helge Seim
Voices: Helge Seim
Editing: Helge Seim
Sources:
- Heberg:2016:Bergkunst nord for polarsirkelen
- Kulturminnesøk.no