Rock carvings - Åbyhällen

Åbyhällen is one of Bohuslän’s best-known and impressive rock carving sites. It was discovered in 1967 by Göran Andersson and comprises a steep rock face with some 120 figures. Most of the motifs are typical of many other celebrated rock carvings, with animals, people, ships and cup marks, but several images are unique to the region, among them animal tracks thought to represent wolf paws.

The carvings were made during the Bronze Age more than 3,000 years ago. They include Bohuslän’s oldest carving of a ship, dating from 1700 BC. It is believed the pictures were used during ceremonies and were filled with fired clay (red ochre). The present red colouring is there to protect them. It is forbidden by law to walk on the carvings or otherwise disturb them. Around Åby manor there are relics from all the prehistoric periods. People have lived here for at least 6,000 years, but it was the Bronze Age that left the biggest mark on the landscape. Other visible relics from this period include barrows, passage graves, burial mounds, stone circles, funeral pyres, stone ships and petroglyphs. Åbyhällen is disability-adapted, entrance trough the park via Nordic Bee.