Alta Rock Art – Bergbukten 4B

Summary: One of the largest panels with Stone Age rock art in northern Europe. Bergbukten 4B has over 140 figures and depicts multiple hunting scenes.

  • Art type/s: Rock engraving, Rock engraving - intaglio
  • Number of motifs: 144
  • Motif/s: Elk, Fish, Man, Reindeer
  • Quality: 5/5
  • Condition of art: Good
  • View site sketch
  • Year first recorded: 1973
  • Jan Magne Gjerde (2019) ‘The world as we know it’ – revisiting the rock art at Bergbukten 4B in Alta, northern Norway, in Time and Mind, 12:3, 197-206

Another large panel located along the Alta Rock Art walkway, Bergbukten 4B lies 22 to 24 metres above the current sea level. The carvings were made between 6000 and 7000 years ago.

MG 7343 LR Alta Rock Art – Bergbukten 4B

The large panel displays hunting scenes on from both land and sea, with bow and arrow.

MG 7346 LR Alta Rock Art – Bergbukten 4B
MG 7348 LR Alta Rock Art – Bergbukten 4B

Most prominent are large herds of reindeer, but elks are also found here, as well as two scenes displaying rituals featuring elk-head staves and hunters.

MG 7344 LR Alta Rock Art – Bergbukten 4B

Furthest to the north on this panel, the longest rock art fishing-line in Alta connects a small boat and a huge halibut.

With more than 200 figures this is one of the largest panels with Stone Age rock art in northern Europe. The panel holds several scenes, compositions and narratives. 

Engraving Alta Bergbukten 4B Alta Rock Art – Bergbukten 4B
Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to Hiking the World, and receive notifications of new posts by email. (A hike is added every 1-2 weeks, on average.)

Join 1,164 other subscribers

0 Comments

Leave a Reply

Aboriginal Sites by National Park

Aboriginal Rock Art – Berowra Valley
Over a hundred Aboriginal sites have been recorded in the Hornsby region, with many of these in the Berowra Valley National Park and around the suburb of Berowra.
Aboriginal Rock Art in the Greater Blue Mountains
The Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area protects over 3,000 known Aboriginal heritage sites, and many more which are yet to be recorded. This area includes the Blue Mountains National Park, Gardens of Stone, Wollemi National Park and Yengo National Park.
Aboriginal Rock Art – Maroota and Marramarra NP
Located to the north-west of Sydney, just south of the Dharug and Yengo National Parks, Maroota has a high concentration of (known) Aboriginal sites. Many more Aboriginal heritage sites are located in the Marramarra National Park. The original inhabitants of the area were the Darug people.
Photographing Aboriginal rock art
A review of different techniques for photographing Aboriginal rock art. This includdes oblique flash, chain and planar mosaic imaging which combines hundreds of overlapping photos.