Cambrian bronzeage
Yesterday I was on a fieldtrip to the south eastern regions of Scania (which is the most southern Province of Sweden, where I live). It took me among many things to a very small village by the ocean called Simrislund. This place is interesting geological-wise since its one of few places where Cambrian quartzite is very abundat at the surface as bedrock. Most of the bedrock is smooth and grinded flat by the last iceage. Sprinkled all over the landscape and the shoreline is oilshale since this used to cover the cambrian rock but nowdays is eroded away. Further inland the shale is still intact as bedrock. The shale is also full of fossils like brachiopods and trilobites.
One other interesting aspect of the Cambrian quartzite is the human impact on it. At Simrislund there are many rocks with carvings on it from the Scandinavian bronzeage over 3000 years ago. This makes this place both culturally and geologically worth a visit.
July 22, 2008 + Posted in Petrology, Archaeology, Excursions, Local Geology, Sweden +
Great photos! Our Cambrian quartzite doesn’t have any neat viking ships carved on them. At least that’s what that looks like to me. What are those other carvings that look like upright sickles or tall horns?
Comment by Silver Fox — July 22, 2008 @ 12:05 pm
Silver Fox: Thanks for the comment! Thats not viking ships however. Its like 2000 years older than the viking age
Its a bronze age ships - one of the most common things found on scandinavian rock carvings. The scandinavian bronze age was very rich and has left a lot of traces in nature like carvings and tombs (so called “tumulus” in latin). Compared to the viking age wich hardly left anything at all in comparison.
The other things are axes. Bronze axes like these:
http://www.orebrolansmuseum.se/e18/bilder/bronsaldersyxa.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/stenrose_och_teg/bilder/holkyxa.jpg
http://www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk/img/BR00094.jpg
Comment by Antimonite — July 22, 2008 @ 12:27 pm
Cool axes, and I bet they look cooler on tall upright poles ready to slash down on someone. It looks like the vikings might have stolen some of the ship-building plans from some of these earlier bronze-age people!
Do you ever find trilobites just lying around in those tide pools?
Comment by Silver Fox — July 24, 2008 @ 12:48 pm
Its fun that some guys carved something really looking like cambrian animals (close to hallucigenia) on a cambrian rock….but 2000 years ago
Comment by Valentin — July 26, 2008 @ 3:00 pm