The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology (1997) 26.1: 17–25

The boats of Slettnes: sources of Stone Age shipbuildingin Northern Scandinavia

Siegfried StöltingDeutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum, D-27568 Bremerhaven, Germany

Introduction

Scandinavian petroglyphs are an in-exhaustible source of information aboutprehistoric shipping from the Stone Age tothe Iron Age. There is a mass of BronzeAge pictures but a complete lack of boatfinds. That is why all attempts to group thepictured vessels methodically have beenunsatisfactory (Nordén, 1939; Almgren,1987; et al.). A number of problems com-plicate our understanding of the Stone Agepetroglyphs. One is that they were discov-ered after many younger depictions whichpost-date them. Another difficulty is thatsome in the field refuse to accept thatshipping was highly developed in NorthernEurope at this period.A few years ago there were some inspir-

ing short reports in popular science period-icals and newspapers. It was reported thatabout 100 new rock carvings had beendiscovered at the Isle of Sørøya in Norway.Men, animals and boats were depicted,and the boat pictures were said to be theoldest in the world.In 1991 and 1992 one of Scandinavia’s

most extensive excavation projects wasexecuted at Sørøya. This resulted fromdetailed recording of cultural resourcesfound in the soil in 1987 and 1988, after theNorwegian Statoil group had declared itsintention to build an LNG terminal atSlettnes. During the excavations, whichwere mainly aimed at investigating StoneAge settlement vestiges, petroglyphs werediscovered at five locations, ranging in size

1057–2414/97/010017+09 $25.00/0 na960057

from about 20 cm in diameter to severalmetres. Like most prehistoric Scandinavianrock art, they are lightly chiselled in thestone. Single motifs—from two to twodozen per stone—are engraved side by sidewithout any recognizable connection; someoverlap, some are incomplete. The engrav-ings, four of them unmistakably boats,were found west of Hammerfest, and arethus the most northern rock carvings in theworld (Hesjedal, 1993: 24) (Fig. 1).

Nämforsen

Karelien

Alta

Slettnes

Rødøy

Hammer

Evenhus

Figure 1. Map showing the location of rockcarvings mentioned in the text. (Drawing:Author.)

? 1997 The Nautical Archaeology Society

NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 26.1

What makes them most important, withconsiderable implications for judging otherScandinavian petroglyphs, is their dating.Generally, rock carvings are difficult todate because of their predominant lackof accompanying finds. It is not reliableto date the pictures by aspects of style.Geological data can contribute threshold

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values, which are consulted for the de-termination of age (Hesjedal, 1990: 107).The basic assumption is that a rock canonly be decorated after arising from the seaduring post-glacial elevation.Some 13,000 years ago in the region of

Sørøya and Slettnes the inland ice startedmelting. Sea level was some 40 m higher

Figure 2. Slettnes Stone 2. After OTTAR No. 194. (Drawing: JohnnyNordhus.)

Figure 3. Slettnes Stone 4. After OTTAR No. 194. (Drawing: JohnnyNordhus.)

S. STÖLTING: THE BOATS OF SLETTNES

than today, and being eased of ice pres-sure, the continent began to rise. 9000years ago the sea level was 3 to 6 m lowerthan today. Then the waters rose becausethe ice melted in the polar region. About6000 years ago, the waters reached a newmaximum, some 13 or 14 m above today’ssea level at Slettnes. At its peak all thatwas left was a beach ridge, and it waswithin this material that the decoratedrocks were found. As a result, they couldbe 6000 years old, equivalent to the agedetermined by Knut Helskog for the pic-tures at Alta which is nearby but slightlysouth (Helskog, 1988: 31). However, in theundisturbed area of Slettness, the carvedrocks were covered by marine deposits,that is, they originated from, during, oreven before, the ‘holocene transgressionmaximum’. That is why they are now esti-

mated to be between 6000 and 8000 yearsold. They antedate continuous settlementat the island (remains of homes date fromabout 6000 years) and they are the culturalheritage of the Late Palaeolithic popula-tion, who had already started nomadic lifeon Sørøya about 9000 or 10,000 years ago(Olsen, 1994: 46).The range of subjects illustrated in the

