Tanum Rock Carvings (Hällristningar Tanum)
Tanumshede rock art · Vitlycke carvings
Bronze Age·Nordic Bronze Age (Bohuslän rock art tradition)·🇸🇪 Västra Götaland, Bohuslän, Tanum, Sweden
About
About Tanum Rock Carvings (Hällristningar Tanum)
UNESCO World Heritage rock art concentration at Tanumshede, Bohuslän: >600 panels and >2500 figures pecked on glacially polished granite outcrops, world's densest Nordic Bronze Age engraving complex. Vessels, sun discs, chariots, armed warriors, ploughmen, beasts, ships, weddings and ithyphallic figures dating 1700–500 BCE, contemporary with Kivik and Scandinavian mound tradition. Vitlycke large slab with 300+ figures is centerpiece. Museum at Vitlycke. Demonstrates Late Bronze Age cosmology linked to megalithic burial religion.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Ship frequency — cosmology or ship grave association?
Theories
- 01Open-air ritual stage complementing adjacent stone ships and mounds; sun-voyage faith
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 1700–500 BCE (peak 1200–700 BCE)
- Period
- Bronze Age
- Culture
- Nordic Bronze Age (Bohuslän rock art tradition)
- Purpose
- Rock art sanctuary depicting cosmology, ships and ritual life on granite outcrops
- Abandoned
- Iron Age (depiction shift)
- Rediscovered
- Rediscovered 1627 (Alströmer); catalogued 19th century; UNESCO 1994
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c. 1700–500 BCE (peak 1200–700 BCE)
Initial construction
c. 1129 CE
Major expansion
On the ground
Structures & features
58.7000° N · 11.3330° E · 50 m · 2 mapped features
Vitlycke main panel
rock art panel22 m granite outcrop with 300+ pecked figures
58.7070° N · 11.3420° EAspeberget panel
rock art panelHilltop panel with chariots, riders and warriors
58.7020° N · 11.3350° E