Prehistoric elk carving found in Norway

A set of 7,000-year old rock carvings have been found deep inside the Arctic Circle in a sensational discovery that is being compared to the Unesco-protected Alta petroglyphs found 40 years ago.

A carving of an elk (or is it a reindeer?) found last Monday
[Credit: Troms� Museum]

Erik Kjellman found the carvings of elk and reindeer last Monday as he was doing field work at T�mmerneset, just outside Kirkenes on Norway�s Northeastern border with Russia.

�I am 29 years old and can not really retire now. I will never be involved in anything like this again. It is unique in an archaeological context,� he told Norway�s NRK channel.

He said that he had stumbled on the carvings while travelling between two separate digs run by Troms� University.

�It was quite by chance that I went past the place at a time when the light made it possible to to glimpse a petroglyph,� he told the channel.

The rock carvings in Alta, a six hour drive west of where the latest carvings were found, were discovered in 1973 by Professor Knut Helskog from the University of Troms�.

They was placed on the Unesco list of World Heritage Sites in 1985, becoming Norway�s only prehistoric World Heritage Site.

T�mmerneset was being surveyed by the archeologist as part of preparations for a major oil and gas development in the area, but Kjellman said he saw little reason why protecting his find would cause delay or block the scheme.

Source: The Local [August 26, 2015]