Ships, a Footprint, and a Hand: New Bronze Age Rock Carvings Found

Rock carving of a boat with human figures, just found at Kolsåstoppen in Bærum.

February

/ 2026

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Rock carvings don’t always announce themselves with drama - sometimes they’re just waiting under a thin skin of moss. That is exactly how a striking new cluster of images, believed to be around 3,000 years old, came to light beneath Kolsåstoppen in Bærum, eastern Norway.

The discovery was made by experienced rock-carving hunter Tormod Fjeld while out with his daughter, Ada. What began as a quick look at the terrain turned into a find featuring “unbelievably beautiful” ship carvings, alongside a large footprint and a carved hand, motifs that raise fresh questions about belief, identity, and seafaring in the Nordic Bronze Age, reports Science Norway.

What Was Actually Found?

The standout images are ships, some carved upright, others upside down, packed with small human figures whose heads are unusually clearly defined. Fjeld and his daughter also spotted the “sole of a foot” carved into the rock, plus a hand with five thick fingers, and at least one animal figure whose species is not immediately obvious.

Ship motifs dominate Scandinavian Bronze Age rock art. Often interpreted as more than literal boats: they can suggest status, ritual journeys, or mythic travel between worlds. The new Bærum panel fits that broader tradition, while the footprint and hand add a more intimate, human-scale presence, almost like a signature left in stone.

A large 'footprint' carved at Bærum. (Tormod Fjeld/Science Norway)

This kind of “body mark” imagery is also part of what makes the find so compelling for archaeologists: it is not only a scene to view, but a reminder that prehistoric art could be tactile, performative, and deeply tied to place informs Science Norway.

The “Rock Carving Hunter” Method: Reading the Landscape

Fjeld told Science Norway that successful carving hunting is not mainly about luck - it’s about “interpreting the terrain” and learning the “codes” that govern where carvings tend to appear. In other words, the landscape itself becomes a guidebook: bedrock type, slope, exposure, and ancient movement routes can all provide pointers.

Akershus County Municipality archaeologist Reidun Marie Aasheim called the discovery “very exciting,” noting that many heritage sites remain unregistered because official documentation often happens only when construction is planned. She added that archaeologists “don’t have the resources to search the way Fjeld does,” which makes his contributions unusually valuable.

That citizen-driven work has already shifted the map elsewhere. In Frogn municipality near Drøbak, only 10 rock carving sites had previously been recorded but Fjeld has found more than 70 new sites since 2023, suggesting the region may still be hiding a major, under-documented rock-art landscape.

One carving shows the form of an unidentified animal. (Tormod Fjeld/Science Norway)

How These Carvings Have Survived

One detail Fjeld himself highlighted is that the Bærum carvings were made in sandstone, unusual for him and other hunters more accustomed to hard granite surfaces in parts of eastern Norway. In sandstone, he said, you can “almost see each strike as a small indentation,” revealing something about the technique and the tools that produced the images.

That makes this find valuable in two ways: it expands the geographic range of known Bronze Age ship carvings, and it preserves the “handwriting” of the carving process itself. Even when we cannot decode exact meanings, the marks show intent, how much force was used, how lines were shaped, and how an image was built up over time.

The story also underlines a quieter truth about prehistoric discoveries. Many aren’t newly created by excavation, but newly noticed. A carpet of moss, a shift in lighting, or a trained eye can be the difference between an invisible past and one suddenly present again.

Top image: Rock carving of a boat with human figures, just found at Kolsåstoppen in Bærum, eastern Norway. Source: Tormod Fjeld/Science Norway

By Gary Manners