Status quo, ongoing challenges, and future perspectives

- after more than 20 years of practice in rock art documentation, conservation, and management in southwestern Norway.

Abstract

The county Rogaland, in southwestern Norway, has identified 186 rock art sites. The majority are large concentrations of open-air localities in a maritime environment, as well as boulders with carvings. In addition, one rock painting site has been registered in Rogaland (Høgestøl et al. 2018).

In 1995, the Directorate for Cultural Heritage prepared a status report, “Plan for Measures to be Taken to Preserve Rock Art”. The report concluded that approximately 92% of the Norwegian’s rock art sites have major damages (Directorate for Cultural Heritage 1995). Based on this report, the Ministry of the Environment allocated funds for a national project for the conservation and safeguarding of Norwegian rock art. The Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage’s national project formally started in 1996, it was called Protection of Rock Art – The Rock Art Project (Hygen 2006). The aims of the project plan included condition and damage registration, documentation, preservation, and management strategies (Hygen 2006). The Norwegian University museums have continued their work with rock art until today (Kjeldsen 2012).