Slettnes rock carvings is very limited.Bears, elk, reindeer, dogs or foxes, andbirds represent the animal world; accom-panying the bear’s traces are human figuresand indistinct signs or ornaments (Figs 2 &3). Such a restricted number of motifs isastonishing since the life of this populationis particularly well-known from finds.Their lifestyle, in terms of their homes,

weapons, implements, games and animalfood can be readily conjured up (Olsen,

Figure 4. Slettnes. Rubbing of the bigger boatfrom Stone 2. (Author.)

Figure 5. Slettnes. Rubbing of one of the boatsfrom Stone 4. (Author.)

Figure 6. Slettnes. Rubbing of one of the boatsfrom Stone 4. (Author.)

Figure 7. Slettnes. Rubbing of the smaller boatfrom Stone 2. (Author.)

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NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 26.1

1994: 27, 36, 42). Why did those peopledepict such a limited variety of livingbeings and objects, why did they dispensewith common edible fish such as cod, ordwellings, or plants? Presumably the fre-quency of a motif in everyday life did notautomatically mean it would be chosen tobe engraved on stone. Certain trains ofthought underlie this selection, though wecannot follow them (Stölting, 1991: 219).But we do know that they considered thefirst vehicle under human construction—a boat—worth depicting. Obviously, aboat was more than a utensil. This isnot surprising: cars or boats are still con-sidered to be an attribute of their owner’spersonality, exceeding by far their practicaluse.All the boats of Slettnes show clearly

depicted elk heads as a bow decoration(Figs 4–7), but it is doubtful that there waspractical use in such an ornament. It maybe argued that hiding behind an ‘animal’might have been helpful during a hunt.There are a few hunting scenes among the

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rock carvings, for instance in Alta, andthere are no signs of camouflage techniqueanywhere. However, animal heads havebeen traditionally shown on boat rockcarvings for thousands of years, from theStone Age to the Bronze Age. This mustbe significant. An obvious suggestion isthat an animal head hints at the buildingmaterial or the material’s origin. Boats ofthese times, it is believed, had always beenmade of hide, consisting of a solid skeletoncovered by skin. No other buildingmaterial is so likely.All four Slettnes boats are similar in

appearance. Three of them are fairly small(15–18 cm) and the inner surface of theboat silhouette is ‘pecked out’. The biggerone (39 cm) is in outline only. At the frontend of a slightly sagging bottom, the stemis perpendicular and passes into the elkhead. From consideration of the probablebuilding materials, post and base line/keelshould be constructed of separate parts.The bigger boat has a raking stern and thesmaller ones are rounded. This may be

Figure 8. Boat type Alta Phase 1. (Rubbing: Author.)

S. STÖLTING: THE BOATS OF SLETTNES

caused by their smaller scale of represen-tation. The outermost end of the stern-post bends over and down. Thus thestem resembles an animal head and thestern corresponds to a tail. On the otherhand this might just be a peculiarity inconstruction.The gunwale has a distinct sheer, leading

organically into the overhang of stem andstern. The right-angled construction of thebow in this area requires a vertical ship’sside. The crew is indicated by a number ofstrokes which surpass the ship’s side. Withtwo or three men aboard, the boat seems tobe undermanned. However, as a result ofits method of construction, it is light andcan safely be manoeuvred by two or three.The boats of Slettnes are similar to recentumiaks, flat-bottomed vessels of about 4 to6 m in length (Petersen, 1986: 117). Theskeleton is possibly wood, bone, and antlerwhile hide forms the covering. All the com-ponents are connected by straps or rootswound round and knotted. Needles ofbone or antler are used to sew the skinwhere necessary (Petersen, 1986: 29, 137).One illustration is remarkable in that itdepicts the boat’s function as a fishing ves-sel. A line leads down to a big fish, possiblya halibut (Stölting, 1991: 199) (Fig. 7).Although their dating makes the elk-

