Category Archives: Rock art

Fryktelig forvitret, men likevel bra bevart. Om helleristningene i Gjerpensdalen, Skien

Posted on February 23, 2023 by Per Storemyr

De store bergkunstfeltene i Gjerpensdalen i Skien ble funnet så sent som i 2003. Men de har allerede rukket å bli stemplet «Norges verst skadde helleristninger», kanskje med en viss konkurranse fra Ausevikfeltet på Vestlandet. Hvorfor er berget så skjørt? … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Norway, Rock art | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rock art and red-coated bedrock in Alta, Arctic Norway

Posted on December 17, 2020 by Per Storemyr

Over the past few years Karin Tansem of the Alta World Heritage Rock Art Centre and I have investigated the hypothesis that the famous rock engravings in Alta originally was made on strongly red-coloured bedrock along the seashore. The post-glacial land uplift has subsequently displaced the rock art and the colour has almost completely waned, leaving the rocks dull grey, as we know them today. Now we are happy that our work is finally published as an open-access paper, with Karin as driving force and lead author, in the international journal Geoarchaeology! Here’s the abstract explaining the phenomenon and its implications, and a link to the full paper. Continue reading →

Posted in New publications, Norway, Rock art | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Happy New Year to clients, partners and followers! With photos from work and excursions in 2018

Posted on January 2, 2019 by Per Storemyr

I wish clients, partners and followers of my website a Happy and Prosperous New Year! I am glad for the trust you have shown my little company and me in 2018. And I look forward to aid in conservation and archaeological work at monuments, old stone quarries and rock art sites in 2019. Below is a gallery of photos from some of the sites I worked at and visited on excursions last year. Also, a list of reports, publications and web-articles finalised in 2018 is attached. They give a glimpse of activities, many of which will continue. See you in the new year! Continue reading →

Posted in Monument conservation, New projects, New publications, New reports, Norway, Old quarries, Rock art | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Tjenester for kulturminnevernet: Hva gjør en geoarkeolog for steinbygninger, steinbrudd og bergkunst?

Posted on August 17, 2018 by Per Storemyr

Mange spør meg: Hva driver du med? Hvilke tjenester tilbyr du? Jeg er geoarkeolog og jobber med rådgivning og forskning knyttet til gamle steinbygninger, steinbrudd og bergkunst, svært ofte i forbindelse med restaurering, konservering og arkeologiske utgravninger. Under skal jeg … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, Heritage destruction, Monument conservation, Norway, Old quarries, Rock art | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Happy New Year! With a cavalcade of images from 2015

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Per Storemyr

I wish to thank my clients, partners, colleagues and followers of my website for a fine year! The very best to you all for 2016! With a cavalcade of images, I would like to recapitulate a few 2015 events. First of all, I was finally able to finish my book on the history of stone quarries, which was published jointly by The Restoration Workshop of Nidaros Cathedral and the Geological Survey of Norway. But my work took me to many parts of Norway, from a Mesolithic quartz quarry near Arendal, deep down south, to the fascinating rock art at Alta, far in the north. Though I was not able to visit Egypt last year, I’m still publishing papers on the geoarchaeology of desert quarries down there, together with good colleagues. Read on! Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, Monument conservation, Norway, Old quarries, Rock art, Ruins | Tagged | Leave a comment

Palaeolithic rock art at risk: New discoveries in Wadi Abu Subeira, Upper Egypt

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Per Storemyr

The number of discovered Late Palaeolithic rock art sites in Wadi Abu Subeira (Upper Egypt) is ever increasing, now with finds also outside of the wadi, at el-Aqba el-Saghira. Archaeologist Adel Kelany of the Ministry of Antiquites (MAS) in Aswan has just published an overview paper, now listing ten sites, all with numerous panels. The largest site has a much as a hundred ones. As previously noted on this blog, this world-class rock art is under heavy pressure from modern mining, though efforts to protect the sites have shown some effect recently. Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, Heritage destruction, Rock art | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Palaeolithic, life-size Nubian ibex carved on rock: Adel Kelany with new discoveries in Wadi Abu Subeira, Upper Egypt

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Per Storemyr

Archaeologist Adel Kelany of MSA Aswan recently published a key paper on the Late Palaeolithic rock art in Wadi Abu Subeira, Upper Egypt. The paper reports findings from the site CAS-13, which features a true rock art masterpiece: a life-size, almost two metres long Nubian ibex, accompanied by large-scale images of aurochs. The findings tie in with previously reported Late Palaeolithic rock art in Subeira, a wadi north of Aswan. It is also similar to the now famous Late Palaeolithic rock art analysed by Dirk Huyge and team at Qurta near Gebel el-Silsila and at el-Hosh further downstream of the Nile river. This is rock art dating 15-20.000 years back in time and similar to the grand European Late Palaeolithic rock art traditions. Read on for link to Adel’s paper and more information. Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, Heritage destruction, Rock art | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Happy New Year with a cavalcade of stone images from 2013

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Per Storemyr

I want to thank my readers for following my blog in 2013. Happy New Year to you all!

I really do appreciate your loyalty and I hope to be able to write more articles for you about stone – about quarries, monuments and rock art – in 2014 than I did in 2013. In the year that is soon coming to an end I had to focus on various projects and writing for other media than the internet. Many of the great places that I visited and worked at in 2013 may certainly turn up in future blog posts, so I hope you will continue to follow my writings in 2014. As for now, here’s a cavalcade of images from some of the quarries, monuments and rock art sites that touched me over the past twelve months. They span all of history from the Mesolithic to the Early Modern era. Enjoy the slide show! Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, Norway, Old quarries, Rock art, Switzerland | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

New paper on the unique Epipalaeolithic geometric rock art at el-Hosh, Upper Egypt

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Per Storemyr

A year ago Dirk Huyge and I published a paper in the Sahara journal on a unique rock art “masterpiece” found among the Epipalaeolithic “geometric” (c. 5-9000 BC) assemblage at el-Hosh in Upper Egypt. Recently, we published another version of … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, New publications, Rock art | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

The little-known archaeology of Gharb Aswan, Upper Egypt

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Per Storemyr

Gharb Aswan – or West Aswan – is the home to some 50.000 Nubian peoples on the west bank of the Nile, by the first cataract opposite the city of Aswan. Among archaeologists and tourists the area is renowned for the “Tombs of the Nobles” at Qubbet el-Hawa and the Coptic St. Simeon’s monastery, both on the UNESCO World Heritage List. But Gharb Aswan is much more than this, for here it is possible to follow human interaction with the landscape for millennia, almost throughout the history of humankind. With a focus on the unique stone working traditions, here’s a synopsis of the “unknown” archaeology of this beautiful desert area – with slideshow, map, bibliography and an overview of missions that have worked here. Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, Old quarries, Rock art | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments