CHAPTER VIII. 



ROCK-TRACINGS. 1 



Great antiquity of the rock-tracings A silent history of the people Their 

 abundance on the Cattegat Ships or boats, fights, warriors, horses, 

 cattle, camels, turtles, my sticsi^ns, etc., representing 1 warriors with horned 

 helmets Similar helmets found The bas-relief of the temple of Medinet 

 Habou Large size of rock-tracings The peculiar rock-tracings of 

 Jiirrestad and Simris Peculiar bowl-shaped hollows. 



AMONG the interesting mementoes of the past which help us 

 to get an insight into the life of the earlier inhabitants of the 

 peninsula of Scandinavia are the " rock-tracings," ! which are 

 of great antiquity, long before the Roman period, large 

 pictures engraved on the rocks, which, like the pyramids and 

 sphinxes of Egypt, bear witness to the unwritten history of the 

 people. 



These illustrations are of different kinds and sizes : the most 

 numerous being the drawings of ships or boats, canoe-shaped, 

 and alike at both ends (with figures of men and animals), and 

 of fleets righting against each other, or making an attack upon 

 the shore. The hero of the fight or the champion is generally 

 depicted as much larger than the other combatants, who 

 probably were of one people, though of different tribes, for 

 their arms are similar, and all seem without clothing, though 

 in some cases they are represented as wearing a helmet or a 

 shield, in order to protect them against the blows of their 

 adversaries. 



On some rocks are representations of cattle, horses, reindeer, 



1 This subject would naturally be in- 

 cluded in the earlier part of the work, 

 but the tracings contain so many figures 

 of ancient ships that I have thought it 



appropriate to introduce the chapters at 

 this stage. 



2 Two valuable works on rock-tracings 

 are those of A. E. Holmberg and L Baltzer. 