headed boats the oldest pictures ofmaritime vessels, there are astonishing par-allels in form among the wide range ofScandinavian rock carvings, demanding areconsideration of the boats of the oldestphase at Alta. These rock carvings hadbeen dated by Helskog back to 4200–3600 BC, though recent publications con-sider them to be of similar age to thepictures from Slettnes (Olsen, 1994: 46).The boats from Alta/phase 1 have detailssimilar to the Slettnes boats above (Fig.6). They are drawn more carefully andaccurately and show, among other scenes,fishing and hunting (Figs 8–10).The boats of Slettnes and Alta may be

a special regional development, but con-

siderable distribution has to be allowed forin the periods that follow. The boats fromphase 2 of Alta (3700–2500 BC, accordingto Helskog’s chronology), seem to resem-ble their predecessors very closely, thoughthe delineation and the carving techniquehad become rougher and more simplified(Fig. 11). In other words, these vessels arerelatively high-sided with a slightly saggingbottom line, an almost vertical stem andstern, a slight sheer and impressive elkheads at the stem and tails at the stern.Other than their higher sides, they differfrom the boats of phase 1 in two points: instern and stem, the bottom line surpasses

Figure 9. Alta. Recently discovered Phase-1 boatfrom Storsteinen. (Rubbing: Author.)

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NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 26.1

both ends and the sheer is no longerorganically connected with the head at thestem. Instead there is an obvious angle.There are equivalents to these boat

forms within two neighbouring regions.At Nämforsen near Näsåker in Sweden,at the lower course of Angermanälv, one ofthe greatest accumulations of rock carvingsin Sweden presents, among other subjects,numerous types of boat, some of themshowing similar characteristics. They differmerely—leaving the style of presentationto one side—in the lower ship’s side(Figs 12–13). Among the rock carvings ofKarelia, the same type of boat also occurs,with only slight variations; unfortunatelyonly drawings of these are at hand (Fig.14). A tentative dating assigns the age of4000 to 5000 years (Sawwatejew, 1984:182).The outer appearance of the boats of

Slettnes, Alta, Nämforsen/Näsåker andfrom Karelia means that they form a groupof related vessels and are different from

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other boats of Stone Age cultures whichappear in Nordic rock carvings. These areprincipally the group of middle Norwegianboats from places such as Hammer, Evenhusand Rødøy, that is between Trondheimand the Polar Circle (Dammann, 1977)(Figs 1 & 15).Within the Northern Scandinavian

group, the older period (Slettnes, Alta 1)and the younger one (Alta 2, Nämforsen,Karelia) should be distinguished. Theslight differences in appearance mentionedabove may hint at fundamental differencesin construction. While the older boats maybe made of hide this must be doubted withthe younger ones. The doubt is mainlycaused by the boat’s bottom line surpass-ing stem and stern. Such a constructionalfeature excludes the possibility of a hide-boat. Rausing is correct when he remarks,in the context of Bronze Age ships, that ifthis extension was a keel-runner, attachedto the outside of the skin-covered hull bypegs passing through holes in the skin

Figure 10. Alta. Hunting scene with Phase-1 boat. (Rubbing: Author.)

S. STÖLTING: THE BOATS OF SLETTNES

cover joining keel-runner and keelson, itwould be an obvious weakness, even werethe holes well greased. In all known skinboats, the hide cover is continuous belowthe waterline. The alternative, stretchingthe skin cover over the hull extensionof the size and shape shown in the pictures,

is incredible (Rausing, 1984; 74). The samearguments are valid against bark as acovering material. Moreover bark is unfitfor seaworthy ships, because it is quicklytorn by continuous milling of washingwaves and the twisting action of heavy seas(Rausing, 1984: 25).

