The rock carvings at Åsli are located near the
Malangen
Malangen ( sme, Málatvuotna or fkv, Malankivuono) is a former municipality in Troms county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1871 until its dissolution in 1964. The old municipality surrounded the Malangen fjord and today that area ...
in
Balsfjord
Balsfjord ( sme, Báhccavuotna ; fkv, Paatsivuono) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Storsteinnes. Other villages include Mestervik, Mortenhals, and Nordkjo ...
municipality in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
comprise at least 15 figures in poor condition. The figures are from a hunting culture.
The rock carvings
There are at least 15 figures on a field that is located about above the sea level. At least eight of the figures are of
reindeer
Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...
. There are also figures of
porpoise
Porpoises are a group of fully aquatic marine mammals, all of which are classified under the family Phocoenidae, parvorder Odontoceti (toothed whales). Although similar in appearance to dolphins, they are more closely related to narwhals an ...
, a boat, and possibly a
moose
The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...
. Most of the figures are small, but the largest figure is about .
The carvers
The carvings are from a
hunting culture (
veidekultur).
How to get there
The field is on a rock (''svaberg'') by a water fall on the river starting from Nordfjordvatnet, above the
Åsli farm that is in Nordfjorden about 1 km from
Storsteinnes
Storsteinnes is the administrative center of Balsfjord Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The village has a population (2017) of 1,076 which gives the village a population density of . This makes it the largest urban area in the ...
in
Balsfjord
Balsfjord ( sme, Báhccavuotna ; fkv, Paatsivuono) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Storsteinnes. Other villages include Mestervik, Mortenhals, and Nordkjo ...
. Due to the poor condition of the figures they can be difficult to spot.
References
* The article was based on information at http://www.arild-hauge.com/helleristning.htm, which cites:
**''Unknown title''. Povl Simonsen. 1958.
**''Fortidsminner nord for polarsirkelen''. Povl Simonsen. Universitetesforlaget, Tromsø-Oslo-Bergen. 1970.
See also
*
Petroglyph
A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
*
Pre-historic art
In the history of art, prehistoric art is all art produced in preliterate, prehistorical cultures beginning somewhere in very late geological history, and generally continuing until that culture either develops writing or other methods of re ...
*
Rock carvings at Tennes
Rock carvings at Tennes (''Helleristning i Tennes'') in Balsfjord, Troms county, Norway comprise figures of prehistoric rock art (''bergkunst''). The oldest figures have been dated to 4600 before the Current Era (BCE) and the most recent to about ...
*
List of rock carvings in Norway {{short description, None
This article contains a list of rock carvings in Norway.
Locations
Rock carvings in the different counties of Norway:
* Akershus:
** Rock carvings at Kolsås (shipping), Bærum municipality
** Rock carvings at Bingfos ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rock carvings at Asli
Asli
Culture in Troms
Prehistory of the Arctic
History of Troms
Balsfjord