At Bardal farm, about 15 kilometres west of Steinkjer, a 300-square-metre rock surface holds over 400 carved figures spanning four thousand years. What makes Bardal exceptional is that Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age carvings all share the same rock face, with people returning to carve here from roughly 4000 BCE to the turn of the millennium.
The oldest figures date to 3000-1800 BC and show hunting scenes with remarkable attention to detail. A whale stretches six metres across the rock. A massive elk towers over reindeer, bears, seabirds, and human figures. These are naturalistic and carefully observed, carved by people who knew their prey intimately.
The Bronze Age layer, roughly 1800-500 BC, is dominated by boat figures. The largest is 4.5 metres long with 90 vertical crew lines, one of the biggest known boat carvings in Scandinavia. The shift from hunting animals to depicting boats and processions reflects the transition from a hunter-gatherer society to one based on farming and trade.
The site is freely accessible along county road 285 (FV285) and has information boards. Together with Bølareinen further north and Kvennavika to the west, Bardal makes Innherred one of the richest areas for rock art in all of Scandinavia.
The oldest figures date to 3000-1800 BC and show hunting scenes with remarkable attention to detail. A whale stretches six metres across the rock. A massive elk towers over reindeer, bears, seabirds, and human figures. These are naturalistic and carefully observed, carved by people who knew their prey intimately.
The Bronze Age layer, roughly 1800-500 BC, is dominated by boat figures. The largest is 4.5 metres long with 90 vertical crew lines, one of the biggest known boat carvings in Scandinavia. The shift from hunting animals to depicting boats and processions reflects the transition from a hunter-gatherer society to one based on farming and trade.
The site is freely accessible along county road 285 (FV285) and has information boards. Together with Bølareinen further north and Kvennavika to the west, Bardal makes Innherred one of the richest areas for rock art in all of Scandinavia.