Figure 11. Alta. Elk-headed boat from Phase 2. (Rubbing: Author.)

Figure 12. Elk-headed boat from Nämforsen. (Rubbing: Author.)

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Thus the only possible explanation isa wooden construction known from themuch later Hjortspring boat: a flat dugoutwhich is raised by side planks sewn to bothsides. In the middle of the boat, opened outby thwarts, the side planks are attached tostem and stern in such a way that thedugout (or the hollowed bottom plank)surpasses the connection point forming abasis for two additional parts: the stem and

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stern blocks. The former protects the edgesof the side planks and integrates with, orprovides a foothold for, the elk-headedstem which is sometimes quite bulky. Thesame construction can be found in thestern, but is a little bit lighter because it isless stressed in use. On the open sea, suchas the Altafjord or the White Sea, sideplanks have to be higher than in the coastalwaters of the Gulf of Bothnia of thatperiod. Such a construction is not necess-arily heavier than a hide-boat of the samesize, which needs a very strong skeleton.This construction would not overchargethe technical expertise of shipbuilders whocould rely on more than a thousand yearsof experience. The Northern Europeantradition of building wooden boats inmonocoque construction and clinker workmay originate from these techniques(Crumlin-Pedersen, 1970; Rausing, 1984).

Figure 13. Alta. Elk-headed boat from Nämforsen. (Rubbing: Author.)

Figure 14. Karelian rock carvings. (Drawing:Sawwatejew, 1984: 229.)

S. STÖLTING: THE BOATS OF SLETTNES

Scandinavian rock carvings are an in-exhaustible source of knowledge of pre-historic navigation. Discussion about theconstruction of boats and ships foundamong the carvings will continue untilarchaeological finds verify one or othertheory. The diversity of types depicted

and the geographical necessity of usingvessels throughout Scandinavia means thatwatercraft developed along many lines.Cultural, ethnic and geographic differ-ences, as well as the necessity of meetingdiffering requirements, surely conditioneda variety of solutions.

ReferencesAlmgren, B., 1987, Die Datierung bronzezeitlicher Felszeichnungen in Westschweden. Uppsala.Crumlin-Pedersen, O., 1970, Skind eller trae; En studie i den nordiske plankebåds konstruktive oprindelse.Roskilde.

Dammann, W., 1977, Fellboote in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart. Das logbuch, 13. 3: 81–92.Helskog, K., 1988, Helleristningene i Alta. Spor etter ritualer og dagligliv i Finnmarks forhistorie, Alta.Hesjedal, A., 1990,Helleristninger som tegn og tekst. En analyse av veideristningene i Nordland og Troms,Tromsø.

Hesjedal, A., 1993, Finnmarks eldste helleristninger? Ottar, 194: 24–35, Tromsø.Nordén, A., 1939, Die Schiffbaukunst der nordischen Bronzezeit. Mannus, 3: 347–398.Olsen, B., 1994, Bosetning og samfunn i Finnmarks forhistorie, Oslo.Petersen, H.-C., 1986, Skinboats of Greenland. Ships and Boats of the North, 1, Roskilde.Rausing, G., 1984, Prehistoric Boats and Ships of Northwestern Europe. Some Reflections. FrånForntid och Medeltid, 8, Lund.

Sawwatejew, J., 1984, Karelische Felsbilder, Leipzig.Stölting, S., 1988, Vorgeschichtliche Wal-Darstellungen aus Skandinavien. Deutsches Schiffahrtsarchiv,11: 215–248.

Stölting, S., 1991, Fische und Fischfang auf skandinavischen Felsbildern. Deutsches Schiffahrtsarchiv,14: 199–222.

Figure 15. Boat and porpoise from Hammer, Nord-Trøndelag. (Rubbing: Author.)

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