Rock Carvings in Tanum

Having seen multiple rock art sites by now I am always stuck how similar early human art is. You find the same forms and patterns. On the other hand I am wondering why they couldn’t do any better. Most kids nowadays have a broader artistic range using more shapes than the adult creators of rock art back then. It goes to show how far mankind has come.

In the case of Tanum, it’s worthwhile pointing out that this is relatively recent rock art dating from 1000 BCE to 500 BCE, a time period where other European civilizations were starting to rise. Still, it’s a fascinating look back.

The sites are dispersed in the country side. I managed to see three: Vitlykckehälllen, Aspeberget and Litsleby. While small, Litsleby felt the most precious to me. The picture is from Aspeberget.

Regarding the use of paint to highlight the rock art I think it helps. I remember staring at stones in Valcamonica trying to spot something. But the choice of red as color felt too invasive. In Litsleby one site is painted in white and this works way better for me. Finally, they didn’t actually paint the icons in Falun Red, did they?

Getting There

Tanum is connected by train to Gothenburg and it is also a stop for busses connecting Gothenburg and Oslo. Both options will drop you off outside town. The busses will drop you off at the highway. There is a shopping center. The train …

I visited this WHS in July 2016. Having visited quite a number of WH rock art sites, I must say that the scale, variety and condition of these rock art carvings in Tanumshede or Bohuslan/West Sweden make them one of the best I've seen so far. Although the rock art at Alta is much older and the environmental setting is more breathtaking, the rock art itself lacks the variety and detail of its Swedish counterpart. I drove to Tanum after visiting the Grimeton radio station and just before exiting the highway I saw the first UNESCO road signs pointing to what seemed to be a small flyover leading to a resting spot. I stopped by and it was indeed a resting spot which had been converted into a huge metal and wood structure with various information boards, a panoramic lookout point over the Tanum landscape and an enormous UNESCO symbol. Having read about the Underslos Museum exhibition managed by the Rock Art Research centre I headed there first to get a better overall understanding of the recurring motifs and interpretations. If you decide to stay longer in Tanumshede, the Rock Art Research Centre organises very interesting 'tours': one named Rock Art Experience which can be booked ahead and will give you the opportunity to rub grass on a carbon paper placed over some of the unpainted carvings; the other named Night Excursion which takes place every Wednesday night in July and August (except on the 24th of July) to be …

Most aspects of the site have already been covered in the reviews here, and I am in agreement that this was a really nice site to visit for my first taste of rock carvings. The red highlighting used certainly makes them easy to spot, but I am not really sure if this really is a good way of presenting them or not. As Els says the red colouring is one of the things that stays with you after visiting the site.

I would like to give a big congratulation to the tour guide who was there when I visited in August 2011. He was just standing by the Vitlycke panel and did a great job at not only describing the carvings but also putting them in context as well as describing various interpretations of them over the course of the last 150years. The talk he gave was both accessible and intelligent and it was really good to be treated with so much intellectual respect at a WHS. The museum was also interesting and had a slightly more innovative approach than many other museums that are attached to WHS. I also liked the fact that there were a big pile of bean bags to lay down on and watch the animation being projected onto the ceiling, it was a lovely reward after an early morning flight.

I found it very worthwhile to follow the trails off from the main panels to see some of the smaller rocks with carvings on them, …

I had previously only seen rock art in Kakadu National Park in Australia, so I looked forward to seeing Tanum's much more recent ones. I'm not really an expert on this, and I can't say I was blown away by what I saw there, but walking through the forest to search for scattered sites was still a nice experience (the most famous paintings are just across the road from the Vitlycke Museum). The museum does a good job of showing the context of rock paintings worldwide and also serves as a visitor centre. Since I went there by public transport, I only saw the sites at Vitlycke, which seem to be the most important ones. Even though my LP guide said that going there by public transport was not feasible, it was actually possible - it just involved a walk of about 5 km from Tanumshede Train Station (direct trains from Göteborg and Uddevalla). Luckily, for the way back, I could take one of the few bus connections.

I reached Tanumshede by bus from Halden in Norway, changing buses in Stromstad (there are trains from Stromstad too), then took a taxi to the site.

Besides the red colouring I found similarities in style to the rock engravings in Alta, but the content was more of ships and humans than of animals.

Tanumshede, the central town, is located about halfway on the main road between Gothenburg and Oslo. Once you've left the highway, the site gets the same low-key flavour as its Finnish Bronze Age counterpart Sammalahdenmäki. I started my visit here at Vitlycke, which has a small 'museum', a shop and a cafe. Entrance is free and there are handy maps on offer to get a feel for the whole area. The story told at the exhibition is simple: about 3000 years ago this area was located at the seashore, because the sea level was about 25 meters higher then than now. The local people cut carvings into the rocks of items symbolic of their daily life and beliefs.

The first taste of the real carvings is to be had across the road, at the Vitlycke panel. The carvings have been painted red to make them stand out - I'm a bit ambivalent about that: on the plus side their forms are clearer to see and thus better appreciated, on the minus side the red colour tends to dominate the image that stays on in your mind.

From Vitlycke I drove to Aspeberget. It's only a couple of minutes away. Uphill is a large panel with a lot going on: strong bulls, hunters, a number of sun representations, and numerous ships. The best panel of them all, I think.

On the other side of the road, a bit more inland lies Litsleby. This is the site of the …

My second visit to the Bronze Age rock carvings in Tanum was in the summer of 2006 doing the photo session that I did not when I was first there some 10 years ago. The most comfortable was of getting to Vitlycke as the main place is called, is by car but you can also take the train from Gothenburg but then a 3 km walk from the station will be included in the excursion. A nice little museum and a restaurant are waiting for you so you don't have to worry about getting lost amongst forests and fields.

In the county of Bohuslan there are over 1500 known rock carvings and the ones found in Tanum show an unusually varied collection of motifs; ships, reindeers, bears, women, men hunting and many other scenes from what was likely the average life back in those days, some 1800-1500 BC.

Having visited both the rock carvings sites in Alta in Norway and Gobustan in Azerbaijan I can clearly see similarities between the carvings at all three sites, something that makes you wonder if the Bronze Age people was in some way connected. At least Thor Heyerdahl, the Norwegian explorer thought so but I would not yet go as far as he suggested - that the Scandinavians originated from Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea.

Tanum is on the west coast of Sweden, I went here in the summer of 2005. The carving sites are everywhere in the area, most of them are probably undiscovered because they are overgrown with forest. The rock carvings are from the bronze age, some of them are really big and of a great artistic value, they are coloured red so they are not hard to find. It feels like walking around in a neolithic art gallery. Close to the main area there are a visitors center with amuseum but the enterance to the carving sites is free.