An ancient 5,000-year-old rock carving on the island of Tro off Norway’s west coast depicting a hunting scene including hunters on skis has been defaced in an act described as a, “sad, sad story” and a “national tragedy” by archaeologists who said the damage was irreparable.
(the original before the boy’s attrention, with defaced image top, credit: NORDLAND FYLKESKOMMUNE)
The perpetrators of the act are two boys who have apologised for their actions but said they had only intended to make the scene easier to see – they scratched over the outlines of the stick figures so that they stood out more.
The carving is one of the earliest and most famous early depictions of skiers, although older ones have been discovered in Russia and something like a snowbvoarder, dated 10,000 years old, in China. The Tro island figures inspired the symbols used for the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer in 1994.
The boys, whose names and ages have not been published, and their families have issued public apologies for the damage but have not as yet been punished. A report has been sent to the police and some Norwegians have called for their prosecution.
“It was done out of good intentions. They were trying to make it more visible actually, and I don’t think they understood how serious it was,” the local mayor is quoted as saying.
